93-83

Medway Park Leisure Centre, 03/12/11

Report by Nick Moore

The return of point guard Steve Vear, and a strong last quarter of 34 points helped the Medway Park Crusaders pull out a 93-83 victory against the BA London Leopards at Medway Park on Saturday night, 03 December.

The win, which helps the Crusaders move up to mid-table in the EBL Division One, is their second win of the season.

Stand out players on the night were guard Vear, who hit a double-double of 13 points and 11 assists, making him only the fifth player in Crusaders history to make 100 career assists, and the power forwards, 6’9 Joseph Schow and 6’6 Adrian Fenyn, who combined for 50 points.

The game was always going to come down to how well Medway contained the Leopard’s Vernon Teel and Ousman Krubally, who are the top two scorers in the league – between them have averaged nearly 55 points and 24 rebounds per game.

Luckily for the Crusaders, Krubally did not play, and they managed to keep the import Teel to just 24 points.

The BA-sponsored Leopards won impressively last week against league leaders Bristol, and their confidence showed in the first quarter, with Teel hitting three 3’s early on.  The Crusaders struggled to find any rhythm offensively and were down 20-15 after 10 minutes.

In the second period the Crusaders started to get the ball inside to Schow and Fenyn who both were becoming a handful for the Leopards defence. 

The Leopards though continued to knock down their shots to remain in the lead, and with only a few seconds left in the quarter 6’2 guard Luke Baker knocked down a big three to take the Crusaders into the break trailing 39-35.

After the interval, both teams came out a bit flat in the third, but half way through the quarter the Crusaders began to hit some big shots. 

Vear and Schow combined well giving the Medway team some easy looks at the basket.  They took the third by three points meaning it was 60-59 to the Leopards going into the fourth.

In the final 10 minutes the Leopards came out very strong and Teel once again found himself getting to the basket and hitting some tough shots. They took a quick five point lead, but the Crusaders continued to chip away at the lead.  

In the last 4 minutes of the game the Crusaders caught fire with everyone hitting shots. Vear, Baker and Schow all hit huge threes to put Medway up by eight. The chasing Leopards had to foul to kill the clock, but the Crusaders held their nerve and saw out the game to get their second win.

Crusaders coach, James Vear, was thrilled with his teams result. He said: “We showed great mental toughness tonight and we have been lacking a bit of confidence over the past month, but the guy’s hard work in practice has finally paid off.”

He also paid credit to the efforts of Schow, Fenyn and Baker: “Our big guys were great today. Both Joe and Adrian played some fantastic team basketball and Luke hit some big shots towards the end of the game – he is easily one of the best shooters in the division.”

Leopards’ coach, Dejan Mihevc, was understandably disappointed. He said: “I would like to congratulate Medway Park’s players for a deserved win. They showed more desire and were more focused especially in the last part of the game.”

He also praised point guard, Steve Vear: “Vear was a true leader on the floor tonight and he showed that he is exactly what they needed.”

Steve’s brother, James added: “It was a massive boost getting Steve back tonight. He hasn’t played since we won the playoff final last year but he had a great game.”

The Crusaders next game sees them take on the Bristol Academy Flyers at home on Saturday, 10 December at 5pm.

The Flyers have been the stand out team in this year’s campaign winning six out of their seven opening league fixtures.

Scoring an average of 81 points per game, the Bristol side will be very hard to stop. Coach Vear concluded by saying: “we know we will have to be better defensively when we come up against Bristol next week who are arguably the best team in our Division.”

82-87

Medway Park Leisure Centre, 27/11/11

Report by Nick Moore

Despite mounting a late surge, the Medway Park Crusaders were unable to overcome a very strong Worthing Thunder side on Sunday evening, 27 November.

The National League Division One tie, which finished 87-82, saw some strong individual performances from both sides, and had the audience on the edge of its seats until the final buzzer.

The game saw the South coast’s American import, Vinnie Darpino, hit a game high 24 points. The 5’10 guard lead the Thunders charge, closely supported fellow American import, Hank Rivers, a 6’7 power forward – Rivers hit 18 points personal.

Kalil Irving top scored for Medway with an impressive 20 points, but even he could not stop Worthing leading from start to finish.

The Crusaders came out very flat in the first quarter and allowed the Thunder to distribute the ball and find their rhythm early on. Important buckets from guards James Harris and Luke Baker kept Medway in the game, but they trailed 19-16 at the end of the first.

Worthing continued to pile on the pressure in the second quarter, knocking down their open shots, and hitting Medway on the break. Darpino came off the bench to make a host of steals, which meant they went into half time leading 42-30.

Crusaders coach, James Vear, rallied his players at half time and after the break they responded. The third quarter was a much closer affair, as they stepped up their intensity and began to play with more desire and passion.

Worthing though, matched the Medway side’s efforts and kept their lead to double digits, taking the quarter 22-20. Their rebounding skills proved to be the difference, killing the Crusaders chances of getting second looks at the basket. Worthing lead 64-50 going into the final quarter.

The final 10 minutes saw the Crusaders mount their comeback, but they allowed the Thunder to pull out to a 19 point lead at one stage.

Coach Vear, changed all five players, and this seemed to galvanise the team onto the late surge. They went on a 10 point unanswered run and closed the gap to just nine.

With time quickly disappearing and the calls not going the Crusaders way, the Thunder managed to hold onto to the lead, closing out the game 87-82, despite a strong 32-23 final period from Medway.

Crusaders Coach, James Vear, was very disappointed with the loss. He struggled to come to terms with the defeat bearing in mind the team’s improvement in the last few matches.

He said “The team chemistry didn’t seem there at all tonight and it looked like our guys had never played together.  It’s unfortunate as we looked to have turned a real corner last week but today we didn’t show the effort and determination we did in our last game.”

The Crusaders next game sees them take on the BA London Leopards at home on Saturday, 3 December at 5pm.

The BA Leopards lost their opening three games to the Brixton Topcats, the Leicester Warriors and the Bradford Dragons, but beat league leaders, the Bristol Academy flyers 91-87 on Sunday.

They will therefore be a tough team to host, entering the forthcoming match with a lot of confidence.

However, the Crusaders could see their instrumental point guard from last year, Steve Vear, James’s younger brother, return to the squad.

Steve was key in helping to the Crusaders gain promotion to Division One and his possible comeback will inevitably boost the team’s morale as they have been struggling to find a replacement since he left.

James added: “Steve will give us that on court leadership I think we are lacking. He is also a player who tries to make everyone around him better which he did for us last season.”

Medway Park are pleased to announce the sponsorship of Vizz Mobile for their men’s programme. Vizz Mobile’s sponsorship will mean increased support for our men’s team supporting their participation in EBL1, the highest senior league run by England Basketball.

Vizz Mobile is a Pay as you go SIM partnered with Vodafone and backed by telecoms company QiComm, providing low-cost UK and International calls, SMS and mobile internet. Vizz Mobile is also the first SIM to provide International Airtime Credit Transfers, allowing you to instantly transfer credit from your Vizz Mobile SIM to the mobiles of your family & friends living outside the UK.

Crusaders Chairman Jesse Sazant is really pleased to welcome Vizz Mobile to the Crusaders team, “We really appreciate the support that Vizz Mobile are offering to help our men’s team in their pursuit of excellence.”

For more information visit www.vizzmobile.co.uk

63-65

Medway Park Leisure Centre 19/11/11

Report by Nick Moore

The Medway Park Crusaders were edged out 65-63, in a very close battle, against the Brixton Topcats, in round three of their EBL Division One campaign on Saturday night.

The home side lead for around 38 minutes of the game, but could not stop a late surge by the Topcats, who clinched the game in the dying seconds.

The Crusaders started the much stronger team, holding Brixton to just 10 points in the first quarter. 6’2 guard Luke Baker, and 6’9 forward Joesph Schow put the Medway side on the board early, with Kalil Irving and JP Dimanja winning a lot of offensive and defensive rebounds. The score read 17-10.

Brixton stepped up the pace in the second quarter with baskets and assists coming from Tom Adorian, who hit 14 points personal and Karolis Petkus, on his way to 11 points.

The Crusaders defence remained solid under the Brixton pressure and they made it hard for the away side to get into any kind of rhythm.

At half time, the score read 38-29 to Medway.

After the break, both teams matched each other’s strong offensive plays, tying the scoring at 15 a- piece, meaning that the Crusaders went into the final 10 minutes 53-44 up.

In the last quarter Medway were put on the back foot as Brixton started to slowly get back into the game.

The Crusaders, stunned by the Brixton comeback, lost their composure and a frustrated Schow picked up a technical foul, after a personal foul, with just two minutes to go.

Brixton made the free throws, and quickly followed it up by a steal and layup to put them three points up.

With just 15 seconds to go the Topcats made another free throw to put them 4 points up, but Irving then hit back for the Medway side, to pull them within 2 points with just eight seconds remaining.

The Crusaders had a shot to clinch the win but it just came up short. The final quarter read 21-10 to Brixton, and 65-63 to the London side.

Medway Coach, James Vear was pleased with his team’s determination, but clearly disappointed with the loss. He said: “I cannot fault our effort tonight. The guys gave everything on the court and I’m proud of the way we stepped up our defence.”

He added: “We need to become more clinical in the last two minutes of games and make sure we see them out. We led for over 37 minutes tonight and out re-bounded a very tall, athletic team.”

The Crusaders next game sees them take on the Worthing Thunder at home on Sunday, 27 Nov.

Vear will be hoping for a home win, but is remaining very cautious over the South coast side who have won their last two games – over the Derby Trailblazers and the Westminster Warriors.

He said: “Worthing are a good team. Their Coach, Gary Smith likes to play an up-tempo style of basketball and they have had some good results so far.”

He added: “I’ve heard they have got some good import players and we have to make sure we make it hard for them to play.”

The Medway side hope to see a good level of support there on Sunday. Tip-off is 3pm at Medway Park.

All photos for free media use with “Photographer: Cesar Velasco” mentioned only.

82-70

Leeds Met University, 13/11/11

Report by Nick Moore

The Medway Park Crusaders failed to claim a second win in round two of their EBL Division One campaign, losing 82-70 to Leeds Carnegie, on the road.

The game saw Adrian Fenyn, who now wears Crusaders colours, haunt his old side by hitting a game-high 26 points, but despite this, the former Leeds player and his team could not pull off the victory.

It was an emotional return for the Crusaders player, but the 6’6 American could not out power the combination of Leed’s Henry Wilkins and Gyorgy Polya – who combined for 46 points.

Both players hit 23 a piece, but it was the 3 point shooting from guard Wilkins that proved too much for the Kent based side.

Crusaders coach, James Vear, said: “Leeds shot the ball very well today and held a very good back court. Henry (Wilkins) has improved a lot in the past year and is now one of the leading guards in the league.”

Leeds started the stronger of the two sides, coming out on the fast break and hitting a few outside shots to dominate the first quarter 19-10 – the Medway side were getting enough looks at the basket, but nothing seemed to be dropping for them.

However, they picked up the pace in the second quarter and started to slowly chip away at the deficit. They finally saw their attempts dropping, and slowed down the Leeds offence by playing a much higher intensity defence.

They clinched the second period 24-18 and went into half time trailing by just three points, 37-34 – the Crusaders actually had a shot to level the game on the buzzer to tie the game, but it narrowly missed.

After the break, Leeds quickly fired out to a 10 point lead within minutes as the Crusaders started slowly.

The University based side started causing the Medway team problems all over, but especially in the back court. A 25-17 period to Leeds meant the score read 62-51 going into the final 10 minutes.

The fourth quarter was a very edgy affair for both sides, as they struggled to find their rhythm again. The Crusaders started making baskets, but only trading equal points with Leeds.

The Crusaders couldn’t close the 10 point gap Carnegie had established and the home side closed the game out by taking the final period 20-19.

Coach Vear, despite the defeat, was remaining optimistic. He said: “Although we lost today I can take out lots of positives. We played very well in stages and ran our offence strongly.” 

He added: “The problem at the moment just seems to be a lack of consistency on the defensive end.  We cannot allow good teams to go on runs at this level as they will punish you.” 

Vear mentioned youngster Disraeli Lufadeju, 6’2 guard, as having a particularly good game. He said: “I thought our back court was very good today, especially ‘Dizzy’ who ran the team as well as he has all season.” – Dizzy hit 12 points personal.

The Crusaders next game sees them take on the Brixton Topcats at home on Saturday, 19 Nov.

Brixton, who played two games this weekend, lost them both.

The first was a 97-70 thumping by the Bradford Dragons on Saturday and on Sunday they were easily beaten 79-54 by Division One leaders, the Bristol Academy Flyers.

The Medway side hope to see a good level of support there on Saturday. Tip-off is 5pm at Medway Park.