The Medway Park Crusaders shook off a three game losing streak to beat in-county rivals Sevenoaks Suns by 35, 92-58 and get into the last 16 of the National Cup. The game featured ex-Crusader Steve Findley in his new Suns uniform and set up a meeting with ex-Crusaders star Robbie Parker and his Division 1 winning teammates in Reading in the next round.

A three point barrage from James Harris and Sam Betts and four inside baskets from Brad Smith in the first quarter helped establish an early Crusaders lead, as they ran out to a 24-8 lead. Initially the Crusaders’ defence didn’t look much improved from the embarrasing losses the weekend before, but a first minute timeout and an earful from defensive coach James Vear got the Crusaders in gear.

“We have focused on defence all week”, said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen, “It didn’t look convincing from the get-go, but coach Vear got the defence stabilised and it steadily improved as the game wore on. In fact it was our offensive decisions that led to most of Sevenoaks’ points”.

At the end of the first quarter Crusaders made some offensive mistakes that led to turnovers and easy Sevenoaks points at the other end. The mistakes got the guests within striking distance at quarter time as Crusaders’ lead was reduced to 29-18.

At the start of the second quarter it looked like Sevenoaks might make it all the way back as Wickham and Henry got them within nine, but the Crusaders stopped throwing the ball away and tightened up on defence and over the next six minutes Sevenoaks only managed five points. Crusaders stretched the lead to 48-28 on James Harris’ fourth three pointer of the half before Sevenoaks’ Taylor got the last basket of the half.

“We were up 18 at the half, and the game looked like it was in the bag, but we really weren’t too happy with the performance”, said coach Olesen after the game. “We felt we had more to give on defence and that we made some bad decisions at the other end. We made some defensive adjustments and experimented a little bit and after a few minutes it paid off”.

From the start of the second half Sevenoaks looked the better team as Taylor scored six of their nine points, only answered by Brad Smith’s six points for Crusaders. The mini/Sevenoaks run seemed to wake up Crusaders, though, and the home team reeled off 13 straight points as they forced several Sevenoaks turnovers.

A big part of the run was Crusaders Academy and under 18’s player Andy Chiguri who was a spark defensively as he made his debut for the men’s team which pleased Crusaders Chairman and Academy head coach Jesse Sazant: “I’m really pleased to see another academy player make his debut for the men’s team. Andy is one of the best defensive players I have worked with and I’m sure he will see more and more time for the men in the future.”

At ths point the game was decided, and Crusaders took the opportunity to test some new lineups and use some of the less used players. There was no let-down, though, as the reserves stretched the lead to 92-50 before Sevenoaks was allowed reel off eight straight near the end of the game to take the final score to 93-58 Crusaders.

“Overall I thought it was a good way to get out of a losing streak”, said coach Olesen. “We got Brad Smith more involved on offence. Other players stepped up and were threats, which opened up things on the inside for Smith. Harris and Betts were dead-on from the outside, and our guards did a great job opening up the Sevenoaks zones. Defensively we still have a ways to go, but there was definite improvement”

The win takes Crusaders through to the third round of the Cup and sets them up with ex-Crusaders star Robbie Parker’s new team in Reading, provided that the Rockets beat Division 3 Portsmouth City Smugglers.

Date Played:     Sunday, 18-October-2009
Home Team:     Kent Crusaders 93
Away Team:     Sevenoaks Suns 58
Venue:     Medway Park
Scores:
Q1     Q2     Q3     Q4     Final Score
Home     29     48     73     93     93
Away      18     30     45     58     58

Leading Scorers:
Scorer 1         Scorer 2           Scorer 3
Home     Smith – 24     Betts – 18         Harris – 16
Away      Taylor – 14     Wickham – 13    Henry – 11