Medway Park Crusaders vs. Westminster Warriors (14/01/12)

74-81

Report by Nick Moore

A pumped up Westminster Warriors side and a hospital trip for Crusaders leading scorer Adrian Fenyn saw the Medway Park side lose their second match in two weeks.

The 81-74 loss on January 14, added to a slow start to 2012 for the Crusaders – a poor run of form which will not be helped by the loss of Fenyn.

Power forward Fenyn was side-lined, after taking a blow to the ribs in the third minute of the game, and could be out for some time.

To add to this, Westminster came out firing on the night, stealing out to a quick 29-22 lead at the end of the first quarter, as they pulled down a lot of rebounds without the presence of Fenyn.

However, in the second period, the Medway side picked up their defence and the additions of 6’6 JP Dimandja and Captain, James Harris, started to swing the tie in their favour.

Harris hit three straight 3’s and JP dominated the boards to help Medway to a 24-9 quarter and a half time lead of 46-38.

After the break, the lead swung back and forth between the sides as Jonathan Johnson (21 points) and Edmir Lucas (18 points) started to lead the way for Warriors. The period finished 17-17 meaning the Crusaders went into the last 63-55 up.

A final 10-minute-flourish from Westminster proved to be the difference in the tie, as they pressured the Crusaders into making defensive mistakes.

The staged an impressive comeback and ran out to a 26-11 final quarter victory to take the match by seven points.

The win sees them move off the bottom of the league table and handed Medway Park their fifth loss of the season.

Crusaders Coach, James Vear was understandably disappointed with the loss. He said: “The game was there to win tonight and we just stopped playing in the 4^th quarter.  Our help defence wasn’t good enough and we did a poor job defending the dribble penetration.”

Gracious in defeat, he added: “Losing Adrian early was a big blow as he has been playing so well recently, but don’t take anything away from Westminster tonight. They didn’t play like a bottom of the league team. They really wanted it.” 

The Medway Crusaders take on the Tees Valley Mohawks on Saturday, January 21 at 6pm on the road.

Tees Valley go into the game on a seven game losing streak, so the Crusaders will be looking to pick up an away victory.