Crawley Storm stun BCU for NBL D3 Playoff title

Crawley Storm stunned Birmingham City University 92-85 to claim the Division 3 Men’s Playoff title on Saturday afternoon at the NBPC in Manchester.

Entering as underdogs, Storm fielded a roster composed almost entirely of teenagers, with only three players over 18. With eight members also set to compete in the Under-18 Final Fours next weekend, they nevertheless built a 13-point advantage and withstood a late surge to claim their first Senior title.

.@StormBballClub pull off the upset to claim the @nblengland D3 Playoff title with a 92-85 win over BCU! ⛈️

Safi Tidjani picks up MVP honours with a 21 point, 12 rebound outing pic.twitter.com/narL5t99sq

— Hoopsfix (@Hoopsfix) April 26, 2025

The club, a regular in the Junior Final Fours, but making their first appearance in a Senior Final, remained as stunned as everyone else after the final whistle.

“I’m shocked, I’ll be honest with you,” Head Coach Danny Hildreth said after the game.

“We weren’t coming for a participation medal, but we’ve had an unbelievable year, it’s a credit to them (the players) and all the work they’ve put in over the year. I’m so proud of them it’s fantastic.

“We just didn’t quit and we believed in ourselves. We went into practice all week like we’re the underdogs but underdogs win and that was always in our hearts and minds. At halftime we spoke about that, this is now a 20 minute game and we can do something no-one is expecting us to do.”

Safi Tidjani took home MVP honours after finishing with a 21-point, 12-rebound double-double.

“It’s really great,” the MVP said. “It’s pretty much our last year together as a team so it’s a great way to go out.”

Sean Mackey had all four of his three pointers in the first half on his way to 18 points, veteran Tom Ward had 15 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Matt Aziamale had 13.

Ronald Oberia was unstoppable for BCU, finishing with 34 points, six rebounds and five steals but it would not be enough.

Box score.