An amazing drama on the last day of the regular season propelled the Medway Park Crusaders not only into the playoffs but all the way to 6th place. An amazing finish to Crusaders’ game in Northumbria saw them finally take the game in overtime, securing them the playoff spot. They then had to wait for the result from the match in Birmingham before knowing who they would face in the first round of the playoffs. Only the result wasn’t ready until Monday, as a broken rim left the Birmingham A’s v. Westminster game abandoned.

Before the game Crusaders head coach James Vear was aware that there was the possibility that Crusaders could end up outside of the playoffs despite a great finish to the season: “I wanted to make sure the guys weren’t thinking about anything else than getting a win. We had all seen the different scenarios with how close it was from 6th to 9th and I think we were all confused with how many different things could happen. However, we knew if we got a win we were in and that’s all we wanted to concentrate on”.

Crusaders took care of their own business, but it took an amazing comeback and an extra five minutes of play to decide a winner in Northumbria. With only a minute and a half left Crusaders found themselves down by six and coach Vear called time to rally the team.

“We needed to get good looks on offense and we had some success at getting to the rim throughout the second half, just as important was digging in and get some stops,” said Vear.

Crusaders got to the rim straight after the timeout with Sam Betts getting to the hole. Crusaders then put on full court pressure that lead to a quick steal and an easy lay-up for Kalil Irving. With 40 seconds left and Northumbria up by two Crusaders dug in and managed to retrieve the ball with 19 ticks on the clock. With a chance to win or tie the game, Kalil Irving again came up big with another drive to the basket with three seconds left.

Northumbria tried to the throw the ball long straight after the score, but Greg Currat managed to steal it at the half he then took two dribbles and put up a long three to win it but it just came up short and the game was going to overtime.

It had been a draining game and both teams looked tired as overtime started, but it was Crusaders who got the first score. Greg Currant scored a deep three late in the shot clock, for his 19th point, having only missed one shot throughout the game. The lead was short lived, as Damien Lyons picked up an unsportsmanlike foul which also fouled him out of the game, giving Northumbria two free throws and possession of the ball at the half court line. Northumbria hit both free throws and Crusaders fouled on the next play sending Northumbria to the line again, where they tied the game again.

Both teams played good defence for the next few processions, but the ball was in Crusaders’ hands with 15 seconds left. Crusaders wanted to get the ball to their star player Brad Smith for the last shot and Jeff Wadey did a great job of finding him in the post. Brad turned, faced the basket and put up a fade-away from deep in the corner that went in with one sec left on the clock, sending Crusaders up by two points.
Northumbria called a time-out but on the inbounds play they turned the ball over and Crusaders held on for a big win that put them in the playoffs.

Coach Vear was very happy with the performance: “Brad hit a huge shot at the end of the game. It looked good as soon as it left his hands. We got the ball in the hands of the player we wanted to get it to at the end of the game and he executed perfectly. The guys did a great job getting back into the game down by 6 with just over a minute left in regulation time. I felt like the momentum had now turned our way and if we got the first score of overtime we would go onto win it.

“I’m really proud of the whole team. There were times when we were really up against it, not just today but throughout the regular season, and all of the guys have worked so hard to get us into the playoffs.

Now all Crusaders had to do was wait for the result from Birmingham – a result that wouldn’t be in until Monday afternoon.

In Birmingham the A’s knew that a loss to number five Westminster could send them out of the playoffs, while a win would secure them 6th place. Westminster didn’t let the playoff battle at the end of the table faze them, though, and by the middle of the third quarter they were up 58-41. Birmingham might have attempted the comeback, but a broken basket saw the game abandoned. For 48 hours it was uncertain if the game was going to be replayed, but on Monday afternoon England Basketball clarified the issue with a statement:

“Following the game abandonment due to a broken ring the Competitions Convenor has determined that the result at the time of the abandonment stands as the final result of the game.”

After a long wait Crusaders could now start looking forward to a trip to Mansfield and the third place Giants in the first round of the playoffs.
The match started out nervy in the first few minutes with neither team finding much rhythm on offense. Northumbria were looking to get the ball inside to their big man Wintersgill who was a real handfull inside. He would end up with six first quarter points, James Harris got Crusaders off the mark with a deep 3-pointer.

Although Crusaders did not play well in the first quarter they managed to string together a good last two minutes of the quarter with all of the starting five getting on the board. Crusaders went into the first break up by three, 20 – 23.

The second quarter started badly for Crusaders, as Northumbria’s Hutton connected on a deep 3-pointer and got an easy lay-up in transition. It didn’t get any better for Crusaders as Northumbria went on a 8 – 0 run half way through the quarter with Chris Pearce and Wintersgill connecting.

Coach Vear wasn’t happy: “We came very flat in the second quarter. Our defence is what we pride ourselves on and we went away from that for the whole quarter”.

Northumbria lead by as much as ten in the second and came out with a lot of full court pressure. Towards the end of the quarter Crusaders did manage to find some consistency and break the press to score, going into half time down only six, 41-35.

Vears team talk at the half must have worked as Crusaders reeled off 11 straight points to start the third quarter, with Brad Smith having seven of them. Crusaders looked like a different team at the start of the 3rd, as their excellent defence again showed, leading to easy scores.

Northumbria weathered the storm and Wintersgill managed to get good low post position for a couple of inside scores. Greg Currant continued to pile the pressure on for Crusaders scoring 8 straight points from all over the court. Crusaders would go into the 4th up by two 64 – 62.

Northumbria started the fourth quickly knowing that a loss for them might mean the end of their season. Ian Berry who was having an excellent game scored a deep three and a mid range shot to put Northumbria up by 3. The lead would change hands 4 times in the next 3 minutes with both teams trying to gain control of the game. In the last few minutes Northumbria went on a 6 – 0 run, setting up the exciting finish