Before the game Crusaders head coach James Vear was aware that there was the possibility that Crusaders could end up outside of the playoffs despite a great finish to the season: “I wanted to make sure the guys weren’t thinking about anything else than getting a win. We had all seen the different scenarios with how close it was from 6th to 9th and I think we were all confused with how many different things could happen. However, we knew if we got a win we were in and that’s all we wanted to concentrate on”.

Crusaders took care of their own business, but it took an amazing comeback and an extra five minutes of play to decide a winner in Northumbria. With only a minute and a half left Crusaders found themselves down by six and coach Vear called time to rally the team.

“We needed to get good looks on offense and we had some success at getting to the rim throughout the second half, just as important was digging in and get some stops,” said Vear.

Crusaders got to the rim straight after the timeout with Sam Betts getting to the hole. Crusaders then put on full court pressure that lead to a quick steal and an easy lay-up for Kalil Irving. With 40 seconds left and Northumbria up by two Crusaders dug in and managed to retrieve the ball with 19 ticks on the clock. With a chance to win or tie the game, Kalil Irving again came up big with another drive to the basket with three seconds left.

Northumbria tried to the throw the ball long straight after the score, but Greg Currat managed to steal it at the half he then took two dribbles and put up a long three to win it but it just came up short and the game was going to overtime.

It had been a draining game and both teams looked tired as overtime started, but it was Crusaders who got the first score. Greg Currant scored a deep three late in the shot clock, for his 19th point, having only missed one shot throughout the game. The lead was short lived, as Damien Lyons picked up an unsportsmanlike foul which also fouled him out of the game, giving Northumbria two free throws and possession of the ball at the half court line. Northumbria hit both free throws and Crusaders fouled on the next play sending Northumbria to the line again, where they tied the game again.

Both teams played good defence for the next few processions, but the ball was in Crusaders’ hands with 15 seconds left. Crusaders wanted to get the ball to their star player Brad Smith for the last shot and Jeff Wadey did a great job of finding him in the post. Brad turned, faced the basket and put up a fade-away from deep in the corner that went in with one sec left on the clock, sending Crusaders up by two points.
Northumbria called a time-out but on the inbounds play they turned the ball over and Crusaders held on for a big win that put them in the playoffs.

Coach Vear was very happy with the performance: “Brad hit a huge shot at the end of the game. It looked good as soon as it left his hands. We got the ball in the hands of the player we wanted to get it to at the end of the game and he executed perfectly. The guys did a great job getting back into the game down by 6 with just over a minute left in regulation time. I felt like the momentum had now turned our way and if we got the first score of overtime we would go onto win it.

“I’m really proud of the whole team. There were times when we were really up against it, not just today but throughout the regular season, and all of the guys have worked so hard to get us into the playoffs.

Now all Crusaders had to do was wait for the result from Birmingham – a result that wouldn’t be in until Monday afternoon.

In Birmingham the A’s knew that a loss to number five Westminster could send them out of the playoffs, while a win would secure them 6th place. Westminster didn’t let the playoff battle at the end of the table faze them, though, and by the middle of the third quarter they were up 58-41. Birmingham might have attempted the comeback, but a broken basket saw the game abandoned. For 48 hours it was uncertain if the game was going to be replayed, but on Monday afternoon England Basketball clarified the issue with a statement:

“Following the game abandonment due to a broken ring the Competitions Convenor has determined that the result at the time of the abandonment stands as the final result of the game.”

After a long wait Crusaders could now start looking forward to a trip to Mansfield and the third place Giants in the first round of the playoffs.
The match started out nervy in the first few minutes with neither team finding much rhythm on offense. Northumbria were looking to get the ball inside to their big man Wintersgill who was a real handfull inside. He would end up with six first quarter points, James Harris got Crusaders off the mark with a deep 3-pointer.

Although Crusaders did not play well in the first quarter they managed to string together a good last two minutes of the quarter with all of the starting five getting on the board. Crusaders went into the first break up by three, 20 – 23.

The second quarter started badly for Crusaders, as Northumbria’s Hutton connected on a deep 3-pointer and got an easy lay-up in transition. It didn’t get any better for Crusaders as Northumbria went on a 8 – 0 run half way through the quarter with Chris Pearce and Wintersgill connecting.

Coach Vear wasn’t happy: “We came very flat in the second quarter. Our defence is what we pride ourselves on and we went away from that for the whole quarter”.

Northumbria lead by as much as ten in the second and came out with a lot of full court pressure. Towards the end of the quarter Crusaders did manage to find some consistency and break the press to score, going into half time down only six, 41-35.

Vears team talk at the half must have worked as Crusaders reeled off 11 straight points to start the third quarter, with Brad Smith having seven of them. Crusaders looked like a different team at the start of the 3rd, as their excellent defence again showed, leading to easy scores.

Northumbria weathered the storm and Wintersgill managed to get good low post position for a couple of inside scores. Greg Currant continued to pile the pressure on for Crusaders scoring 8 straight points from all over the court. Crusaders would go into the 4th up by two 64 – 62.

Northumbria started the fourth quickly knowing that a loss for them might mean the end of their season. Ian Berry who was having an excellent game scored a deep three and a mid range shot to put Northumbria up by 3. The lead would change hands 4 times in the next 3 minutes with both teams trying to gain control of the game. In the last few minutes Northumbria went on a 6 – 0 run, setting up the exciting finish

Westminster started the game in a zone defence and Crusaders struggled early as the outside shots weren’t falling and they were kept scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the game. They managed to stay in the game, though, as Westminster struggled with the Crusaders solid man-to-man defence, only managing to score four points of their own.

More than three minutes in Kalil Irving finally connected on an outside shot, to reduce the Westminster lead to 3-4, and though Westminster managed to build the lead up to four again, Crusaders star Brad Smith took matters into his own hands and made sure the home team stayed in the game. Starting with a three pointer Smith scored the next 14 Crusader points, making six of eight shots to take Crusaders up one at the first break, 17-16.

For the first five minutes of the second quarter the lead changed several times as neither team could establish a commanding lead. Five minutes into the quarter Westminster’s Inacio made a free throw to give the guests a 23-24 lead, but this was to be their last lead of the game. Crusaders went on a 9-2 run to finish the quarter, behind Betts, Irving and Smith baskets.

In the third quarter the game pace picked up considerably. Sam Betts started the scoring for Crusaders with a three pointer, building the lead to nine, 35-26. The lead stayed at nine for the next couple of minutes, but then a forty second spell saw Baker and Williams score eight unanswered Westminster points, to bring them within one, 39-38.

Brad Smith wasn’t about to let all his hard work in the first half go to waste, though, as he scored twice, which seemed to focus the home team again. Harris and Smith scored and the lead was back up to ten, but Crusaders didn’t stop there. Three pointers by Smith and Harris helped build the lead to 17 with a minute to go in the quarter, though Westminster managed to get to 13 before the last quarter, 64-53.

Westminster started the scoring in the final quarter as Junior Williams hit a three pointer, but over the next three minutes neither team was able to find the bottom of the net. The deadlock was broken as Greg Currat hit a three pointer for Crusaders to start a 12-0 Crusaders run, that brought the home team up by 20, 78-56, with five minutes to go.

Westminster tried for the comeback, as Junior Williams tried to draw a foul on every play, but they never got closer than 16, and Crusaders closed the game with a rare Jeff Wadey three pointer for the final score of 89-69.

Outlook

Having won five of the last nine games Crusaders are now close to the coveted eighth position on the league that will qualify them for the playoffs, having the same number of wins as eight place Northumbria, but for two games more.

Next weekend they will play tenth place University of Birmingham on Saturday and second place Brixton Topcats on Sunday. Both games are away.

University of Birmingham picked up their only two wins of the season at home around the start of February, but have since lost three straight.

Brixton were riding a four game winning streak until they lost their last game to top team Durham.

Full stats: http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/123/01/51/38/97IQWbSqPc9Y/

It was the first game in charge for new head coach James Vear, who was looking to get off to a good start: “We spoke before the game and wanted to make sure we got off to a  good start and didn’t let them get into ant sort of rhythm on offence”.

Initially Crusaders were able to stay on target, as they were up by one, 10-9, after five minutes, but when star center Brad Smith came to the bench for a breather Plymouth immediately put on an 8-0 run. Smith was put back on and stabilised Crusaders, but after only 90 seconds he got his second foul and had to sit down again, and Plymouth finished the quarter up 21-16.

In the second quarter Plymouth came out hitting from everywhere, especially from behind the arc where they hit five of seven shots, which frustrated coach Vear:  “We didn’t do a good job in transition which allowed them good looks”.

Smith’s foul trouble continued in the second quarter and allowed him to play only eight minutes in the entire first half. Coach Vear had to rely on the other guys, and was happy to see them succeed: “As a team we stepped up with some big baskets to keep us close, especially Damien Lyons and Kalil Irving who were getting to the basket and finishing”.

With Smith only playing little Crusaders fell behind by 10, but every time Plymouth looked poised to extend the lead Lyons seemed to get open for a layup. With five minutes left in the half and Crusaders down 11, 34-25, Smith got back on the court and immediately the Medway team cut the lead to six before Smith had to sit down again with his third foul.

Despite missing Smith Crusaders stayed within striking range as Lyons’ four points kept the deficit at the half in single figures, 42-34.

Coach Vear didn’t panic despite being down at the half: “For most of the first half we were down by 8 to 10 points but I was still happy with the defence we were playing in the half court. Every shot Plymouth took was a tough one but they just seemed to hit everything. We remained positive and knew if we continued to make Plymouth take tough shots we would be in the game.”

Coach Vear couldn’t have been more right, as Plymouth didn’t make a single shot except from foul shots in the third quarter. “The thing that pleased me the most was the way we played defence in the 3rd quarter”, said Vear, “We have worked really hard on the defensive end in practice since I took over and the third was the best defence we played all season”.

With Brad Smith back in the line up Crusaders also really started to click on offense. Smiths inside presence opened up the floor for everyone else and everyone on the team started to look like a threat.

Crusaders ended up winning the third quarter 28-6 which opened up the game, with a 59-48 Crusaders lead.
Plymouth tried to put on full court pressure in the fourth as they needed to play catch up but Jeff Wadey and Damien Lyons dealt with it really well. Crusaders built the lead to 16 with four minutes to go after a technical foul to Plymouth coach George Hatchell and though Plymouth cut the lead back to eight Crusaders kept their heads cool and hit their foul shots and came away with a 77-65 win.

The players were obviously very happy after the game with captain Sam Betts saying “The team pulled together and got a first win. I thought Damien Lyons really stepped up playing a full forty minutes and hitting some big shots throughout the game”

Coach Vear was happy to get his first win as head coach; ”It was good to get the first win in the league this season, it was a real team effort tonight with everyone contributing. I was really happy with our defensive effort tonight allowing Plymouth only 65 and we took care of the ball better than we have all season only having 12 turnovers“.

Date Played: Saturday, 12-December-2009

Home Team: Plymouth Marjon 65

Away Team: Medway Park Crusaders 77

Venue: University College Plymouth St Mark and St John

Scores

Leading Scorers:

Against the Glyndwr Nets Crusaders started the game well as they quickly build a 13-6 lead as Brad Smith scored 10 points. It didn’t last, however, as a combination of offensive mistakes, poor defensive transition and defensive breakdowns let the home side back in the game, and then let them build a big lead.

“We started out playing good defence and got some easy baskets,” said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen, “but then we just got soft on defence again. The Nets moved the ball well, and we just weren’t able to keep up and we let them put a run on us. It obviously didn’t help that JP Dimandja injured his shoulder as he fell on it after a dunk, as he’s one of our best defenders”.

By quarter time the home side had build a 30-19 lead, and things only got worse at the start of the second quarter as Nets build the lead to 36-21. Down 15 Crusaders finally started to show some life as the defence started clicking and they managed to get the ball inside to Brad Smith on several occasions. With a minute go to in the quarter the lead was reduced to ten, 45-35, but as the Nets scored the last five points of the quarter Crusaders found themselves down 15 at half time.

In the second half the Crusaders’ man-to-man defence really started disrupting the Nets’ offensive flow while Smith and James Harris split 21 of Crusaders 23 points of the quarter between them, pulling the visitors within 6 points at quarter time, 64-58.

From the start of the final quarter it looked like Crusaders might get all the way back as Kalil Irving scored five points to get within three, 66-63, but over the next three minutes the Crusaders attack faltered.

“We’ve seen it a few times this year,” said Crusaders coach Mads Olesen. “We had a 28-16 run going from playing disciplined offence and defence, and then as we get back into the game we start making rushed decisions. Instead of executing like we had during the run we go back to bad decision making and give Nets some cheap points”.

After the slump Crusaders found themselves down eight, 75-64 with four minutes left, but they still had some fight left in them. Greg Currat hit a three pointer, followed by two missed foul shots by Nets’ Roberts. Sam Betts hit a layup, and again Nets missed two from the line, this time by Weedall. With two minutes left Irving drove to the hoop for Crusaders for two, and this time it was Flanagan missing two freebies for Nets. Damian Lyons was called for his fourth foul on the play, but unfortunately a James Harris foul had been entered for Lyons and the Crusaders starting point guard had to leave the game with a fifth foul.

“It is unfortunate that something like that happens,” said Olesen. “Obviously you’ll want your starting point guard to be making the decisions at the end of the game, but on this occasion we had to try and make do without him”.

Now within four, 74-71, Crusaders turned the ball over to give Nets’ Casenove two points. Crusaders answered back, though as Irving flew to the basket for a layup. On the play Crusaders captain Sam Betts went for the rebound, but on an unlucky play got pushed and injured his ankle, rendering him unable to finish the game.

Crusaders still didn’t quit and Harris got fouled and sank two foul shots with a minute left to pull Crusaders within 2, 77-75. On the ensuing possession Crusaders stole the ball but on the break threw the ball away leading to a Nets basket. Crusaders now charged up the court, but again they turned the ball over. A quick foul put Nets Herriman on the line, and as he made one of two shots the Crusaders chances for a win disappeared. The final score was 81-75.

Crusaders captain Sam Betts: “Once again we played well in flashes but we didn’t put 40 minutes of good basketball together. If we have another good week of practice I think we’ll be all right. I’ve got a feeling that we’ll be all right.”

In Reading the beat-up Crusaders came in heavy underdogs, but ended up making an interesting game out of it in the end. The game was Damian Lyon’s 100th game for Crusaders after he – fittingly – came from Reading in 2006. Damian had hoped to return with a victory, but in the first half it looked like the Division 1 Rockets would run away with it.

Reading built a lead through hitting wide open three point shots and hitting the offensive boards. Crusaders failed to recognize that the young Rockets big men could shoot from the outside, resulting in four wide-open 3-point shots made in the first quarter. At the same time the Rockets were able to get second, third and fourth chances off of offensive rebounds, and eventually they would get a basket.

Still the lead was only 8 points, 27-19, with a minute to go in the first quarter, but back to back 3-pointers and a layup from Jason Sayers build the advantage to 16 a minute into the second quarter.

From that point onwards, however, the Rockets didn’t get much else going offensively. Crusaders at one point forced consecutive 24 second violations as well as several steals, as their man-to-man defence started picking up on the Reading screens. For the next 26 minutes of play Reading only managed 32 points.

Crusaders weren’t able to take advantage of their improved defence immediately, as baskets were few and far between. Greg Currat drove to the basket and scored as he was fouled and Damian Lyons hit one-of-two from the foul line before Reading got a basket. Then Brad Smith got a basket followed by a Reading score. Every time Crusaders got closer reading would manage a basket off a rebound or a Crusaders turnover, and at the end of the half the lead was still at 16, 46-30.

From the start of the second half things looked better for Crusaders. They still disrupted the Reading screens, but they now also started executing on offence. Brad Smith repeatedly got the ball and either scored or as he got double teamed he found the open man. JP Dimandja and James Harris got a couple of baskets each, and though Smith himself had only six points he was involved in most of the offensive action.

An 8-0 run in the middle of the quarter got Crusaders back in firing range, down only eight, 47-55, but they had ten points to make up as the teams entered the final quarter.

Crusaders’ defence was still on form, and slowly they clawed themselves closer behind Dimandja, Smith and Harris’s baskets. With four minutes to go they got as close as four and had the chance to get closer, but on consecutive possessions Crusaders turned fast breaks into turnovers. With three minutes to go Crusaders were still within striking distance, down 68-64, but four straight Rockets points had Crusaders chasing the game again.

Crusaders tried to get the ball to Smith, but the physical defence of the Rockets kept him from being effective. As the game was slipping away Smith took his frustration out on an unsuspecting Reading player with a thunderous dunk that even brought the home crowd to it’s feet. It wasn’t enough to win the game, though, as Reading hit seven out of nine free throws to close out the game.

“I look back at that game with mixed feelings”, said Olesen after the game. “We played some of the best defence of the season, but at the same time we gave up 30 points in the first quarter. We’re making silly mistakes at the same time as we make great plays, and we have to cut down on the mistakes, because they cost us the games. We’re on a long losing streak, but in every one of those games we’ve been within striking distance in the last minutes, and it’s just frustrating not being able to pull it off”.

Lyons looked upon his 100th game with mixed emotions: “It was great playing back in Reading. I have some great memories of my time there. I’ve really enjoyed my time at Crusaders and I’m sure playing 100 games for the club is something I’ll look back at with some satisfaction after the season. Right now I’m just focused on going out there and picking up some wins.”

Neither of the teams could get much going early in the game as the inside defence forced both teams to shoot from the outside and shots didn’t fall. After five minutes of play the score was tied at seven, but as Crusaders Canadian star Brad Smith headed to the bench with his second early foul the Edmonton offence got going. As the Crusaders outside shooting still faltered Edmonton started driving to the basket and drawing fouls on the way to a 14-0 run that brought them up 21-7 after the first quarter.

The second quarter started with James Harris finally hitting a three pointer for Crusaders and for the next five minutes Harris appeared to be unable to miss, hitting four three pointers. Unfortunately Crusaders still had to rely on outside shots as Brad Smith was called for a foul and subsequent technical foul, sitting him on the bench with four personal fouls.

Edmonton used the opportunity to extend their lead from 30-20 to 36-20, before the JP Dimandja and Jeff Wadey got Crusaders back on the scoreboard. The Crusaders shooters hit another four three pointers before halftime, taking their quarter score to 30 points, but as they still weren’t able to stop the Storm scoring, the huge scoring total didn’t make a difference and the Medway team still found themselves down 14, 51-57.

The second half was very different than the first, as Crusaders defence finally kicked in. Over the first 16 minutes of the third and fourth quarter the Storm was held to only 13 points, as the Crusaders aggressive man-to-man defence greatly limited their looks at the basket.

Offensively Crusaders struggled a bit early, but as they chanced bringing Brad Smith back in despite his four fouls, offence started clicking, as the guards kept finding him on the inside he had 12 points in five minutes, pulling Crusaders within two points, 61-59.

Disaster then hit, as Smith got his fifth and final foul, shortly followed by the fifth foul to Crusaders’ only other big man JP Dimandja. For a couple of minutes Crusaders looked like they might still pull it off, and they evened the game at 64 apiece as Irving and Lyons hit layups. The inside defence struggled without the big men, however, and Storm slowly build a lead. With two minutes to go Crusaders were still within three points, 72-69, but Storm star Tayo Odulaja promptly hit a three pointer to extend the lead to six, and over the last two minutes Storm slowly pulled away for the 84-74 victory.

After the game Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen was at a loss for words: “We just don’t seem to be able to string 40 minutes of good basketball together. We are very good when we’re good, and very bad when we’re bad. We need to raise out level of play to add some consistency”.

Match Details

Date Played: Saturday, 31-October-2009

Home Team: Edmonton Storm 84

Away Team: Medway Park Crusaders 74

Venue: Edmonton Leisure Centre

Scores:

Leading Scorers:

In the Patrons Cup the Wildcats had run over the other North pool teams, winning by an average margin of 30 points, with the closest game being a 19 point beating of Birmingham A’s in the season premiere. In the National Cup Durham also were impressive. In the opening round they beat local rivals Huddersfield Heat 93-57 and on Sunday they beat Division 1 side Leeds Carnegie 77-68 after running out to a 19-8 first quarter lead.

“I really find little solace in the fact that we’re the team that’s played Durham the closest this year”, said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen after the game. “I’m just gutted right now. We had every chance to win the game against a very good team and then we let it slip through our fingers the last couple of minutes”.

Crusaders started the game well as Durham struggled to find space in the Crusaders’ zone defence and settled for long range shots. A few of the shots were turned into Crusaders fast breaks as Brad Smith ran the floor well, and Kalil Irving walked through the Durham defence on several occasions. Smith was the focal point of the Crusaders offence as he poured in 14 points in the first quarter, and that opened op the outside for James Harris who hit a couple of three pointers.

The good times lasted three minutes into the second quarter when a James Harris three pointer gave the Crusaders a 31-22 lead, but then the Crusaders’ offensive machine came to a halt and Wildcat star Peter Elderkin took over with a seven point spurt of his own in only two possessions. First Elderkin hit a contested three pointer, then Crusaders gave up an unsportsmanlike foul to stop a fast break after an turnover on the next offence. The unsportsmanlike foul cost two made foul shots by Elderkin and gave the Wildcats the ball back at mid court without Crusaders having posession. On the ensuing offence Elderkin scored a baseline jumper to give him his seventh point in less than 20 seconds.

Kalil Irving hit one of two free throws to pause the Wildcats onslaught, but the Cats responded by scoring the next nine points and Crusaders were suddenly in a 38-32 hole. Crusaders didn’t lie down, though, and over the next three minutes they slowly fought their way back, capped off by two Sam Betts three pointers and a Brad Smith layup to get within three points at the half, 48-45.

Over the first four minutes of the second half the Crusaders defence kept the visitors scoreless, and though Crusaders didn’t play great offence they still managed to put eight points on the board and take a five point lead.

From then on and until the last minute it was a defensive battle with both teams struggling to score from the floor, and most of the points coming from the foul line. The Wildcats got back within three points by making two foul shots and from then on the lead for either team only once got to above three points, as the Cats got ahead 66-61 early in the third quarter. Crusaders promptly answered with an eight to two run and took the lead back.

With four minutes left in the game Crusaders star center Brad Smith fouled out, and without his presence on the court Crusaders’ offences failed to be consistently dangerous, and the Wildcats slowly ran up a small lead. With 90 seconds left the score was 74-72, Wildcats, and Crusaders were still within striking distance. A couple of missed Crusaders shots and two turnovers down the stretch let the Wildcats close the game though, and Crusaders saw a golden chance of beating the favourites slip away.

Crusaders captain Sam Betts was disappointed after the game but was hopeful for the future: “It was a tough loss against a very good basketball team. We have to remain positive as we still have lots of room for improvement and work everyday on what we need to do to make ourselves better. If we can do that, based on Saturday’s performance, we will be pushing for the top spots this year.”

Date Played: Saturday, 24-October-2009

Home Team: Medway Park Crusaders 74

Away Team: Durham Wildcats 81

Venue: Medway Park

Scores:

Leading Scorers:

A three point barrage from James Harris and Sam Betts and four inside baskets from Brad Smith in the first quarter helped establish an early Crusaders lead, as they ran out to a 24-8 lead. Initially the Crusaders’ defence didn’t look much improved from the embarrasing losses the weekend before, but a first minute timeout and an earful from defensive coach James Vear got the Crusaders in gear.

“We have focused on defence all week”, said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen, “It didn’t look convincing from the get-go, but coach Vear got the defence stabilised and it steadily improved as the game wore on. In fact it was our offensive decisions that led to most of Sevenoaks’ points”.

At the end of the first quarter Crusaders made some offensive mistakes that led to turnovers and easy Sevenoaks points at the other end. The mistakes got the guests within striking distance at quarter time as Crusaders’ lead was reduced to 29-18.

At the start of the second quarter it looked like Sevenoaks might make it all the way back as Wickham and Henry got them within nine, but the Crusaders stopped throwing the ball away and tightened up on defence and over the next six minutes Sevenoaks only managed five points. Crusaders stretched the lead to 48-28 on James Harris’ fourth three pointer of the half before Sevenoaks’ Taylor got the last basket of the half.

“We were up 18 at the half, and the game looked like it was in the bag, but we really weren’t too happy with the performance”, said coach Olesen after the game. “We felt we had more to give on defence and that we made some bad decisions at the other end. We made some defensive adjustments and experimented a little bit and after a few minutes it paid off”.

From the start of the second half Sevenoaks looked the better team as Taylor scored six of their nine points, only answered by Brad Smith’s six points for Crusaders. The mini/Sevenoaks run seemed to wake up Crusaders, though, and the home team reeled off 13 straight points as they forced several Sevenoaks turnovers.

A big part of the run was Crusaders Academy and under 18’s player Andy Chiguri who was a spark defensively as he made his debut for the men’s team which pleased Crusaders Chairman and Academy head coach Jesse Sazant: “I’m really pleased to see another academy player make his debut for the men’s team. Andy is one of the best defensive players I have worked with and I’m sure he will see more and more time for the men in the future.”

At ths point the game was decided, and Crusaders took the opportunity to test some new lineups and use some of the less used players. There was no let-down, though, as the reserves stretched the lead to 92-50 before Sevenoaks was allowed reel off eight straight near the end of the game to take the final score to 93-58 Crusaders.

“Overall I thought it was a good way to get out of a losing streak”, said coach Olesen. “We got Brad Smith more involved on offence. Other players stepped up and were threats, which opened up things on the inside for Smith. Harris and Betts were dead-on from the outside, and our guards did a great job opening up the Sevenoaks zones. Defensively we still have a ways to go, but there was definite improvement”

The win takes Crusaders through to the third round of the Cup and sets them up with ex-Crusaders star Robbie Parker’s new team in Reading, provided that the Rockets beat Division 3 Portsmouth City Smugglers.

Date Played:     Sunday, 18-October-2009
Home Team:     Kent Crusaders 93
Away Team:     Sevenoaks Suns 58
Venue:     Medway Park
Scores:
Q1     Q2     Q3     Q4     Final Score
Home     29     48     73     93     93
Away      18     30     45     58     58

Leading Scorers:
Scorer 1         Scorer 2           Scorer 3
Home     Smith – 24     Betts – 18         Harris – 16
Away      Taylor – 14     Wickham – 13    Henry – 11

Head Coach Jesse Sazant was most pleased with their professional approach onn the day.  “We had some key guys missing and could have made excuses but the leadership and focus the players showed on the floor was excellent.”

After Coulsden opened the scoring with a 3, Canterbury High reeled off 9 straight points with Disraeli Lufadeju and Andy Chiguiri doing the majority of the scoring.  Coulsden briefly stopped the run with a basket before Lufadeju and Chiguiri sparked another 9-0 run as the Crusaders pulled out to a 18-5 lead.

The second quarter featured more of the same as the Crusaders suffocated Coulsden on defence, while offensively Chiguiri kept finding gaps in the zone and Lufadeju kept attacking the basket.  By halftime the lead had stretched to 37-14.

After trading baskets for the first 3 minutes of the second half, Rob Vassie took over the game hitting a trifecta of 3 pointers as part of a 20-0 run that put the game out of reach.  By the end of the 3rd quarter, Canterbury High led 69-55.

Back to back 3s from Nathan Mills kept them rolling in the final quarter as the Crusaders gave everyone significant playing time.  Tom Solley scored 11 4th quarter points as they continued to stretch their lead to the final 52 point margin.

Chiguiri top scored with 19 points, followed closely by Lufadeju and Vassie with 17 each and Solley with 13.

Sazant summed up the win saying, “Our guys are starting to understand the focus and decision making that they need to be a success at both ends of the floors.  This was a great result but we need to keep improving and moving forward.”