The Kent Crusaders men’s team started off the cup-season with the first win ever for the club in the town of Plymouth. In the first of the five matches in the pool play of the Division 2 league cup Patrons Cup the Crusaders came out strong in the first half and held off the Plymouth Marjon Cannons in the second half to claim an 80-62 victory.

“As a club we have never had a win in Plymouth against either the Cannons or the Raiders,” said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen, “And in eight previous meetings with the Cannons we have only claimed one victory, so we have to happy with this start to the season, even if I didn’t think we put in our best performance for all of the 40 minutes”.

The Crusaders came out of the gates fast, as Robbie Parker’s seven points in the first three minutes helped open up a 10-4 lead. The Cannons quickly levelled the game, however, behind four foul shots and a Deng Deng basket.

The short run was stopped as Crusaders captain Pete Ayling spotted Danish newcomer Soren Sorensen near the basket and threw a perfect pass at the rim for a thunderous alley oop dunk. From there the guests went on a 37-15 run that lasted to the last minute of the second quarter. Despite the Cannons scoring the last point of the half the Crusaders could go into the break with a comfortable 47-26 lead.

“The second quarter was some of the best basketball we have played yet this year”, said Olesen, “we got a good mix of inside baskets and outside shots to keep the Cannons defence guessing, but really we did out damage on the defensive end. We just came out aggressively and didn’t allow the Cannons to run their offence the way they wanted to. Simon Mitchell, Damian Lyons, Pete Ayling and Steve Findley just played a great defensive game, and the game was really won on defence in the second quarter, as we only allow them to score seven points”.

Soren Sorensen scored the first two points of the second half for Crusaders, but then the hosts managed to put on a nine point run, as Crusader standout Simon Mitchell was awarded three fouls in the span of 90 seconds and had to leave the game.

“Simon has played more than 100 games in the very competitive Canadian CIS university league”, said Olesen of Mitchell’s foul trouble, “and he has only fouled out once in his first year. I’m not sure I agree with all the calls he had against him today, but as he’s trying to make the adjustment to the less physical style of English basketball, he has to learn not to put himself in situations where the referees can award him with a foul. He’s a really smart player and I’m sure he’ll figure this out by next weekend”.

The Plymouth run was eventually stopped as Crusaders veteran Steve Findley hit a two pointer and a tough three pointer under pressure in the fifth minute of the third. From there the Crusaders build the lead back up to 64-42 behind Parker’s outside shooting and some tough Sorensen drives to the basket.

In the fourth the hosts got as close as 13 with three minutes left but the Crusaders calmly finished out the game to take a 80-62 win back to Kent.

Despite the comfortable win coach Olesen took away some things from the game: “It was a good start, even if we could have played with greater intensity in the second half. It was a good chance for us to try out some things, and we got a very clear picture of what we have to work on to be successful this season. We have to be more patient on offence, and we really have a lot of work to do on defence before we’re anywhere near as good as we were last year”.

Captain Pete Ayling said: “Winning against the Cannons on their home court is a good start to the season but there’s still a lot of work to do. We were aggressive and showed real flair at times but made some silly mistakes too. The guys are learning to play together and I’m sure we’ll get better with every game.”

The Crusaders were without Betts and Broadmore who are still out long term with injuries, last years team MVP Mike Webber, out with a back injury, and James Harris who had work commitments.

Elsewhere in the Patrons Cup pool 1 the London Mets, who Crusaders are facing next week at home, beat Plymouth Raiders 2 by an impressive 96-41 while the other newcomer Colchester Hornets was awarded a 20-0 win over the Northampton Neptunes. This leaves the Crusaders third in the pool on goal difference with London and Colchester above them.