The Kent Crusaders continue their revival in the England Basketball National League Division 2 with their fourth win in a row over fourth place Leicester Warriors, 62-50. It was a defensive battle where Leicester could only put 29 points on the board in the first three quarters, but made it almost all the way back in the fourth quarter.

“The three first quarters we played the best defence this club has ever played”, said Coach Olesen after the game, “We forced them out of what they wanted to do, and into the areas of the court where we were strong. Across the board it was just solid defence that won this game on a day where offence was lacking a bit”.

The Crusaders started out the game with a couple of bad passes and missed shots, but three pointers from Mitchell and Parker got them out to a 10-2 lead after five minutes. Without looking good on offence Crusaders build the lead to 18-8 at the first break as the defence kept Leicester at bay.

In the second quarter Leicester quickly doubled their points total as top scorer Ramiah O’Neil was left open for two three pointers, to bring thim within six, 23-17, with two minutes gone. Crusaders adjusted their defence and for the next seven minutes Warriors didn’t score from the field, and only managed to make four free throws.

Crusaders didn’t take full advantage of their defensive exellence, though, as they struggled to hit from the outside, and Leicester’s 6’10 big man Steve McGlothin made life hard for the Crusaders scorers close to the basket. At the end of the quarter Damian Lyons and James Harris managed to sneak inside for three tough layups that brought Crusaders up 30-23 at the half.

The Crusader defence continued to set the tone in the second half as they kept the Warriors scoreless for the first five minutes of the third quarter. This time Crusaders took advantage of the defensive stops and build a 47-23 lead behind inside baskets from Parker, Mitchell and Sorensen and two three pointers from James Harris.

The Warriors were able to put a some points on the board at the end of the quarter, but the Crusaders could still take a comfortable 52-29 lead into the fourth quarter.

It was a changed Warriors team that came out to the fourth quarter. Suddenly Leicester were aggressive on defence and managed to totally disrupt the Crusaders’ offence..

“They came out a changed team”, said coach Olesen, “I took a time out to calm things down and told the players that if they played defence like they did in the first three quarters we would win the game even if we didn’t score another point. At the time I didn’t imagine how close we would actually get that close to that situation.”

Crusaders only managed two baskets in the first seven minutes of the quarter, while Leicester put 13 points on the board. The run was halted by a technical foul to Leicester‘s Fowler, as he complained to the referees about a call, which gave the Crusaders a much needed break.

In the end Crusaders could put Canterbury High School Basketball Academy student Kalil Irving on the court for the last two minutes and cruise home to a 62-50 win – a record for fewest points scored against Crusaders in division 2.

No teams changed their positions in the league standings despite seven games being played over the weekend, but only one win now separates third and eighth place. Top team London Mets (7 wins, 1 loss) defeated NEWI (5-3), for NEWI’s third straight loss since they lost their undefeated record against Crusaders two weeks ago. NEWI still holds on to third place.

Second place Leeds Carnegie (7-2) beat Team Northumbria (1-5) by 12 to consolidate second place and keep Northumbria in the relegation zone.

Despite the loss to Crusaders Leicester (5-3) holds on to fourth place, but Colchester (5-4) in fifth, who beat the struggling Northampton Neptunes, are catching up fast.

Plymouth Raiders (4-2), Kent Crusaders and Birmingham A’s (4-4) are all on four wins, as Raiders beat winless University of Birmingham (0-8) by 54, 117-63, and Birmingham A’s escaped from Plymouth Cannons (2-4) with a one point win, 80-79.

Notes:

Records:

• 3rd lowest ever points against for club – best defensive effort in Division 2
• 17 rebounds for JP Dimandja 3rd highest in rebounds per game – personal career high
• 9 assists for Simon Mitchell 5th highest in a game – personal career high

Other Notes:

• Robbie Parker needs 2 baskets to become 1st Crusader to score 500 career field goals
• James Harris has passed Robbie Parker to go into 2nd for career 3 pointers made
• Robbie needs 1 free throw to tie Paul Jessop for club career record (Damian Lyons is only 9 more behind)
• JP Dimandja needs 4 more rebounds to reach 200 career rebounds (4th place)

EBL National League Division 2
Kent Crusaders (18, 30, 52) 62
Leicester Warriors (8, 23, 29) 50

Scoring:
Kent: Parker 15, Harris 12, Webber, Mitchell, Lyons 8
Leicester: O’Neil 14, Francis 13, McGlothin 7