Kestrels Topple Derby to Go Clear - NBL Round Up, Week 9 - Hoopsfix.com
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Kestrels Topple Derby to Go Clear – NBL Round Up, Week 9

By on November 13, 2018
Nick Lewis

There is only one team remaining undefeated in NBL Division 1, as Solent toppled Derby, whilst Liverpool stay perfect in Division 2.

Here is a round up from all the weekend’s action:

Hemel Storm 84-114 Bradford Dragons
Bradford Dragons cruised to a 114-84 victory over Hemel Storm in Hemel on Saturday, improving to 4-3 in fifth place in the league table.

Bradford pounced early, pouring in 31 points in the opening period whilst holding Hemel to 17 and never looked back, shooting 57% overall from the field.

A jubilant Dragons Coach, Chris Mellor, said after the game:

“We played very well, with big contributions from all seven players. The starters all shot the ball well and Allie (Fullah) and Matthew (Armstrong) gave us great minutes off the bench.

“It’s nice to get back on track after some disappointing results lately.”

Meanwhile, Hemel were dealt a blow with the loss of Will Ashby in the third quarter, who suffered what appeared to be a dislocated elbow.

Andreas Lycoudis went 5-for-7 from three point range on his way to 25 points, adding 9 rebound, whilst Jermayne Laing had 22, Rafael Saipe 19 and 6 assists and Ricky Fetske and Richard Sulcs both finishing with double-doubles, as six players reached double figures.

Levi Noel led Hemel with 22 points but needed 25 shots to get there, Tom Adorian had 12 points and 7 rebounds, whilst Bode Adeluola had 9 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

Box score.

Worthing Thunder 104-86 Essex Leopards
Worthing Thunder got back to winning ways with a 104-86 win over Essex Leopards to improve to 6-1 sitting second in the table behind Solent.

Leopards are still searching for their first win of the season (0-5), as Worthing jumped on them early with a 27-14 first quarter and had a comfortable lead the rest of the way, behind the play of Zaire Taylor.

Taylor finished with 38 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks for a 41 efficiency rating, Alex Owumi had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Brendan Okoronkwo had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists whilst missing just three shots.

“I feel that for the vast majority of the game we were able to key into our main targets which shows our ability to approach every team the same way no matter what their position in the league,” Worthing Coach Josh Goddard said.

“We did have small sequences where we lacked in focus so to go further we need to become more consistent, however I don’t see this being a taxing task.”

20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists from Sam Newman led Essex, along with 14 points from Lee Hodges, as the Leopards registered 31 assists on the game.

Box score.

Thames Valley Cavaliers 98-61 Leicester Warriors
Thames Valley Cavaliers made light work of Leicester, prevailing 98-61, to move a game above .500 at 3-2 in seventh place in the table.

Cavaliers dominated the first half and final period, and crushed Leicester on the glass, where they won the battle of the boards 58-29, including 19 offensive rebounds.

Walid Mumuni led the home side with 18 points, Martelle McLemore had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, whilst Aiden Saunders added 14 points.

“We are happy that we took another positive step in our development, but we still have a significant journey in front of us in order to reach our potential,” Cavaliers Head Coach Bob Banks told Hoopsfix.

“Having said that, we are always happy with a win, but we want much more out of our players and we know they have it to give.

“The final score does not really reflect the storyline of the match. Leicester played 3 very good quarters and then just ran out of gas as they were missing some key people. We continued our pattern of putting our foot on the gas pedal and then resting.

“Our team still has to come to grips with playing 40 hard consistent minutes and not just in enough spurts to win the match. We believe we assembled good group with a lot of potential, but we still have a lot of hard work and development of front of us.”

Leicester were led by 17 points from Lamin Willan and 14 from Brian Orr, but it would prevent them from falling to 1-5, sitting second from bottom in the table.

Box score.

Team Solent Kestrels 89-56 Derby Trailblazers
Team Solent Kestrels came out on top in the battle of the two undefeated teams remaining, with an 89-56 win over Derby Trailblazers at home.

Nick Lewis scored 8 points to spark a 10-0 run midway through the second period to put Solent up 21 before the halftime break and the visitors would never get closer than 13 the rest of the way. A 23-6 final quarter was the final dagger in the coffin for the Trailblazers.

Lewis led Solent with 21 points, whilst Travis Charles had a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double, Louie Kirkman added 16 and 9, whilst Tayo Oyefusi had 13 rebounds and 8 assists. Solent knocked down 12 three-pointers as they went 46% from deep, whilst holding Derby to 26% from the field.

Kestrels Head Coach Matt Guymon praised his side’s performance.

“This was an excellent performance from our guys, especially on the defensive end,” he said.

“Holding the highest scoring team in the league to 56 is a huge statement. We shot the ball very well from three point range tonight which I think saved us at times offensively. We now need to focus on our execution over the next few weeks and continue to integrate our new additions.”

Malcolm Smith led Derby with 16, and Treyshawn Wilford had 11 points and 11 rebounds but was held to 3-for-18 shooting. Matt Ward-Hibbert was nursing a foot injury that saw him limited in spells.

“Full credit to Solent, they were excellent on the night,” Derby Head Coach Matt Shaw said.

“We really didn’t get anything going offensively, we didn’t shoot the ball at all well and when you come up against a team like Solent you can’t afford to shoot the low percentage like we did. We missed some open looks but credit to Matt [Guymon] and his team, because they made us work for everything and forced us to take a lot of tough ones.

“They have a lot of threats and we couldn’t contain them as well as we’d have liked to particularly in the first half. The positive is that we know we have and we can perform a lot better than we did down there, so we need to work to get back up to that level for next week.”

Box score.

Manchester Magic 73-72 Team Newcastle
Manchester Magic picked up their first win of the season with a 73-72 come-from-behind victory over Team Newcastle on Sunday.

Trailing by three heading into the final period, a Kayin Darby score gave Manchester the lead with 2:49 to play as part of an 8-0 run sandwiched around an unsportsmanlike foul called on Onyekachi Nzerem. It gave Manchester enough of a cushion to hold off the visitors the rest of the way, as David Hanson hit a three with 20 seconds remaining for the final margin.

Josh Houghton had 24 points to lead Manchester, and big man Richard Bell was the only other player in double figures with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“Fight, grit and trust in one another got us the win tonight,” said Magic Captain Daniel Pilkington.

“Even though we fell behind in the first, we chipped away in the second. We didn’t panic, we didn’t rush. We played the game we know and felt comfortable with and that paid dividends in the end.
I am proud of all the players, coaching staff and the club for grabbing the win.”

Tosan Evbuomwan continued his impressive season in the NBL, with a 21 point outing, with Nzerem adding 16 and Fran Urli 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, as Newcastle fell to 2-4.

Box score.

Reading Rockets 97-80 Hemel Storm
Reading Rockets improved to 4-2 with a 97-80 win over Hemel Storm on Sunday.

With Hemel leading by one heading into the final period, Reading reeled off a 20-1 run to open the period, including four consecutive three pointers to take an 18 point lead and ultimately, the win.

Adrian O’Sullivan was unstoppable finishing with a 32-point outing, whilst Trae Pemberton had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and Sydney Donaldson 14. GB under-18 junior international Arinze Emeka-Anyakwo added 13 points.

“A win is always a welcome and a desired outcome,” Reading Head Coach Alan Keane commented.

“However one can’t go without acknowledging the ill discipline of our offence at times and unnecessary fouling, giving our opposition easy opportunities. Beyond that we did show our growth for the most part.
Particularly our Academy players who contributed valuable minutes throughout.

“A special mention must go to Adrian O’Sullivan who continues to get better week to week, was outstanding on offence. A real team performance all round makes for a satisfying win but still areas to develop.”

Storm are now 1-5 after falling to their third straight loss, wasting a 31-point effort from Blayne Freckleton.

Box score.

NBL Division 2

Myerscough College 70-64 East London All Stars
Myerscough College started their double-header weekend off with a 70-64 win over East London All-Stars in a re-match of last year’s Division 3 Playoff Final.

David Walsh scored 10 of his game-high 15 points after halftime to help spark Myerscough, who dominated the glass.

“This is going to give me great confidence going forward, particularly with my shooting,” said Walsh.

“Despite starting the season in a bit of a slump, the guys are still finding me and wanting me to take those shots and today it helped sparked us to a win.”

Samuel Keita added 12 points and 7 rebounds, and Mate Okros 11 on his return from the US, whilst East London were led by trio with 12 points each.

Box score.

Greenwich Titans 70-87 London Westside
London Westside picked up their second win of the season with a 70-87 road win over Greenwich Titans, who fell to 1-3 in the defeat.

Tyrell Isaacs led London with 15, and Patrick Omigie added 14, as Westside went 12-for-16 from three.

“We were pretty solid defensively limiting their 3 point looks and their transition game,” Westside Head Coach Frank Lamptey said.

“Offensively, we had a balanced team performance with 4 guys with double figures points and 2 guys with 9 points as we have really emphasised sharing the ball. This helped us make 12 three point shots and shoot a great percentage. The challenge is now to maintain that consistency for the upcoming games”

Greenwich were led by 13 points from Arturo Noha-Pascual.

Box score.

Westminster Warriors 72-59 Sussex Bears
Westminster Warriors continued their strong start with a 72-59 win over Sussex Bears to improve to 3-1 in second place in the table.

Warriors had a dominant opening period and wouldn’t look back, led by 20 points and 8 rebounds from Justin Hitchman. Juan Manning added 13, whilst Jon J Johnson hauled in 11 rebounds.

Cordaris Townes had a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double, whilst Joe Carter came off the bench for 17 points.

Box score.

London United 67-71 London Greenhouse Pioneers
London Greenhouse Pioneers climbed back to .500 (2-2) with a 67-71 road win over London United.

Pioneers held on after a furious fourth quarter rally that saw United trailing by 15 heading into the period.

“It was an important away win for us as,” Greenhouse Head Coach Predrag Kneta commented.

“We managed to keep their main offensive threats below their season averages. We have to improve how we play basketball on both ends of the floor and focus on the next game.”

Kyle Diaz had 18 points to lead Greenhouse, with Mbombo Yebga adding an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double.

17 points and 14 rebounds from Marius Talijunas led United.

Box score.

Derbyshire Arrows 77-85 Liverpool
Liverpool continued their perfect start, improving to 5-0 atop of Division 2 with a 77-85 win over Derbyshire Arrows, despite being short-handed.

Without David Ulph and Kenny Ogunneye, Mark Rangeley stepped up with 24 points, and Jack Hudson added 18 points.

Joseph Baugh once again led Derbyshire with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Callum McKenzie had 11 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists to fall just short of a triple double.

Box score.

Myerscough College 64-72 Ipswich
Myerscough College were unable to make it a double-winnig weekend with a 64-72 loss to Ipswich.

Myerscough, which sunk into an early 15-4 hole that it couldn’t dig out of, dropped to 3-2 in D2 after coming from behind to beat East London.

“Consistency,” said Myerscough coach Neal Hopkins. “We have too many phases in the game where we switch off or are disengaged and teams at this level are going to hurt you. We preached at the start of the year that we need to make the home court stick, but today we’ve been let down.”

Veron Eze led the Ipswich charge with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals, and Colin Dockrell had a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double. Ipswich improved to 2-3 with the win, sitting in seventh place.

David Walsh had 17 and Lewis McGlasson 16 for the hosts.

Box score.

NBL Division 3

Calderdale Explorers 88-96 Birmingham Mets
Sheffield Sabres 72-85 Charnwood College Riders
Stoke-on-Trent Knights 97-101 Team Derby Spartans
Team Sunderland 78-87 Team Birmingham Elite
Sheffield Hallam Sharks 79-78 University of Chester
WLV Albion 57-52 Derby Trailblazers II
Barking Abbey 66-84 Essex Blades
Swindon Shock 104-94 Bristol UWE Flyers II
Cardiff Met Archers 69-84 Team Solent Kestrels II

NBL Division 4

City of Birmingham Rockets 94-88 University of Nottingham
Charnwood College Riders II 79-53 Birmingham Mets II
Northants Thunder 74-71 Mansfield Giants
Kingston Panthers 88-79 Myerscough College II
Doncaster Danum Eagles 67-84 Newcastle Eagles U23
Chelmsford Lions 85-39 Southwark Pride
Anglia Ruskin University 54-83 London Thunder Lewisham
Richmond Knights 76-72 Canterbury Christ Church Saints
Westminster Dragons 69-74 Canterbury Academy Crusaders
Coventry Flames 61-76 University of Nottingham
Cheshire Wire 77-91 Stockport Falcons
Tameside 77-42 Barrow Thorns
Hemel Storm II 89-44 London United II
RCT Gladiators 93-64 Gloucester Saxons

National Shield

Essex Blades 87-72 Oxford Brookes University
Charnwood College Riders 76-73 Sheffield Hallam Sharks
WLV Albion 86-67 Dorset Storm
Westminster Dragons 87-109 University of Chester
Swindon Shock 93-79 Newcastle Eagles U23
Bristol Hurricanes 88-86 Birmingham Mets
Stoke on Trent Knights 68-86 London BC Medelynas

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