Andre Arissol exploded for 37 points in an MVP performance for the ages as Solent Kestrels defeated BA 83-62 to claim the NBL D2 Playoff title on Saturday at the NBPC in Manchester.
Arissol went 6/9 from the three-point line and added four rebounds, five assists and give steals as BA had no answer for him.
“I feel like we deserve it,” Arissol said after the game.
“We’ve worked so hard, we’ve got great coaches, great program, so it’s just an honour to be a vessel for the program and go out and compete. Good things happen like this when you work hard.”
Isa Brandon added 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Russell Gariepy had 10 points, as Solent pounced on BA early and led from start to finish.
.@AndreArissol brought out the hand grenade celly
@bballengland pic.twitter.com/hFO35zQc8T
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“It means everything to us,” Solent Head Coach Matt Guymon said after the game.
“We’ve worked so hard over the course of the year, we’ve grown through some real challenges over the course of the year and to finish like this is fantastic.
“We’ve got some more experienced players that have been here, we did a good job…Credit to BA, they’ve had an incredible year. They’re so young and they challenged us through the year.
“He’s (Andre Arissol) incredible. I’m so glad he was able to have a game like this on his stage, he’s shared championships with us before in Year 1, it’s so nice to have him back, the type of character he is, I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Amarlie Wilkinson had 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead BA.
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