The Medway Park Crusaders hoped to upset pre-season league favourites Durham Wildcats in the Division 2 opener but had to concede a narrow seven point defeat, 81-74, in a game that was decided in the last minute.

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

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