Hemel Stun Worthing in Cup - NBL Round Up, Week 10 - Hoopsfix.com
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Hemel Stun Worthing in Cup – NBL Round Up, Week 10

By on November 20, 2018
Levi Noel Hemel Storm

It will be Hemel, Loughborough, Solent and Essex in the National Cup semi-finals, following the quarter-finals this weekend.

Find out more about that, along with league play in NBL Division 1 and 2, in our weekly round up:

National Cup

Hemel Storm 95-83 Worthing Thunder
Hemel Storm produced the result of the weekend with a 95-83 upset over Worthing Thunder, to knock them out of the National Cup and book Storm’s place in the semi-finals.

Despite trailing at halftime, Hemel dominated the third period 32-9, and locked down Zaire Taylor in the second half, holding him to just three points after he poured in 30 across the first two periods.

The home side also focused their defensive efforts on Alex Owumi, who was held to 2-of-12 shooting, whilst establishing inside presence through Leome Francis, as he finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds on 11-for-15 shooting.

“It was a great team effort,” said Storm Head Coach Robert Youngblood. “Wveryone was locked in and of course holding Taylor to just 3 points in the second half swung the game our way. Levi (Noel) did a terrific job individually on him but he had help from everyone else too whenever it was needed.

“Our fans were fantastic tonight, I thought the roof was going to come off!”

Levi Noel led Hemel with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, Leon Henry added 17 points and Bode Adeluola had 14, 5 and 6.

Taylor added 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to go with his 33 for Worthing, whilst Ishmael Fontaine added 13 points.

“The game was a story of two halves with us unfortunately being on the wrong end of the score line,” Worthing Coach Josh Goddard said.

“The result was disappointing and it’s given us plenty of things to work on in practice. The first half we defended well and our shots were falling, the second half we started slow and gave Hemel the confidence that they needed.”

Box score.

Leicester Warriors 76-98 Loughborough Riders
Loughborough Riders booked their place in the National Cup Semi-Finals with a 76-98 road win over Leicester.

Loughborough led by double digits for most of the first half until a fightback from Leicester made it a one possession game. However, Riders steadied the ship and gradually extended the lead for the remainder of the contest.

Jonas Dieterich led Loughborough with 19 points, Alex Roberts had 14, whilst Hosana Kitenge and Niall Harris added 13 each.

Lamin Willan had 21 points to pace Leicester, with Martyn Gayle adding 20.

Box score.

Thames Valley Cavaliers 89-93 Team Solent Kestrels
Team Solent Kestrels survived a scare from Thames Valley Cavaliers for an 89-93 victory to book their semi-final spot.

Though it was Solent who drew first blood, there would be multiple lead changes as neither side could grab control until an 11-3 run at the end of the third gave Solent a cushion. They soon extended it to double digits early in the fourth period and it was enough to be able to hold off Thames Valley the rest of the way; despite them scoring 13 points in the final two minutes to pull it back.

Herm Senor had 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Travis Charles had 21 points and 11 rebounds on 9-for-11 shooting, Elliott Dadds had 21, whilst Nick Lewis was held to 15 points and 10 rebounds on 5-for-14 shooting.

Kestrels Head Coach Matt Guymon was proud of his team’s gritty performance; “I felt this game was spoilt by the referee’s lack of man management/consistency, meaning a number of key players for both teams had to sit out extended minutes.

“I thought we responded well in the second half and we were able to just do enough down the stretch to grind out the win.”

Abdoulaye Sylla led five players into double figures for Thames Valley with 21 points and 12 rebounds, on 10-for-12 shooting, Martelle McLemore had 18 and Prince Lartey 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

“We came up on the short end of stick and this is both frustrating and disappointing, but we did improve on Saturday’s performance,” Cavaliers Head Coach Bob Banks commented.

“Shooting 56% from the free throw line and being out rebounded by 9 boards, made the slope much steeper than it needed to be. Going forward we will have a few common goals, achieving the playoffs and continuing to improve as a team.”

Box score.

Essex Leopards 87-76 Manchester Magic
Essex Leopards advanced to the National Cup semi-finals with a 87-76 victory over a depleted Manchester Magic side.

Six players reached double figures for Essex, who used a 17-0 run in the second quarter punctuated by a big dunk from Sam Newman put Essex up 14 at the half as they would hold off any attempted Manchester comebacks.

Luke Mascall-Wright led Essex with 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, Sam Newman had 14 points and Lee Hodges had 10 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks.

“Great result for the team today,” Essex Head Coach Thomas Baker commented, whose side is 0-5 in league play.

“Proud of them for coming together when needed to put us in the semi-final. It is exciting to see where this season can take us. This win has given us the belief that we can turn our season around.

“It was a fantastic team performance with a number of the guys stepping up to take us to the next stage. Luke put in a great performance on the offensive end, Findlay played solid defence throughout and Lee was monstrous on the boards as well. Shoutout to Findlay Tom and Rory knocking down some big 3s in the fourth to take us through to the end of the game.

“Lastly let me just say the crowd was excellent tonight. It was great to see so many fans come and show their support for the Leopards. It meant a great to the players and to everyone involved in this club, they were truly amazing.”

Andre Gayle paced Manchester with 25 points, and Jonathan Barnes had 15 points and 19 rebounds for the short-handed Magic side.

“Due to illness and personal reasons we traveled with 8 players,” Manchester Head Coach Aurimas Verbukas said.

“Proud of the effort and team spirit. Every single player contributed and represented Magic well. The second quarter cost us the game, but we only lost one quarter and were only 6 points down with 5 minutes left. Shorthanded but with big hearts we fought for the Magic name.”

Box score.

NBL Division 1

Derby Trailblazers 91-102 Nottingham McDonald’s Hoods
Nottingham McDonald’s Hoods prevailed 91-102 over Derby Trailblazers in what became a battle of two American big men on the inside.

Cole Welle finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds on 11-for-17 shooting to lead Nottingham, who overcame a monster 37-point, 10-rebound effort from Malcolm Smith.

Derby jumped out to a 15-5 lead, but were let down by a stretch sandwiching the end of the first and start of the second, as Nottingham pounced, taking an 11-point lead at the end of the first, before stretching it to 14 in the first couple of minutes of the second, as TinTin Watts knocked down two of his seven three-pointers on his way to 24 points.

Head Coach Matt Shaw was honest in his assessment of what had gone wrong:

“It was really disappointing for us to not come away without the win, especially after we also lost out to them in the Trophy, but I thought the best team won on the night.

“Credit to Nottingham, they played very well. We had a really poor patch at the end of the first and start of the second and that’s were the game got away from us.

“For the most part I thought we challenged shots quite well, but it seemed like TinTin and Delaney Powell made some really tough shots when we were putting them under considerable pressure. ”

Delaney Powell added 20 points in his return from injury for Nottingham, whilst Tre-Shawn Wilford added 23 for Derby.

Nottingham Coach Ryan Westley commented after the game: “Great execution in the 1st half but more pleasing was the fighting spirit and level heads in the 2nd half. We showed some great potential today.

Hoods Guard Luke Mitchell added: “We knew it was a big game and a chance to make a statement. It was our first game of the season with a full healthy team, so we wanted to show what we’re capable of and I think we did that.

“Everyone was switched on and carried out their assigned role to the best of their ability. It was great to come away with a such a good result against our local rivals. Cole (Welle) had a great game in front of his dad, who was over from America to watch him play in England for the first time.”

Newly promoted Hoods are now 4-3 in 7th place, whilst Derby fell to 5-2.

Worthing Thunder 104-85 Barking Abbey
Worthing Thunder rode a dominant second period to a 104-85 win over Barking Abbey on Saturday in Worthing.

Thunder poured in 42 points in the second period, outscoring BA by 18 to take a 23-point lead into halftime and never look back, in what was otherwise a relatively close affair.

Six players reached double digits for Worthing, led by 20 from Tom Ward, 18 from Alex Owumi and 13 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals from Zaire Taylor, as the home side registered 25 assists on the game.

Ade Adebayo had 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for Barking, Nathaniel Powell had 13 and Jonathan Brown 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

“We played pretty well for three quarters but obviously we had a terrible second quarter,” BA Head Coach Lloyd Gardner said.

“With a team of Worthing’s quality, especially offensively, you can’t afford to have a period as bad as we did. They’re a really tough match up for us, and especially in that second quarter they showed their quality and we just did not respond in the way we needed to.”

Barking Abbey are now 1-5 in 11th place, as Worthing improved to 7-1 in second place.

Manchester Magic 67-111 Loughborough Riders
Loughborough Riders cruised on their way to a 67-111 rout of Manchester Magic.

Loughborough poured in 33 points in the first quarter, and another 32 in the second as they faced little resistance from a reeling Magic side who were unable to build upon their first win last weekend.

Loughborough had seven players reach double digits, led by 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists from Reis Pinnock and 19 from Yiannis Panaretakis, as all 12 players on the roster saw double-digit minutes.

“We are just trying to improve every week,” Loughborough Head Coach Mark Jarram commented.

“It is nice to see that transfer to the games. Next week will be no different. Always impressive to see the continued contributions up and down the roster.”

Magic were led by 15 points from Josh Houghton and a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double from Jonathan Barnes.

Manchester Head Coach Aurimas Verbukas said:

“The game I would like to forget asap and please note that I support all players and understand that there are some frustrations because of the heavy loss.

“We are in the process of rebuilding. I am 100% in support and behind of all players and if there is anyone to blame please that person be me and not the players.

“Positives from the game are 17-year-old Malachi Boakye-Yiadom played 22 minutes and scoring 10 points. Good for development.”

Riders are now 4-2 sitting in fifth place, whilst Manchester are one from the bottom of the table at 1-5.

Box score.

Leicester Warriors 88-98 Bradford Dragons
Bradford Dragons secured a hard-fought 88-98 win over Leicester Warriors on Saturday afternoon.

Bradford held it together despite losing American point guard Drexler Clark earlier in the week, having flown home for person reasons and will not be returning to the club.

Dragons used a 17-0 first quarter run to take a 30-13 lead after the opening quarter to grab control. It looked over, but Leicester had other ideas with a never say die attitude. The home side clawed it back to single digits before halftime, and despite, again, going down by 18 in the third, they pulled it back to within 4.

However, Dragons used a pair of three-pointers to restore a double-digit advantage and it would be enough to close the door on Leicester.

Rihards Sulcs had 28 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Bradford, whilst Ricky Fetske was also dominant with a 25 point, 18 rebound, 4 block effort. Jermayne Laing had 14 points and 11 assists.

Dragons Coach Chris Mellor didn’t waste his words at the end of the game, simply stating:

“We didn’t do a great job of guarding off the dribble or contesting the three, but we had enough offensively to keep finding scores when we needed to.”

Bradford Dragons are now 5-3 in fourth place, as Leicester are 1-6 in twelfth place.

Box score.

Thames Valley Cavaliers 85-92 Team Newcastle
Team Newcastle prevailed with an 85-92 win over Thames Valley Cavaliers on Saturday at Uxbridge College.

Despite using only a seven-man rotation, Newcastle held off Thames Valley in the second half, after overturning a double-digit deficit in the first half.

Onyekachi Nzerem had 25 points and 9 rebounds, David Hanson finished with 21, and Tosan Evbuomwan had 19 for Newcastle.

“That was by far our best team performance,” Newcastle Head Coach Ian Hewitt commented.

“Everyone fully bought in to how we want to play here and fought on the defensive end. Hopefully we can keep improving and when players return we will start to see how we will shape up.”

Martelle McLemore had 25 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, Elliott Defreitas had 20 points and 15 rebounds and Aiden Saunders had 17.

Team Newcastle climbed a game closer to .500, with a 3-4 record in eighth place, whilst Thames Valley drop to 3-3 with the loss.

“I have to congratulate Coach Hewitt on the performance of his team and their fortitude,” Cavaliers Head Coach Bob Banks commented.

“After falling behind early, they stayed on their game plan and got rewarded with a well-deserved victory.

“For my team, one step forward and two steps backwards. Our coaches have worked hard all year on stressing the importance of 40 minutes of consistent hard play on both sides of the courts, keeping aligned to the principles and trusting each other. Saturday was another reminder of how difficult this journey is going to be.

“You cannot allow a team to make 10 first half 3-point shots on nearly 60% shooting and expect to win. Hopefully a few adjustments will assist us going forward. We believe, overall we have a good group but we have to continue to learn and improve as a team.”

Box score.

Team Solent Kestrels 78-58 Hemel Storm
Solent continued their unbeaten start to the season, moving to 8-0 with a 78-58 victory over Hemel Storm on Saturday.

Kestrels led from start to finish but held off multiple rallies from Hemel. A 6-0 Storm run to open the fourth saw the visitors pull within 4, however, a 7-2 run in reply for the home team Kestrels, behind a Louie Kirkman and-1, meant they would retake a 9 point lead with 5 minutes left, before closing out the game on a 17-6 swing.

Solent were led by Elliot Dadds who had 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, he was backed up by Nick Lewis’ 13 points and Herm Senor’s 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Tayo Oyefusi had 18 rebounds to go with his 10 points.

TSK Head Coach Matt Guymon gave his thoughts on another win for his side:

“I thought our defensive focus was great tonight. Hemel are one of the higher scoring teams in the league, so to hold them to 58, shows how locked in our guys were. We still need to be more clinical on the offensive end, but this will come as the new guys become more integrated into the system.”

Hemel Storm forward Leome Francis had 14 points off the bench, whilst Bode Adeluola chipped in 12, Levi Noel had 10 and Jamie Hayes hauled in 15 rebounds but Hemel dropped to 1-6 in tenth place.

Box score.

NBL Division 2

Liverpool 98-82 London United
Liverpool improved to 6-0 atop of the table with a 98-82 win over London United, who dropped to 2-3.

“We expected a very tough game knowing the good Lithuanian players they had last season, combined with their new EYBL academy team,” Liverpool Head Coach Delme Herriman commented.

“We got off to a solid start and managed to maintain a comfortable lead for most of the game.”

David Ulph led Liverpool with 27, Jack Hudson had 19 and Mark Rangeley finished with 17.

Daniel Szatkowski led London with 29 points, Khalil Afrasyab contributed 18, and Marius Talijunas added 15.

Box score.

Ipswich 87-98 Myerscough College
Callan Low hit six 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 26 points and Mate Okros added 24, and Myerscough rebounded to beat Ipswich 98-87 on Saturday.

Myerscough responded to an eight-point home defeat to Ipswich six days ago to reverse the result, overcoming a 30-point, 10-rebound effort from Colin Dockrell. Veron Eze added 19 points and Ethan Price had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

Myerscough are now 4-3 in third place, as Ipswich fell to 2-4.

Box score.

East London All-Stars 75-76 Westminster Warriors
Westminster Warriors escaped with a 75-76 victory over East London, to improve to 4-1 in second place in NBL Division 2.

Jon J Johnson led Westminster with 25 points, and Justin Hitchman added 24.

Jonathan James had a game-high 29 for East London, who fell to 2-4.

Box score.

London Greenhouse Pioneers 81-62 Derbyshire Arrows
London Greenhouse Pioneers cruised to an 81-62 win over Derbyshire Arrows.

Kyle Diaz led with 25 points, Max Hufschlag aded 23 points and 13 rebounds for Pioneers, who improved to 3-2.

Joseph Baugh once again led Derbyshire with 23 points, but they fell to 1-4.

Box score.

NBL Division 3

Birmingham Mets 84-79 Team Sunderland
Team Birmingham Elite 64-68 WLV Albion
University of Chester 93-70 Stoke-on-Trent Knights
Charnwood College Riders 63-89 Sheffield Hallam Sharks
Team Derby Spartans 118-63 Calderdale Explorers
Team Solent Kestrels II 81-83 London BC Medelynas
Essex Blades 74-69 Cardiff Met archers
Derby Trailblazers II 91-88 Sheffield Sabres
Cardiff City 87-62 Barking Abbey

National Shield

Team Derby Spartans 97-84 City of Birmingham Rockets

NBL Division 4

City of Birmingham Rockets 88-72 Northants Thunder
Mansfield Giants 62-72 Coventry Flames
Nottingham Trent Hoods 75-74 Charnwood College Riders II
Doncaster Danum Eagles 86-72 Tameside
Stockport Falcons 95-76 Kingston Panthers
Canterbury Christ Church Saints 20-0 Westminster Dragons
London Thunder Lewisham 69-57 Richmond Knights
Canterbury Academy Crusaders 78-86 Chelmsford Lions
Dorset Storm 84-81 Cardiff Met Archers II
Bristol Hurricanes 91-79 Huish Taunton Tigers
Liverpool Stars 78-90 Newcastle Eagles U23
Barrow Thorns 20-0 Cheshire Wire
Anglia Ruskin University 70-62 Canterbury Christ Church Saints
Southwark Prider 87-57 Hemel Storm II
RCT Gladiators 87-71 Surrey Rams

For stories, quotes and images to be included in the NBL Round Up – please contact [email protected].

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