Tees Valley Mohawks vs. Medway Park Crusaders (21/01/12)

61-79

Bradford Dragons vs. Medway Park Crusaders (22/01/12)

72-74

Report by Nick Moore

A last gasp three pointer by youngster Dizzy Lufadeju against the Bradford Dragons gave the Medway Park Crusaders two crucial wins on the road this weekend.

The 74-72 win on January 22, combined with a thumping 79-61 win over the Tees Valley Mohawks the day before, moved the Medway team back up to sixth in EBL Division One.

The Crusaders, who travelled with only seven players and without leading scorer, Adrian Fenyn, started the weekend on a high as they made light work of bottom of the table Tees Valley.

Guard Luke Baker, found form again, and dominated the show with a game high 25 points, including four three’s in the first 10 minutes – he went on to hit 39 points over the weekend.

Forward Joseph Schow was close behind, hitting a double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds), on his way to a 36 point weekend, and point guard Steve Vear, matched him with his own double-double (12 points, 10 assists).

The Medway side took an early 49-30 half lead with two strong first quarters, stifling the Mohawks offense.

They took their foot of the gas a little in the final 10 minutes, but the game had already been put to bed, as they stretched their lead to 25. They closed the game out to win by 18 points.

Crusaders Coach, James Vear, was happy with his team’s efforts saying: “We played some great basketball tonight and to only have seven players we looked like we had a lot left in the tank if we needed it.”

He also praised Baker’s efforts: “Luke shot the ball great tonight, but it wasn’t his shooting that impressed me the most today though it was his defence.  He did a great job defending the Mohawks best player, Demarcus Berry – holding him to a scoreless night from the field.”

Their first win of 2012 carried them through to Sunday’s clash with Bradford, but they found themselves 42-36 down at half-time.

Baker, Vear, Schow and Lufadeju started to fire, and they were helped along by a game high 18 points from Kalil Irving.

Schow and Vear both hit their second double-doubles of the weekend and with just seven seconds left to go, Vear found ‘Dizzy’, who managed to hit the winning three-pointer, sealing off a superb weekend for the Kent-based boys.

The Bradford game also saw yet more Crusaders records tumble. Steve Vear’s 13 assists was the second highest ever, by any Crusader.

Dizzy’s game winner was also his 50th game for Crusaders, making him the 13th Crusader to reach 50 games.

And finally, Captain, James Harris, became first Crusader in his career to reach 100 points, field goals, 3’s, free throws, rebounds and assists – some achievement.

After the game, Coach Vear said: “This is maybe one of the proudest weekends I have had as a coach, with only seven fit players we managed to get two wins this weekend, when I think a lot of people thought we wouldn’t. The players have a never say die attitude that I’m sure rivals any team in the country.”

The Medway Crusaders take on the PAWS London Capitals on the road on January, 28.

The Capitals are now bottom of the league, having lost their last four, and only picked up one win the whole season.

The Crusaders beat them on the opening day of the season with a 77-69 win.

Medway Park Crusaders vs. Westminster Warriors (14/01/12)

74-81

Report by Nick Moore

A pumped up Westminster Warriors side and a hospital trip for Crusaders leading scorer Adrian Fenyn saw the Medway Park side lose their second match in two weeks.

The 81-74 loss on January 14, added to a slow start to 2012 for the Crusaders – a poor run of form which will not be helped by the loss of Fenyn.

Power forward Fenyn was side-lined, after taking a blow to the ribs in the third minute of the game, and could be out for some time.

To add to this, Westminster came out firing on the night, stealing out to a quick 29-22 lead at the end of the first quarter, as they pulled down a lot of rebounds without the presence of Fenyn.

However, in the second period, the Medway side picked up their defence and the additions of 6’6 JP Dimandja and Captain, James Harris, started to swing the tie in their favour.

Harris hit three straight 3’s and JP dominated the boards to help Medway to a 24-9 quarter and a half time lead of 46-38.

After the break, the lead swung back and forth between the sides as Jonathan Johnson (21 points) and Edmir Lucas (18 points) started to lead the way for Warriors. The period finished 17-17 meaning the Crusaders went into the last 63-55 up.

A final 10-minute-flourish from Westminster proved to be the difference in the tie, as they pressured the Crusaders into making defensive mistakes.

The staged an impressive comeback and ran out to a 26-11 final quarter victory to take the match by seven points.

The win sees them move off the bottom of the league table and handed Medway Park their fifth loss of the season.

Crusaders Coach, James Vear was understandably disappointed with the loss. He said: “The game was there to win tonight and we just stopped playing in the 4^th quarter.  Our help defence wasn’t good enough and we did a poor job defending the dribble penetration.”

Gracious in defeat, he added: “Losing Adrian early was a big blow as he has been playing so well recently, but don’t take anything away from Westminster tonight. They didn’t play like a bottom of the league team. They really wanted it.” 

The Medway Crusaders take on the Tees Valley Mohawks on Saturday, January 21 at 6pm on the road.

Tees Valley go into the game on a seven game losing streak, so the Crusaders will be looking to pick up an away victory.