Around The EBL – Week 5

We are already in Week 5 of the EBL season, as the knockout competitions begin to wind down and league action takes over.

The final 2^nd round game in the National Cup took place on Saturday, as the Hemel Storm took down the Medway Park Crusaders 81-61 to advance. Twenty points from lightning quick guard Bode Adeluola led the way for the Storm, with contributions also coming from Hemel’s impressive big men Tom Adorian and GB Under-20 athlete Zak Wells.

National Trophy

In the National Trophy Pool 1, the Bradford Dragons faced the Reading Rockets in a game they knew they had to win to stay within contention for a quarter-final spot. The Dragons were boosted by the return of experienced big man Vance Silcott, who led the team with 19 points, and at the end of the first half Bradford led 40-34.

The second half, however, was a different affair as Australian point guard Josh Wilcher took control for the Rockets and held off a late charge by the Dragons to secure the 63-72 win, as Wilcher scored 24 points to help Reading move to 5-0 in the Trophy.

The other game in Pool 1 saw the Tees Valley Mohawks host the Manchester Magic at the Olympia Building. The Magic started terribly both offensively and defensively, really struggling to get into any rhythm, while Mohawks forward Lee McLaughlin took his chances well going 6/6 from the 3 point line in the 1^st half.

Despite the Magic’s poor early performance, the half ended with a scoreline of 39-36. The 2^nd half saw a complete role reversal as it was the Magic who began to dominate with nice play from Garrido and Ward seeing them stretch out a close lead.

In the closing minutes it was the poor decision making from the Mohawks and the calm, collected heads of the Magic players that saw the final score chalk up as 81-88. The stat-line of the night goes to Garrido as he finished with 15 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds; all the more impressive for a guard who could be generously listed at 5’9”.

“In a shaky game where we started terribly, it was very encouraging to see the grit and determination from our guys to pull back and secure the victory,” said Magic Head Coach Paul Middleton, talking to Hoopsfix after the game.

“Tom (Ward) made some huge shots for us down the stretch and it’s encouraging to see him adapting well to playing the 2 spot this season. Ryan (Lohfink) gives us much needed experience to add to the talent we have coming from our youth and we’re looking forward to continuing to develop as a team.”

In Pool 2, Leeds Carnegie hosted the Westminster Warriors hoping to secure home court advantage for the quarter final stages of the competition. Carnegie went into the game with many players carrying minor knocks and without big man Ilija Ivankovic, who looks to miss considerable time with a broken ankle.

With both teams challenging each other throughout, the Carnegie win was only secured in the final minutes by Jack Stannard at the free throw line. In the 78-72 victory, GB Under-20 athlete Rowell Graham led the scoring for Leeds with 16 points while the Warriors’ Olabiyi Odumosu had 18.

Leeds Carnegie Head Coach Matt Newby was pleased with his team’s determination saying:

“In a tough encounter we showed a great deal of resolve when early foul trouble saw our rotation shortened further and the opposition at the line frequently.  We showed a more aggressive nature defensively but allowed the Warriors to break into the paint frequently which caused us problems at times.

“I thought Westminster were great on the glass and we had to fight for every possession whether that was on the boards or on the floor and the physical nature of their game taught us a few lessons.”

Carnegie can now look forward to a home quarter-final in January against either the Tees Valley Mohawks or the Worthing Thunder.

Newham (NASSA) Neptunes move to a perfect 5-0 in pool two after a big second half propelled them by Team Northumbria 63-54 on Sunday afternoon.

A tie game at the half turned into a big Neptunes’ advantage by the end of the game leaving Neptunes perfect with one game to play.

Papa Demba Kasse scored 16 to lead NASSA while Jack Preston had 15 points for coach March Steutel, whose Northumbrian team now misses the quarter finals.

The final game in this weekend’s Trophy action saw the Bristol Academy Flyers take down the Leicester Warriors 67-47 with Captain Greg Streete leading the Flyers with 13 points to gain their first and only win in the competition.

EBL Division 2

The biggest, and perhaps most unsurprising, news of the weekend, is that PAWS London Capitals have been officially withdrawn from 2013-14 EBL Competition for failure to fulfil on-court commitments.  They had already been withdrawn from the Patron’s Cup and will now play no part in any competition this season.

The weekend saw the official start of the Division 2 regular season as the first round of games took place up and down the country.

A high scoring game between the Killamarsh Derbyshire Arrows and the Derby Trailblazers ended 100-95 in favour of the hosts despite a huge outlay of 42 points from Derby’s American Forward Alex Dorr. The import has been extremely impressive so far this season having averaged 24.6ppg over five games in the Patron’s Cup and will look to continue to dominate in the same fashion in the league.

LSBU Brixton Topcats picked up their first league win with a 65-64 victory over the Eastside Eagles, while London United hoped it would be a sign of things to come as they grabbed the 81-63 win over the Worcester Wolves II despite 28 points from the Wolves’ Eden.

Huddersfield Heat secured a victory in their first ever game in EBL Division 2 as they travelled to face the Loughborough Student Riders on Saturday. 24 points from the ever impressive former Real-Madrid forward Miguel Molina helped towards the 71-89 result as the Heat remain unbeaten having won their first 8 games of the season.

The final game in D2 saw the Mansfield Giants get thumped away at London Westside, losing 74-47, before playing the Patrons Cup game with Loughborough the day after and again being defeated by a scoreline of 73-89.

EBL Division 3

Division 3 was quieter this weekend, despite now being fully in the groove of league action.

In the Northern Conference, 21 points from Steven Gayle saw the Rossendale Raptors pick up the 70-64 win to go 3-1 for the season so far, while the Birmingham Mets gained another win away at the Nottingham Hoods to stay top of the Conference with a 46-53 win.

The Northants Thunder looked to forget the disappointment of last weekend’s defeat as they hosted the Sheffield Saints. A huge outlay of 56 points shared between Jason Tucker and Leon henry, combined with lots of defensive attention showed to the Saints’ veteran Garnet Gayle, saw the Thunder come away with a 92-87 win for their third of the campaign so far.

It went to overtime in Leeds, as Carnegie II needed the extra period to defeat the Derby Trailblazers II. 28 points from big man Oli Hylands and 19 from the Veteran Jason Swaine secured the 79-72 win as Leeds now have a 2-2 record so far this season.

A game I managed to get to this week, between the Tees Valley Mohawks II and the Stockport Falcons, saw a scrappy affair with lots of stoppages and (perhaps unnecessary) whistle blowing. However, it remained physical throughout and in the end it was the shooting of Josh Houghton (35 points) and the impressive stat line of Paul Cantwell (22points, 11 assists, 9 rebounds) that brought home the win for the Falcons, 86-96.

“It was a difficult game to be part of today as we struggled to really gain any momentum on either end, but we’re happy that we got the win,” said Falcons Coach Greg Mpofu.

“The best thing about this team is that we’re nearly all local guys and it’s really nice to be able to provide a team full of local talent. We’re all very passionate and our aim is obviously to get out of D3 this season, but we know we’ll have to work very hard and play better than we did today.”

In the Southern Conference, the ‘Solent Derby’ took place between Team Solent and the Solent kestrels. In an extremely tight affair Team Solent stayed strong to take home the bragging rights with a 73-72 victory for their first win of the season.

There was a big win for the young guns of Barking Abbey as the travelled to the London Phoenicians and came home with the 56-81 victory after holding Phoenicians scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half. England Junior International Josh Steel led all scorers with his 18 points.

Elsewhere, Canary Wharf London Lituanica and Cardiff Met Archers both grabbed away wins at Bracknell Cobras and Oxford Hoops respectively.

EBL Division 4

In Division 4 there were many big performances up and down the league.

We start first with a regrettable situation in the Northern Conference; with Leeds Tigers taking on the Hull Wasps, GB Under-20 athlete John Stewart had recorded 8 points in the first two minutes of play, only for the officials to realise that his name had never been placed on the score sheet prior to the game! Stewart was forced to sit the rest of the game.

Stewart’s absence showed through in this game as the Wasps struggled on the floor going down 74-62 to the Tigers, to record a loss they certainly will regret should they wish to challenge for Championship honours this season.

There were big wins in the North for the Mersey Tigers 90-43 over the Gateshead Phoenix, and for the Kingston Panthers 111-86 over the Sefton Stars II, while Leeds Allerton High Carnegie couldn’t deal with Newcastle Eagles II as they suffered the 53-89 home defeat.

The biggest haul of the week goes to Portugese star Alvaro Pontes who scored 41 points in the Teeside Lions 82-78 victory over the Durham Wildcats II. The versatile guard/forward begins his first season in England having previously played in Spain and Portugal.

Only two games were played in the Midlands Conference, as there were wins for the Bromsgrove Bears and the Warwickshire Wizards. The Bears secured the the 90-74 victory over the Derby Trailblazers III helped by 23 points from Lionel Antoni, while the Wizards defeated the Loughborough Student Riders II narrowly by 53-52.

In the South East, the Ware Rebels won away at the Southend Scorpions with the Rebels top three scorers combining for 41 points in the win. Despite 38 points from the Peckham Pride’s Henry, it was the Cambridge Cats who came away with the 64-75 victory to go joint top of the South East Conference after three games played.

Finally, in the Midlands South West Conference, Oxford Brookes’ top three scorers combined for two thirds of their points as they defeated the Woking Blackhawk Flyers 96-67 to go top of the conference, before the Swindon Shock defeated the Reading Rockets II 54-67.

Lying in second place are the Oaklands College Wolves who narrowly defeated the Bristol Storm 64-66, while the Milton Keynes Mustangs won 72-58 against the Bristol Academy Flyers II. Middlesex LTBC defeated the Hertfordshire Warriors by a three point margin, while Cardiff City won away at Southampton Uni Sharks 52-60.

National Shield

The 2^nd Round of the National Shield commenced on Sunday as teams in D3 & D4 look to begin their challenge for silverware in their exclusive knockout competition.

A spot was claimed in the 3^rd round by the NULC Knights, who have been impressive so far this season as they took down the Birmingham A’s 50-71, before Josh Steel again lead Barking Abbey to a 65-54 win over the Brentwood Fire.

Top of D3 North, Birmingham Mets, advanced as they defeated Sporting Club Albion by 20 points, while the Mets II also advanced by defeating the Derby Trailblazers III 70-58… (Now that would be interesting)

There was a huge win for Canary Wharf London Lituanica as they defeated the College of West Anglia Fury by 57-97, while it was much closer in the game between the London Greenhouse Pioneers and Greenwich Titans as that one finished 63-62.

Oxford Brookes were led by a huge outlay of 56 points from their top scorers again as they won away at the London Phoenicians to advance to the next round. It was much closer in the Bracknell Cobras game with the Hackney White Heat, as last year’s D4 playoff winners narrowly secured the 53-52 victory and a spot in the next round.

Team Solent inflicted a crushing 42-81 defeat on the Maidstone Warriors, while the Northants Thunder slipped up (where they shouldn’t) for the second time in a week as they were defeated at home by the Milton Keynes Mustangs 67-70. The slip-ups are happening early and the D3 title contenders will hope it doesn’t continue into the regular season.

Last year’s D3 playoff champs Plymouth Marjon rejected Cardiff City’s efforts, despite 25 points from Andy St John, Plymouth secured their 3^rd round place with a 73-53 victory.

It was Aitor Estrada’s turn to lead the Rossendale Raptors as he top scored in their 72-57 win over Tees Valley Mohawks II, while the biggest win of the day came for Bristol Academy Flyers II in their 94-43 win over the Woking Blackhawk Flyers.

One more game to tell you about as the Hull Wasps, with John Stewart’s name on the score sheet this time, recorded a 64-76 away win against the Sheffield Sabres to advance to the next round. Stewart scored 32 points.

Did you get to any games? Thoughts?

Image Credit: Thomas Gadd Photography