Around The EBL – Week 19

It was an extremely exciting weekend in the EBL with numerous games being played, with the results having a huge impact on the title chase in each division. There was a game with 6 technical fouls and an ejection, and a game which boasted the second highest personal scoring performance by any player this season.

National Trophy

The Final of the Men’s National Trophy will play out on the 22nd February at UEL Sportsdock and we finally know the names of the two teams who will do battle that day.

The Reading Rockets stormed their way into the final with a decisive win over the Tees Valley Mohawks at home on Saturday.

An incredible first quarter performance saw the Rockets up 30-13 at the first break, a lead they would effectively continue to build on all game with outstanding point guard Josh Wilcher leading from the front with a 26 point, 5 rebound, 7 assist performance.

(Wilcher has now amassed 88 points in his last three games)

As the clock ran down, Rockets Head Coach Manuel Pena Garces was evidently delighted with his team performance as they closed the game out at 90-66 to reach their second final already of 2014.

Ex-Reading Captain Ryan Lohfink was the hero for the Manchester Magic, as he sank the winning shot in a double overtime thriller against the Worthing Thunder in the other Semi-Final.

In a game where the Thunder lead by double figures at half time, the Magic did well to claw back the deficit and send the game into overtime.

Eventually with just 17 seconds left on the clock, and the Thunder down by a single point, Bud Johnston was clutch at the line and converted two free throw attempts to put the Thunder up.

With the Magic calling Timeout, Lohfink checked into the game to score on the final possession while being hacked in the process. The EBL veteran displayed his experience and knowledge by missing the resulting free throw to wind down the few remaining seconds of the clock and send the Magic through to the Final.

Franc Garcia Garrido was outstanding for the Magic with 25 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals, while four other Magic players scored in double figures.

Rory Spencer led Worthing with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

“We had a better start than them in the first half. I felt they came out and were a little more aggressive than us and a little more disciplined in the second half…” said Thunder Head Coach Daniel Hildreth.

“Ultimately it comes down to one possession and they came up with the play that gets them the score and the added bonus of a foul which they deliberately miss to run the clock out.”

EBL Division 1

With Reading not in league action this weekend, the Hemel Storm took the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table to two wins with a 70-80 away win at the Westminster Warriors. With a 14-3 record they are now in commanding position however the Rockets have played three less games.

Not for the first time this season, Dan Foley came up big for the Bradford Dragons as they sunk the Medway Park Crusaders, 69-75, with Foley scoring 25 points in the win.

Bradford now sit in third place, three wins behind leaders Hemel.

NASSA pushed themselves deeper into the play-off spots with a 56-62 win over Team Northumbria on Saturday, while on Sunday, Team Northumbria hosted the Medway Park Crusaders.

With both TN and Medway languishing at the bottom of the table with just 3 wins, both teams were in desperate need of a win.

With four players in double figures, Mike Martin led Team Northumbria with 20 points as they picked up the resounding 73-56 win and are now clear of the relegation places which are occupied by Medway and the Leicester Warriors.

It was a great game, however, for one of the UK’s most promising young players as Josh Steel took full advantage of his newly found D1 minutes and put up an impressive 22 points for Medway Park.

Having young u18 guys like Steele playing at the D1 level is a great sign for their future.

Doug McLaughlin-Williams has returned to the Bristol Academy Flyers with a bang and continued his form by leading Bristol with 19 points in the win over Worthing on Sunday.

Bristol now sit just one win off the playoff spots following the 86-71 victory.

The Essex Leopards led for all but 90 seconds of their game against the Leicester Warriors on Sunday with lead peaking at 23 points at one point.

Howard Crawford kept up his challenge for the MVP title with a 25 point, 10 rebound performance, while Shaun Durant had 14 points and 15 rebounds in just 23 minutes of action for the Leopards to send them up into fourth place in the league.

EBL Division 2

Last weekend I proclaimed on Twitter that Huddersfield Heat were “the real deal in Division 2” after seeing their two incredibly impressive victories first hand.

On Saturday the Huddersfield Heat had the opportunity to, in many people’s eyes, wrap up their charge for the D2 title with a win over the Derby Trailblazers, a team they had defeated just 6 days before.

As the game got into its flow, Huddersfield did exactly the opposite.

After the first quarter ended with the scores almost level, the second quarter became an embarrassing tale of the players yelling at referees, with one Huddersfield player being ejected from the arena after taking to the court from the bench during a time-out to confront the officials.

One technical wasn’t enough for that player who proceeded to feel the need to go and get another within seconds of the first.

At that point Huddersfield were within two points of Derby and with Alex Dorr converting all 6 free throws (another technical was also called), it signalled the start of a huge tearaway for the Trailblazers.

By the end of the game, Huddersfield had received 5 technical fouls, 1 unsportsmanlike and had a bench player ejected without even playing.

The pressure is on Huddersfield, who had players proclaim they were “the team everybody had to stop up and down the country this season” at the beginning of the year (A view not endorsed by the coaching staff).

Well Derby have stopped them, twice now.

The final score was Derby 105-70 Huddersfield with Alex Dorr scoring 25 points, along with John Gould putting up 19 for Derby.

The only player who attempted to show up for the Heat was Miguel Molina who notched up 25 points for the visitors.

Huddersfield cannot now fail to win again this season if they still hope to claim the Division 2 title.

Elsewhere, Ipswich basketball club pushed themselves back into contention with back to back wins over London Westside and the Loughborough Student Riders.

Against Westside, Head Coach Nick Drane chose to rest star big man Leigh Greenan, instead choosing to start with Colin Dockrell who was also suffering from the flu. The 7 foot 2 Tendai Simbai was introduced to rotate with Dockrell and recorder 19 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

With Tom Sadler playing exceptional basketball, he racked up 24 points for Ipswich, while Josh Johnson aided the scoring with 23 as Ipswich won the game 67-79.

The next day, Ipswich showed a fantastic team effort with several players in double figures scoring to defeat the Riders 88-76 in what was a must-win game for Ipswich.

“This was an excellent weekends work by the guys, especially given the fact that both Leigh and Colin weren’t healthy,” said Head Coach Nick Drane.

“We had to lean on Tom to play big minutes and also extend Tendai’s role this weekend and both guys really stepped up. However, at this stage of the season I am really delighted with the whole team commitment and performance. Several different guys stepped up with nobody having to carry the load for the team.”

In the game between the Brixton Topcats and London United, there was a valiant scoring effort from Reuben Tatham-Numn as he put up 30 points for United, although couldn’t lead them to victory as an equal scoring output from Vytenis Petkus gave the Topcats the 77-70 win.

That win puts Brixton in second place just one win behind leaders Derby.

Darren Best scored 31 points for the Derbyshire Arrows as they defeated the Eastside Eagles, 85-79 in overtime, while despite 30 points from Robert Clyburn, the Mansfield Giants were heavily defeated by the Loughborough Student Riders, 83-48.

EBL Division 3

Northern Conference
The Northants Thunder finally claimed the top spot (which they should have done before now) by defeating the Tees Valley Mohawks II by a score of 85-96, While the Birmingham Mets sit just behind them following a derby day win over the Birmingham A’s, 77-79.

25 points from Aitor Estrada helped the Rossendale Raptors to a resounding 104-68 win over the Nottingham Hoods. The Raptors will go top of the conference ahead of the Thunder if they win their game in hand.

Oli Hylands scored 25 points in Leeds Carnegie II’s win over the Sheffield Sabres as they moved into 5th place, just one win off the playoff spots.

Elsewhere, for the Sheffield Saints, Mckenzie and Parker combined for 47 points as they downed the Birmingham A’s by a 72-71 scoreline.

Southern Conference
London Lituanica are still undefeated in league play this season and now boast an impressive 13-0 record following their 102-77 win over Barking Abbey this weekend. Karolis Stepanavicius has been in blistering form so far in the second half of this season and looks determined to lead his team into the higher divisions.

In an overtime thriller between the Bracknell Cobras and the Cardiff Met Archers there were two stand-out performances. Martell Mclemore led the scoring for Bracknell with 32 points, while James Dawe racked up 27 for the Archers.

The game finished 80-72 as Bracknell closed out the game well in overtime.

There were wins for both Solent clubs as Team Solent overcame the London Phoenicians, 93-82, and the Solent Kestrels moved into the playoff places with a 66-74 win over 2nd place London Greenhouse Pioneers.

27 points from Desta Rudder-Smith weren’t enough to lead the Oxford Hoops to victory as they were defeated by Plymouth Marjon, 75-62, who move into 3rd place.

EBL Division 4

Northern Conference
With just two games in the North this weekend, John Stewart stepped up to steal all the headlines with an incredible 48 point performance as the Hull Wasps defeated the Newcastle Eagles II for their seventh win of the season.

With that performance, Stewart now boasts the two top scoring performances by any player in the whole of the EBL this season.

The Wasps were buoyed by their Hull rivals the Kingston Panthers suffering a shock defeat to the Gateshead Phoenix on Saturday.

JA Copeland and Will Spragg both scored 21 points each in the win.

Midlands Conference
The NULC Knights continued their impressive form at the top of the conference with a 58-95 win over the Shropshire Warriors, while they are now joined by the Bromsgrove Bears who defeated Sporting Club Albion 82-70 to match NULC’s 10-1 record at the top.

South East Conference
Daniel Sanders put up 24 points as the Ware Rebels defeated the Medway Park Crusaders II by 61-73 to go .500 for the season, while young big man Darran Henry scored 30 for the Peckham Pride in their 89-69 win over London United – Harefield Academy.

There were wins for London Westside II and the COWA Fury, while BC Medelynas London maintained the top spot with a 93-72 win over the Brentwood Fire.

Sam Richardson continued his impressive season with a 24 point performance for the Cambridge Cats as they occupy second place following a 45-97 drubbing of the bottom place Maidstone warriors.

Midland South West Conference
League leaders Oxford Brookes suffered a scare at the hands of bottom place Southampton Uni as it came down to the wire in their 70-71 win. Brookes have to win just three more games this season to all but mathematically secure the conference crown.

Elsewhere the Bristol Academy Flyers II defeated Woking, 83-54, while Milton Keynes stay in second place following a 70-63 victory over the Swindon Shock.

The Reading Rockets II picked up a big win against the Oaklands College Wolves, while the Middlesex LTBC continued their title challenge with a 78-74 win over Cardiff City.