BUCS Basketball Final 8’s Day 3 Recap

Image Credit: Nathan Dainty

Worcester were crowned the 2011 BUCS basketball National Champions yesterday after managing to hold off Durham in the final 76-70.

A Chris Pearce fast break dunk opened up the scoring for Durham, and a Paul Nelson turnaround fadeaway three from way beyond the arc at the shot clock buzzer gave Durham an early 9-8 lead. The game remained close throughout, with a Damian Cope buzzer-beating three pointer at the end of the first quarter tying the two teams up at 24.

A questionable intentional foul called on Durham’s Keith Bulger gave Worcester control at the end of the second quarter and they went into the halftime break with a 46-40 lead behind 16 first half points from Aleks Zimnickas who was unstoppable.

The two teams traded baskets throughout the second half, and despite a late rally from Durham it wasn’t enough as Worcester hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Aleks Zimnickas was named MVP finishing with an 18 point performance. He was backed up by Callum Jones and Damian Cope who had 13 points each respectively. Paul Nelson and Keith Bulger led Durham with 16 points-a-piece, whilst captain Paul Elderkin had 13.

Game 1 (7th/8th Place Playoff)
Middlesex vs Northumbria
It’s amazing what a little bit of belief can do. Everyone had Northumbria down for a no-less-than 20 point rout of Middlesex, but after a first quarter that saw the two teams tied up at 19, Middlesex began believing they could compete with the Northern side. They hustled and outworked Northumbria and hit their free throws down the stretch to seal a 68-64 victory to take 7th place. Middlesex were led by Jamel Felix who finished with 29 points, whilst J. Visokas added 12. Toby Hutton led Northumbria with 15 points, whilst Brian McCotter had 12.

Game 2 (5th/6th Place Playoff)
Leeds Met vs Brunel
Leeds Met got past Brunel with a 76-62 victory, in a game that was a lot more competitive than many expected. Adrian Fenyn led Leeds with 19 points, whilst Henry Wilkins added 16. Matt Carpenter put on a long range shooting display for Brunel, hitting 8 three’s on his way to 26 points, whilst Tom Politi added 16.

Game 3
LSBU vs Oxford (3rd Place Playoff)
The third place playoff was as much of a tantalizing matchup as the final, but unfortunately never really materialised due to key players sitting out. It was LSBU who came away victorious with a 95-83 victory, leading from start to finish. LSBU were missing Mike Martin who had a game with the Guildford Heat, whilst Oxford were without Stephen Danley who was on the bench icing an ankle injury sustained the day before. Arturo Noha led LSBU with 20 points, Avelino Antonio had 18 and Karolis Petkus 16. Will Scott led OXford with 22, Reed Doucette had 17.

2010/2011 BUCS Basketball Final Standings

1st-Worcester
2nd-Durham
3rd-LSBU
4th-Oxford
5th-Leeds Met
6th-Brunel
7th-Middlesex
8th-Northumbria

Notes

• Biggest shock of the day was the Middlesex victory-but shows you how far a bit of belief and confidence can go. They looked like a different team to Friday and Saturday and deserved the win.
• Dunk fail of the day goes to Worcester’s Joey Dack for missing a wide open two-hander on the break.
• The third place playoff was surprisingly competitive seeing as Oxford were without Danley and gave their bench a good run from the opening tip. I got the impression that after being knocked out it made little difference to them whether they finished third or fourth.
• Crowds were pretty sparse and made up predominantly of other competitors. It’s a shame as a lot of good basketball was missed.
• Unfortunately the live stream was not co-operating. Internet connection was dodgy so the stream was jittery, I’m spending a bit of time looking into this properly so in the near future we can have good quality live streams of games.
• Final thoughts, stats, and my own all tournament team will be coming in the next few days.
• Huge thanks to Will Hemming of Kukri Sports for the accommodation hook-up this weekend, and Hannah Marshall of BUCS for being so helpful.