Updated. Kent Crusaders Men are on a three game winning streak after beating Team Northumbria in a tough defensive battle.

“It was one of those games where both teams took away what the other team does best”, said Crusaders’ head coach Mads Olesen, “In the second half it just became about who could get more stops on defence, and in the end I think our experience won out.”

Early in the game everything was going Northumbria’s way, as Kent’s defensive ace JP Dimandja had to leave the game with an injury after two minutes. Northumbria took full advantage of the big man’s absence and they had claimed a 29-18 lead two minutes into the 2nd quarter when Dimandja returned.

The Crusaders settled down on defence over the next couple of minutes, and stopped the Northumbria run with a few baskets from Harris, Betts and Parker, but were unable to cut into the Northumbria lead.

It was into the last four minutes of the half before Crusaders did some real damage, as Canadian star guard Simon Mitchell started wreaking havoc on the Northumbria offence as his quickness proved too much for the home side’s guards. Combined with a tough prescience from the rest of the Crusaders, that resulted in only two points from the home side for the rest of the quarter. Crusaders failed to take full advantage, though, as they only hit three of nine foul shots, but baskets from Parker and Betts brought the guests within four at half time, 41-37,

Olesen talked about the big change in the defensive presence: “The biggest difference between the first 15 minutes when Northumbria scored 39 points and the last 25, when they scored 31, was that we started rebounding and managed to control their star, Corey Diethorn better. We just tried to keep the ball out of his hands, and when we succeeded it limited their offence a little”.

After the break Crusaders came out and took the lead as Mitchell and Parker each connected on shots in a 9-0 run, but then the points dried up for Crusaders as they started settling for unsuccessful outside shots.

The home side took advantage as they went on a 13-8 run lasting into the final quarter. With eight minutes left in the game the home side was up 57-54, but then Crusaders again started clicking both defensively and offensively. A couple of steals were converted into points and Mitchell and Parker each hit three pointers as the Kent side got up by five, 56-51, with four minutes to go.

Northumbria got within three as Iriondo hit two technical foul shots, awarded because Crusader’s JP Dimandja loudly complained to the referees about a supposed elbow to the mouth, but Parker answered with a drive to the basket to get the lead back to five.

With exactly two minutes to go Golchev got Northumbria within two on a three pointer, but Parker again answered with a drive to the basket to go back up four. Both teams then had unsuccessful possessions before Golchev again brought the lead down to two with a short jumper.

Crusaders got the ball with a minute left and JP Dimandja got a huge offensive rebound that allowed them to run the clock down to under 30 seconds. Simon Mitchell then lost the ball, but made the play of the night as he hustled back and stopped what appeared to be an easy Northumbria basket by knocking the ball out of bounds. Northumbria got the ball back, but Northumbria player-coach Greg Modzelewski dribbled the ball off his foot to give the Crusaders possession under their own basket.

The ball was inbounded and passed twice before it got to James Harris who was fouled with 20 seconds left. Northumbria took a time out to ice Harris, and make him nervous, but he still hit one of two foul shots. Northumbria raced down the court and Pearce hit a short jumper to make it a one point game.

The ball was again inbounded to James Harris, and again Northumbria used a time out to make him think about it. This time Harris hit both shots to go back up three, with 8 seconds left and Northumbria were unable to answer this time.

Crusaders got the ball back with three seconds left and James Harris was again fouled and was able to seal the victory with his second foul short for the final score of 74-70.

After the game Harris would accept none of the glory: “After a bad personal shooting night it was nice to be able to contribute to a team win. We’re only good because we play as a team, and for the last three games we’ve won not only because of the players on the court, but also the players on the bench have been key in getting the team to that winning spirit.”

Olesen gave the struggling Northumbria side a good review after the game: “Northumbria is one of the three best teams we’ve played so far this season, and I’m sure the wins will start piling up soon. They are big, strong and athletic, but with a young side they might need a little bit of expecience in finishing out games. By seasons end I expect them to be nowhere near where their current one win puts them in the table“

Elsewhere in the division London Mets continued their domination, as they beat Birmingham A’s 93-71 in Birmingham. The Mets look like the early favourites to win the regular season title as they top the division with only one loss and six wins.

Leeds easily maintained second place with a 80-42 thumping of the struggling University of Birmingham, while third place NEWI was out of action this week.

Leicester stayed in fourth as they squeezed out a one point win over a revived Northampton side, which seems to have improved immensely with the addition of their import player Prezzie-Blue.

In the last game of the weekend Plymouth Marjon Cannons got themselves out of the relegation zone with a 83-71 win at fifth place Colchester.

So far the league has proved very competitive, with all teams, with the exception of University of Birmingham, able to beat each other on any given day.  

EBL National League Division 2

Team Northumbria (24, 41, 55) 70
Kent Crusaders (18, 37, 54) 74

Scoring:
Kent: Parker 24, Betts 12, Mitchell 11
Northumbria: Diethorn 24, Golchev 18, Iriondo 11