The Medway Park Crusaders came out of their opening weekend as an EBL1 team with both a win and a loss.  The Crusaders launched their National Trophy campaign losing a hard fought battle to the defending champions, the Reading Rockets 69-67 on Saturday.  They regrouped Sunday to post an 87-64 victory over the Hackney White Heat in the opening round of the National Cup.

On Saturday, Medway travelled to Reading for what turned out be an extremely close game, with neither team able to establish a significant lead at any point of the game.  The game was a great advertisement for division 1 basketball and showed Crusaders were ready to compete at this level.

After falling behind 5-2, Crusaders went on a 15-4 run behind the scoring of Adrian Fenyn, Joe Schow and Akeem Abdul.  However, Reading quickly regained momentum to score the final 10 points of the quarter to take a slim 19-17 lead at the end of the first.

This proved to be a pattern that would repeat throughout the game with both teams continuously going on mini-runs.  The teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter before Reading reeled off 7 straight points to take a 34-36 lead.  Crusaders responded quickly with Luke Baker hitting a couple of shots to reduce the deficit to 34-32 at the half.

Baker hit 2 more three pointers early in the second half as Medway moved out to a 7 point lead of their own.  Former Crusader Robbie Parker righted the ship for Reading with a couple of 3s of his own as the teams entered the final quarter tied at 50.

The pattern continued in the 4^th with Reading taking a slim 5 point lead before Crusaders levelled the scores at 66 with 41 seconds left.  A free throw from Damoy Robertson gave Medway a 1 point lead with under 30 on the clock.  However, Harrison Gamble was able to hit 2 key free throws to give Reading back the lead.  Crusaders were able to get a good look for Fenyn but he was unable to connect before a final free throw gave Reading the 2 point victory.

Fenyn led Crusaders with 17 points and 7 rebounds.  Baker added 13, Abdul 10 points and 5 rebounds and Schow with 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Crusaders Head Coach James Vear had mixed feelings after the game, “It was a tough loss to take especially in our first game. I thought at times we controlled the game but at other times we lost focus and allowed Reading to play the style of basketball that has made them so successful.”

“Reading also hit some big shots down the stretch and made it hard for us to get into any kind of rhythm offensively. It was a real eye opener to see what we need to work on to get better, there were a lot of positives to take from the game and I know the guys will work hard on the aspects of the game we need to become a more complete team.”

Medway quickly returned to action on Sunday afternoon as they hosted Hackney from EBL3.  The hangover from the previous loss was evident as a lethargic Medway team quickly fell behind 13-4.  Again Baker’s shooting was the spark as Crusaders steadied themselves.  Still trailing by 5, Gareth Laws was key in a 9-0 to finish the quarter leading 25-21.

The momentum continued in the 2^nd quarter as another 3 by Laws saw them stretch the lead to double figures.  Hackney were able to slow Crusaders momentum without making any inroads into the lead as the half finished with Medway leading 45-34.

Another strong start to the quarter saw the lead stretch to 20 points but Hackney refused to quit and were able to get the lead down to 67-52 after 3.  They kept coming in the 4^th as they reduced the deficit down to 11 points before Crusaders reeled off 16 unanswered points to end the contest.

Schow led 5 Crusaders in double figures with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  Laws had 14, Robertson 12 points and 4 assists, Baker had 11 points and 6 rebounds and Abdul also finished with 11 points.

Next weekend the Crusaders host the Bradford Dragons in the National Trophy.  The game tips off at 5:00 at Medway Park.

Last season Bradford were EBL2 league champions beating Crusaders twice in the process.  Crusaders gained some revenge with a play-off semi-final victory on the way to the play-off championship.

Bradford have added American guard Bobby Edmunds (who played for Hemel Storm last season) to the nucleus of last year’s championship team.

Coach Vear is anxious to get back on the court, “I’m looking forward to playing Bradford this weekend. They were the best team consistently throughout the season in Division 2 last year, Coach Mellor is a very good coach and his teams are amongst the best in the country defensively.”

“Bobby Edmonds is a good pick up for Bradford, he was one of the better players in Div 2 last year and I think he will fit into their system really well. Silcott will also be a tough match up for us, he is such a low post presence and will a tough task for every team this year.”