Essex Leopards Pick Up Double Victory - NBL Round Up, Week 11 - Hoopsfix.com

Essex Leopards Pick Up Double Victory – NBL Round Up, Week 11

Sam Newman Essex Leopards

After a slow start to the season, Essex Leopards are finding their form with a double-winning weekend, boosted by the signing of two Americans.

Meanwhile, Solent and Liverpool both stay undefeated at the top of their respective tables.

Find out more about that, along with the rest of the action in NBL Division 1 and 2, in our weekly round up:

NBL Division 1

Team Solent Kestrels 86-75 Reading Rockets
Team Solent Kestrels picked up their ninth consecutive win to continue their undefeated streak with a 86-75 win over Reading on Saturday.

It was Reading who struck first, using a 9-2 run to open the second period to take their biggest lead of the game but the home side responded with 8 straight points from Travis Charles out of a timeout as part of a 14-2 run to get back in the game.

A 7-0 run in the the third saw Solent take control of the game for good, as they wouldn’t let Reading get closer than 5 the rest of the way.

“I think we started the game very flat on the defensive end which is unusual for us,” TSK Head Coach Matt Guymon commented.

“This allowed Reading to find a rhythm and their confidence early in the game. I’m proud of how we responded in the third quarter defending much better and playing at our tempo which allowed us to control the game down the stretch.”

Team Solent Kestrels were led by Travis Charles who had 27 points, while Herm Senor II had 26 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds and Tayo Oyefusi continued to do everything his team needed to win with 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block.

Reading’s American forward AJ Carr had 23 points and 12 rebounds to pace them, with Sydney Donaldson having 17 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and Trae Pemberton posting 16 points.

“It’s clear to see why Solent have set the standard for the league,” Reading Head Coach Alan Keane commented, as his side’s four game win-streak came to an end.

“A very talented group of players with a deep roster is going to make it tough for any team to beat them this season. Surprisingly, too many defensive lapses for us cost us significantly especially in the post and off ball. Right up until the last minute we really felt in control and missed a good opportunity to win the game.

“With Senor, Lewis and Charles they really showed their value throughout but especially in key moments of the third and fourth. I’m pleased with the great contribution of our four EABL players who played but would have liked to have got all six in the game at some point. We will review, move on and prep for the next one.”

Box score.

Manchester Magic 74-82 Thames Valley Cavaliers
Thames Valley Cavaliers moved a game above .500 at 4-3 with a 74-82 win over Manchester Magic on the road.

Cavaliers took control in the first half, holding a double-digit lead at the break, and seemed well on their way to victory until a 17-5 run to open the fourth quarter from Manchester saw them pull within 5.

Bob Banks called a timeout, as his side responded with an 8-0 run to secure the win down the stretch.

“We are always pleased to come away with a win, especially on a long road trip,” Coach Banks commented.

“We are also happy to see some progress with our on-court play. We had three good quarters of consistent play on both ends of the court but then in the fourth quarter, for the first 5 minutes we let old bad habits return but at least this time we were able to correct this for the last 5 minutes of the game, and that is progress.

“It was also good to see a return to form at free throw for the team, shooting 90% from line on 20 attempts versus the 56% we shot the week before.”

Abdoulaye Sylla went 9-of-15 for 20 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks, Martelle McLemore had 16 points and Aiden Saunders added 15 and 9 rebounds.

Andre Gayle had 24 to lead the home side, Josh Houghton had 15 points and Jonathan Barnes had 10 points and 9 rebounds. Kayin Darbey added 8 assists.

Box score.

Barking Abbey Crusaders 92-85 Hemel Storm
Barking Abbey ended a five-game losing streak with a 92-85 win over Hemel Storm at home on Saturday.

Hemel were unable to gain momentum off their win over Worthing Thunder last week, despite going up double digits in the first half, Barking Abbey clawed their way back into the game, using a 12-0 run late in the third quarter to take control and fend off Hemel the rest of the way.

Great Britain Under-18 Chris Feeney led BA with 22 points, supported by Ade Adebayo who finished with 18 and Jonathan Brown who chipped in 15.

Meanwhile, Storm captain Bode Adeluola had 22 of his own, joined by Blayne Freckleton with 20 and Leome Francis 14.

Storm slipped to 1-7 in eleventh place in the table and a disappointed Hemel Head Coach Robert
Youngblood said: “We were poor and just didn’t play the way we’d trained during the week.
Rebounding and turnovers really hurt us.

“Barking had 13 more shots than us because of the offensive rebounds we gave up. I told the guys that to lose games because you’re out-hustled is just not acceptable at this club.

“They (Barking) just played harder than we did and that can’t happen again. And we turned the ball over 23 times which is our worst number this season.

“We saw what we’re capable of last week against Worthing so we’ve got to bring that
attitude to every game from now on.”

Box score.

Loughborough Riders 104-70 Derby Trailblazers
Loughborough Riders used a team effort to cruise with a 104-70 victory over Derby Trailblazers on Saturday.

Six players reached double figures for the home side, as they held Derby’s American duo of Treshawn Wilford and Malcolm Smith to 11-of-32 shooting as they reached 12 and 16 points, respectively.

“We were prepared for this one and credit to guys for executing and sticking to what was important,” Loughborough Head Coach Mark Jarram said.

“It’s always nice to see the ball go through the hoop. Fortunately we were able to make shots and again there was contributions throughout the roster. We had some key guys missing and it was nice to see the next man up mentality.”

Loughborough knocked down seven threes in the first quarter to set the tone, as they went on to convert 15 triples, improving to 5-2 on the season sitting in third place in the table.

Derby Head Coach Matt Shaw was not impressed with his side’s performance.

“It was a terrible performance from us really,” he said.

“Loughborough played very well indeed and showed why they are the reigning division one champions. They have brought a lot of players back from that squad and after a slow start to the season they are now playing some great basketball.

“However, it was frustrating because we didn’t battle well enough in the second half so we have to
address that and become more resilient when we find ourselves behind. They hit fifteen three-pointers compared to our four and they killed us on the glass. I’d say those were probably the two most telling statistics, so we will have to work hard to get better and address what went wrong in those areas.

Alex Roberts had 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists to lead Loughborough, Lucien Christofis added 18 points and Niall Harris had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

Box score.

Bradford Dragons 66-72 Team Newcastle
Team Newcastle moved back to .500 (4-4) with a 66-72 victory over Bradford Dragons, who fell to 5-4.

With the score tied at 62, Tosan Evbuomwan scored 8 of his 20 points in the final 1:46 to lead Newcastle to victory. The GB junior international added 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals to continue his impressive form in D1.

David Hanson added 18 points and Ben Seipt finished with 12.

Rihards Sulcs led Bradford with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Jermayne Laing had 16 and Rafael Saipe had 11 assists to go with his 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Box score.

Essex Leopards 95-84 Leicester Warriors
Essex Leopards picked up their first win of the season with a 95-84 win over Leicester Warriors to improve to 1-5 and move off the bottom of the table.

Boosted by the signings of two Americans, KJ Lee and Asante Sandiford, three-point shooting proved to be the key for the home side as Leopards drained 14 of their 30 shots from the beyond the arc, while their dominance on the boards saw them out-rebound the Warriors 46-30, as well as dishing out 33 assists.

Luke Mascall-Wright led the way for the second straight week, as he finished with with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Captain Sam Newman added 11 points, 9 assists and 6 boards while Lee Hodges missed out on a double-double by a single rebound as he finished with 15 points.

KJ Lee and Asante Sandiford chipped in with 8 points apiece, although the latter’s debut was marred as he picked up two technical fouls and was ejected in the fourth period.

“Picking up our first win was the main outcome that we wanted to achieve this weekend,” Essex Head Coach Tom Baker commented.

“Leicester proved to be tough opposition as they frustrated us for the most part and even though there were a few lapses for the most part we did enough to win that game.”

Pak Chingombe had a game-high 28 points to lead Leicester, whilst Lamin Willan had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, but the Warriors fell to 1-7.

Box score.

Nottingham McDonalds Hoods 74-84 Worthing Thunder
Worthing Thunder used an impressive performance from Alex Owumi to pick up a 74-84 win over Nottingham McDonalds Hoods in Nottingham.

Owumi went 7-of-11 from three-point range on his way to 30 points, as Worthing pounced with a 20-6 opening quarter which was enough of a cushion to hold them off the rest of the way, despite a fourth quarter fightback.

“Nottingham are a physical and well-coached team but we were able to disrupt their offence with our press and get an early lead,” Worthing guard Tom Ward told Hoopsfix. “Credit to them in fighting back in the late stages but in the end our offence was too strong.”

Zaire Taylor added 18 points for Worthing, and Ward had 12, as Thunder are now 8-1 in second place.

Cole Welle paced the Hoods with 24 points and 17 rebounds, while Tintin Watts had 22 points,and Luke Mitchell added 7 assists, as the D1 newcomers fell to 4-4 in eighth place.1

Barking Abbey Crusaders 89-76 Manchester Magic
Barking Abbey made it a double-winning weekend with an 89-76 win over Manchester Magic on Sunday at Barking Abbey.

Despite trailing at the half, Barking Abbey dominated the third period, 29-9, to take control and pull out the win.

Jonathan Brown did not miss a shot on his way to 17 points (6/6 FG, 3/3 3PT FG, 3/3 FT), Ade Adebayo had 14 and 5 steals, and Spyros Kapsalos added 14.

“Obviously two wins for us over a weekend is a superb return for us,” BA Head Coach Lloyd Gardner told Hoopsfix.

“I was really pleased, even without the results, the performances we put in over both games. I thought we took real strides defensively in terms of getting closer to where we want to. Hopefully it sets us up for continuing some more good performances that will lead to more wins.”

Jonathan Barnes had 21 to lead Manchester, whilst Daniel Pilkington went 5-for-5 for his 16 points and Josh Houghton added 12.

Manchester Head Coach Aurimas Verbukas is staying positive despite the tough 1-6 season so far:

“Another difficult weekend with 2 losses. We are not far away from where we see ourselves. We are getting better every single day and its a lot of positive things happening on the floor. We now fully focused on games ahead.”

Box score.

National Trophy

Essex Leopards 85-69 Reading Rockets
A dominant 85-69 performance against Reading Rockets saw Leopards make it three straight victories as they won 85-69 at Essex Sports Arena, on Sunday.

The Big Cats now need to beat an already-eliminated Hemel Storm side in their final group game of the National Trophy to progress to a home semi-final against Loughborough Riders.

Leopards led from start to finish, using a 20-8 first quarter to take a commanding lead and leading by as many as 24. Captain Sam Newman led the way with six 3-pointers on his way to 24 points. American Asante Sandiford impressed on his with 17 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.

Findlay Wood scored seven points in the first five minutes to get Leopards off to a good start, and ended up with 15 points and four rebounds, while Lee Hodges added 11 points and seven rebounds. Luke Mascall-Wright completed a good weekend with ten points, five rebounds and as many assists as Leopards again shared the ball well to finish with 21 assists.

“It is great to that we are starting to hit momentum at the right time,” Essex Head Coach Tom Baker said.

“To potentially be in another semi final is a great achievement for us. We knew this weekend would test us mentally as both games had contrasting styles. The game against Reading was by far our best defensive performance and potentially our best performance to date so far. Keeping Reading to 8 points in the first quarter really set the tone for us and it helped us build our performance as the game went on.

“We will continue to get better and with the recent additions of Kj and Asante along with the committed development of the guys who have been here from the start we are now starting to show what we could really achieve this year. I always knew we had these types of performances in us, the guys were excellent this weekend and we look forward to getting on the court together again as we look to build consistency.”

AJ Carr had 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for Reading, with 17 points from Trae Pemberton and 16 from captain Danny Carter.

“A disappointing outcome, resulting from a lack of commitment and poor approach to the start of the game,” Reading Head Coach Alan Keane said.

“Scoring only 8 points in the first period is testimony to Essex defence. However, the effort and lack of fight from our guys throughout the game was truly disappointing. Huge credit to Sam Newman who had an outstanding performance and shot the ball incredibly well.”

Box score.

NBL Division 2

Westminster Warriors 82-74 Ipswich
Westminster Warriors protected home court with an 82-74 win over Ipswich.

Westminster were up by 17 at halftime and held of Ipswich to pick up the win.

Juan Manning had 22 points to lead Westminster, with 18 from Guy Rundle, whilst Eivydas Aleksa had 20 for Ipswich and captain Colin Dockrell had 17, but they fell to to 2-5.

Box score.

Greenwich Titans 75-88 East London All-Stars
East London All-Stars went picked up an 85-78 victory over Greenwich Titans to improve to 3-4 in sixth place in the table.

The game became a battle between East London’s Kyle Gouveia, who finished with 32 points and 13 rebounds, and Greenwich’s Ray Akpofure who had 34 points and 16 rebounds – whose team lost despite winning the individual battle.

Jonathan James added 16 points and 8 assists for the All-Stars.

Box score.

Myerscough College 60-76 Liverpool
Liverpool continued their unbeaten start with a 60-76 victory over Myerscough College.

Holding an 8 point lead at halftime, the league-leaders reeled off a 12-0 run in the third to take a 20 point cushion and never look back.

“After facing Myerscough with our academy only a few days previously we were prepared tactically, although mentally was another story as we suffered 24 turnovers, which is unacceptable at this level,” Liverpool Head Coach Delme Herriman said.

“Myerscough battled to the end but fortunately we had built a big enough cushion at the start of the second half going up by 20 to keep them at bay.”

Mark Rangeley had 18 points to lead Liverpool, David Ulph had 15 points and 18 rebounds, with Kenny Ogunneye adding 15 points and 10 rebounds. Rayon Brown and David Walsh led Myerscough with 13 each.

Box score.

Derbyshire Arrows 68-79 London United
London United climbed back to .500 with a 68-79 win over Derbyshire Arrows.

Modestas Krasauskas’ 18 points led London, who were up by 15 at the half and faced little resistance.

Joseph Baugh had 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead Derbyshire.

Box score.

London Greenhouse Pioneers 69-43 London Westside
London Greenhouse Pioneers crushed London Westside 69-43 for a dominant win.

Pioneers led 43-16 at halftime, holding Westside to single digits in the opening two periods and cruised the rest of the way.

Max Hufschlag had 17 points and 18 rebounds, while Timi Tinubu added 11 points for Pioneers.Patrick Omigie and Zaid Amini led Westside with 9 points apiece.

Box score.

Myerscough College 75-84 Westminster Warriors
Myerscough College were unable to pick up a win over their double-header weekend with a 75-84 loss to Westminster Warriors, who went 2-0 on the weekend to improve to 6-1.

With no team able to gain separation, Westminster finished the game on a 12-1 run to seal victory.

Justin Hitchman led all scorers with 32 points and Jon J Johnson finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Myerscough were led by 24 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and 2 steals from Mate Okros, who bounced back after a tough Saturday, but could not prevent Myerscough dropping to 4-4 on the season.

Box score.

NBL Division 3

Stoke-on-Trent Knights 91-98 Charnwood College Riders
Team Derby Spartans 88-91 University of Chester
Calderdale Explorers 75-74 Team Sunderland
Sheffield Sabres 53-92 Team Birmingham Elite
Oxford Brookes University 65-81 Team Solent Kestrels II
Barking Abbey 54-59 Bristol UWE Flyers II
Team Birmingham Elite 87-90 Birmingham Mets
Derby Trailblazers II 88-69 Sheffield Hallam Sharks
London BC Medelynas 97-90 Essex Blades
Cardiff Met Archers 103-94 Cardiff City

NBL Division 4

Nottingham Trent Hoods 70-76 University of Nottingham
Warwickshire Hawks 89-96 Northants Thunder
Kingston Panthers 75-60 Barrow Thorns
Myerscough College II 97-86 Stockport Falcons
Anglia Ruskin University 85-88 Richmond Knights
Chelmsford Lions 88-59 Canterbury Christ Church Saints
Westminster Dragons 57-81 London Thunder Lewisham
Oxford Stealers 52-90 Bristol Hurricanes
Gloucester Saxons 64-65 Surrey Rams
Coventry Flames 60-74 City of Birmingham Rockets
Cheshire Wire 77-94 Doncaster Danum Eagles
Tameside 75-69 Liverpool Stars
Hemel Storm II 78-76 Canterbury Academy Crusaders
London United II 62-90 Southwark Pride

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