Around The EBL – Week 6

This weekend saw the first round of regular season league games for EBL Division 1 teams, as well as the 3^rd round of the EBL’s National Cup with teams playing some very impressive basketball, having wiped off the early season cobwebs.

EBL Division 1

The Manchester Magic made their return to D1 action on Saturday in front of a bumper crowd at the Amaechi Centre, and the fans were not disappointed as an incredibly close game was forced into overtime by an impressive spin move from the Magic’s Nathan Schall. Franc Garcia Garrido settled it in overtime from the free-throw line to give Magic the 66-63 victory.

Tom Ward and Nathan Schall both recorded double-doubles in the win, while Garrido finished with 13 points and 7 assists.

After the victory Magic Head Coach Paul Middleton commented:

“That’s the third very close game that we’ve not played great and come out with a win.  Some people say it’s a sign of a good team when you do that.

“In overtime I thought we were cool, didn’t make any mistakes, took good shots and started to knock down one or two.  I’m pleased that we stuck together and fought to the end.”

Former All-Canadian University stand out Josh Whyte scored 32 points for the Medway Park Crusaders, although it wasn’t enough to record the win, as an impressive team display from the Hemel Storm that saw four players in double figures, secured the 94-68 victory to take their place atop the Division 1 table, be it after only one game.

Marc Steutel and Team Northumbria hosted Karl Brown and the Leicester Warriors at NU Sport Central on Saturday, with the Warriors having new American import Mark Comstock in the lineup for the first time after getting off the plane from the States early Saturday morning.

Comstock, the former NCAA D3 NAC Player of the Year from the College of Castleton Spartans had just entered his first season with the school’s football team but looks to now be setting up life in England through a link with Northampton University.

In a game where Northumbria lead by 15 at one point, impressive play from Comstock and Leicester big man Mansour Mbye led to the Warriors getting back within 4 points with 4 minutes to play. Marc Steutel’s men proved better down the stretch however, and Sean Clifford controlled the game with an incredibly cool head. The final score was 83-72 to the home side with Mansour Mbye leading the Warriors with 18, while Comstsock scored 16.

‘”It’s great to have Mark (Comstock) here, he looks like he’s going to be a very handsome pick up for us this year,” said Leicester Warriors Coach Roger Payne after the game.

“He’s just off the plane and hasn’t slept in 36 hours, he’s dehydrated,  yet still performed to a very high level today, particularly on the defensive end. We’re looking forward to what he’ll bring to us”

There was a win for the Newham (NASSA) Neptunes, as they took down the Tees Valley Mohawks with a 75-59 win at UEL Sportsdock, while the Worthing Thunder hosted Leeds Carnegie, who, at half time lead by 6 and with just 14 seconds left on the clock held a 2 point lead over the Thunder. However, it was Worthing’s Bud Johnston who took his shot at being the hero with a long three point attempt from the top of the key that dropped for the dramatic late game winner to break Carnegie hearts.

The Thunder were led by 23 points by American forward Rory Spencer while GB U20 Rowell Graham had 16 for Leeds to follow on from his epic performance in BUCS mid-week where he tallied a statline of 26pts, 29rebs, 8asts, 5stls.

Next up for Carnegie is the local derby game against Bradford Dragons on Saturday 2^nd November (7:30pm tip).

National Cup

Sunday hosted the 3^rd round of the prestigious National Cup where 16 teams faced off for a place in the Quarter-Finals of the competition.

The Loughborough Student Riders drafted in BBL guard Connor Washington to help them against the ever-improving Ipswich Basketball Club. Ipswich, who were without big man Colin Dockrell, were led by Josh Johnson’s 24 points, but it was the standout presence of Washington that saw the Riders advance to the next round after his 26 points aided an 82-67 victory.

Elswehere, Leeds Carnegie managed to turn their fortunes around with an impressive 80-68 victory over the Tees Valley Mohawks. After opening up an early lead, Leeds were hampered by the Mohawks tough defence and were reduced to just 13 points in the second quarter. However, in the second half Carnegie turned up the heat and added almost 50 points to their tally to secure a place in the next round. Branimir Mikulic and the ever present Rowell Graham combined for 41 points while Tees Valley were led by Romonn Nelson’s 19.

D2 Huddersfield Heat have been tearing through opposition in the early stages of the season and looked to challenge themselves against the might of the D1 Manchester Magic for a spot in the Quarter Finals (where the Heat have never been).

It was set to be a battle of two incredibly impressive Spanish point guards, in Franc Garcia Garrido and Salvador Mendez Fernandez, although an injury to Mendez’s eye seemed to leave him hampered at both ends.

Garrido was practically unstoppable in the early part of the game and exploded for 18 of his team’s 36 first half points.  The visitors only mustered 19 points as a team for the first half, but gave a much better account of themselves after the interval. Led by silky guard Miguel Molina and menacing big man Orlando Camin, Huddersfield mounted a third quarter charge which included an 11-0 scoring run and managed to cut the deficit to just six points.

The Magic players responded well however and lead by a strong performance from Tayo Oyefusi with 12pts, 11rebs, the Magic secured the 78-62 victory. Garrido stole the show with his 27pts, 7asts performance while Miguel Molina top scored with 23 for the Heat.

In a tight one down South, the Essex Leopards held strong to defeat the Hemel Storm, 76-68, despite a strong showing from GB U20 Zak Wells, while it was Bristol Academy Flyers captain Greg Streete who dragged his team to victory over last year’s D3 Playoff Champions Plymouth Marjon with 24 points in a ten point win.

30 points from Newham (NASSA) Neptunes’ Ladi Brown saw off the challenge of the Westminster Warriors, as it finished 89-70 and the Reading Rockets made easy work of the London Greenhouse Pioneers with a 68-44 victory.

The final game was between D3 powerhouse Northants Thunder and D2 Derby Trailblazers. With Northants beginning to find a real rhythm they would hope to upset the apple cart a bit as they did in the second round. However, the experience of the Trailblazers shone throughout the game and a 65-96 defeat would leave the Thunder plunging out of the competition at this stage.

EBL Division 2

PAWS London Capitals have been officially withdrawn from all EBL Competition for the 2013/14 season by England Basketball for failing to fulfil National League commitments. They had failed to play a single game so far this season.

Just five games were played out in D2 this weekend as the league campaign begins up and down the country.

Ipswich Basketball Club began their league campaign with an impressive 119-83 win at home against the Killamarsh Derbyshire Arrows with Leigh Greenan (who’s been killing it so far this season) notching up 33 points and 15 rebounds in just 21 minutes on 16/18 shooting. That now takes Ipswich’s record in all competitions to 8-1 this season.

Elsewhere, LSBU Topcats went joint top of the Division 2 table with a 78-71 win over the Worcester Wolves II, while London United join them on top following their 65-77 away win against the Mansfield Giants.

There were also victories for the Loughborough Student Riders away at the Eastside Eagles 62-67, and the Derby Trailblazers who took down London Westside 73-62.

EBL Division 3

As we start in the Northern Conference, not even 30 points from Steven Gayle could stop the Birmingham Mets, who are charging through Division 3 North so far, as an 88-73 victory over the Rossendale Raptors gives them a 5-0 record to sit on top of the Conference as the only remaining undefeated team.

The Tees Valley Mohawks II are often hampered by losing players to their D1 squad and went down again this week against the Sheffield Sabres 68-51, as well as another Sheffield team picking up the win, with the Sheffield Saints beating Derby Trailblazers II by a scoreline of 63-58.

The Northants Thunder put themselves in joint second place after defeating the Nottingham Hoods 86-65 while joining them are the Stockport Falcons who faced off against the Birmingham A’s.

Stockport would have to play much of the game without two of their key players in Josh Houghton and David Collister, who both suffered injuries in the game. Birmingham started the better and ran out to a quick 11-2 lead, however Cairo Young and Daniel Pilkington would work hard to keep the Falcons in it. In the end it was two crucial free throw misses by 1996 born Sedale Hanson-Young and a game winning shot from Daniel Pilkington that settled the game at 78-76 in in favour of the Falcons.

Paul Cantwell would claim a triple double a week after missing out on one by a single rebound against Tees Valley, with an 11 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist effort.

Stockport Coach Dave Atkinson said on the win:

“To lose two starters to injury, one of whom is your top-scorer, and come out with a win against an unbeaten team was a great result. Today was gut-check time, with the first real close finish to end a game that we’ve had this season, and the guys stepped up to the plate and took us over the line. Protecting your home court is crucial in a season like this.”

In the Southern Conference, 1997 born rising star Josh Steel couldn’t lead Barking Abbey to a victory, as his 19 points went some of the way but not far enough as the inside experience of the London Greenhouse Pioneers gave them 58-67 victory to go joint top of the conference with a 3-0 record.

Despite BA’s first loss on the D3 season, Head Coach Lloyd Gardner remained positive.

“I was pleased with the resilience we showed in the fourth quarter,” he said after the game. “We fought to get ourselves back into a game when we could have let it finish quietly.

“Unfortunately, we just didn’t make enough shots, especially in the first half, to beat a good team like Pioneers.”

The other team at the top is Canary Wharf London Lituanica who defeated the Hackney White Heat 74-72, while the Solent Kestrels took down the Bracknell Cobras 75-68, before the Cardiff Met Archers were defeated at home by Plymouth Marjon 57-66.

EBL Division 4

In EBL Division 4 North it was the Hull derby this weekend between the Hull Wasps and the Kingston Panthers. The game was played in front of 400 fans in Hull and was an entertaining game for all involved with the Wasps eventually closing them game out at 94-70 with John Stewart and Jack Daley combined for 50 points in the win, giving the bragging rights to the Wasps until the next time they face off.

The win prompted GB U20 John Stewart to tweet “The city is yellow. We’re all wasps aren’t we?”

The other game in the north saw the Leeds Tigers defeat the Durham Wildcats II by 47-63 to go second in the conference with a 4-1 record.

In the Midlands conference, the Warwickshire Wizards picked up their 3^rd win from three games with a crushing 46-82 win over the Stockport Falcons II, while Sporting Club Albion took down the Shropshire Warriors 71-50.

A win for the Bromsgrove Bears leaves them undefeated winning 56-59 against the Loughborough Student Riders II, and overtime was needed in the game between the Leicester Warriors II and the Derby Trailblazers III before the result ended 78-66 to Leicester.

27 points from Birmingham Mets II’s Hudson and 32 from Cheshire Jets’ John Ford meant an exciting game between the two teams although the final score wasn’t close at 103-82.

Philip Osemwegie took the South East conference by storm this weekend as he led the Maidstone Warriors in scoring, although they lost both games. Osemwegie scored 36 in the Warriors 123-70 loss to the Brentwood Fire, and then 33 in the 75-87 loss to the College of West Anglia Fury.

There was an unfortunate scoreline in the game between the Ware Rebels and the Peckham Pride as the game finished 91-26 in favour of the Rebels, while it was much closer for the Cambridge Cats as they were narrowly defeated by the Greenwich Titans. London Westside II also picked up the points against London United II winning 52-95.

Finally in the Midlands South West Conference there were wins for the Woking Blackhawk Flyers taking down the Hertfordshire Warriors 71-59 and the Bristol Academy Flyers II winning away at Cardiff City 76-78 on a gamewinner with 0.4 seconds left, despite a 43 points  outing from Andy St John.

Oaklands College Wolves continue to impress now sitting in 2^nd place with a 4-0 record after defeating the Southampton Uni sharks 58-72, while the Bristol Storm saw off the challenge of the Reading Rockets II with a 58-53 win.

The final two games saw wins for Oxford Brookes University who lead the league after a 58-79 win over the Swindon Shock, and it was extremely close in the game between Middlesex LTBC and the Milton Keynes Mustangs finishing 83-84.

National Shield

 The final 2^nd round game of the National Shield saw the Gateshead Phoenix defeat the Kingston Panthers 89-77 to advance to the next round.

Thoughts? Did you get to any games?