The Medway Park Crusaders finally secured their first win of the league season as they came from behind to beat Plymouth Marjon in Plymouth, 77-65.

It was the first game in charge for new head coach James Vear, who was looking to get off to a good start: “We spoke before the game and wanted to make sure we got off to a  good start and didn’t let them get into ant sort of rhythm on offence”.

Initially Crusaders were able to stay on target, as they were up by one, 10-9, after five minutes, but when star center Brad Smith came to the bench for a breather Plymouth immediately put on an 8-0 run. Smith was put back on and stabilised Crusaders, but after only 90 seconds he got his second foul and had to sit down again, and Plymouth finished the quarter up 21-16.

In the second quarter Plymouth came out hitting from everywhere, especially from behind the arc where they hit five of seven shots, which frustrated coach Vear:  “We didn’t do a good job in transition which allowed them good looks”.

Smith’s foul trouble continued in the second quarter and allowed him to play only eight minutes in the entire first half. Coach Vear had to rely on the other guys, and was happy to see them succeed: “As a team we stepped up with some big baskets to keep us close, especially Damien Lyons and Kalil Irving who were getting to the basket and finishing”.

With Smith only playing little Crusaders fell behind by 10, but every time Plymouth looked poised to extend the lead Lyons seemed to get open for a layup. With five minutes left in the half and Crusaders down 11, 34-25, Smith got back on the court and immediately the Medway team cut the lead to six before Smith had to sit down again with his third foul.

Despite missing Smith Crusaders stayed within striking range as Lyons’ four points kept the deficit at the half in single figures, 42-34.

Coach Vear didn’t panic despite being down at the half: “For most of the first half we were down by 8 to 10 points but I was still happy with the defence we were playing in the half court. Every shot Plymouth took was a tough one but they just seemed to hit everything. We remained positive and knew if we continued to make Plymouth take tough shots we would be in the game.”

Coach Vear couldn’t have been more right, as Plymouth didn’t make a single shot except from foul shots in the third quarter. “The thing that pleased me the most was the way we played defence in the 3rd quarter”, said Vear, “We have worked really hard on the defensive end in practice since I took over and the third was the best defence we played all season”.

With Brad Smith back in the line up Crusaders also really started to click on offense. Smiths inside presence opened up the floor for everyone else and everyone on the team started to look like a threat.

Crusaders ended up winning the third quarter 28-6 which opened up the game, with a 59-48 Crusaders lead.
Plymouth tried to put on full court pressure in the fourth as they needed to play catch up but Jeff Wadey and Damien Lyons dealt with it really well. Crusaders built the lead to 16 with four minutes to go after a technical foul to Plymouth coach George Hatchell and though Plymouth cut the lead back to eight Crusaders kept their heads cool and hit their foul shots and came away with a 77-65 win.

The players were obviously very happy after the game with captain Sam Betts saying “The team pulled together and got a first win. I thought Damien Lyons really stepped up playing a full forty minutes and hitting some big shots throughout the game”

Coach Vear was happy to get his first win as head coach; ”It was good to get the first win in the league this season, it was a real team effort tonight with everyone contributing. I was really happy with our defensive effort tonight allowing Plymouth only 65 and we took care of the ball better than we have all season only having 12 turnovers“.

Date Played: Saturday, 12-December-2009

Home Team: Plymouth Marjon 65

Away Team: Medway Park Crusaders 77

Venue: University College Plymouth St Mark and St John

Scores

Leading Scorers:

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