The Body & Mind Kent Crusaders got their second League win of the season, 95-77 v NEWI Nets. The win came off a strong shooting performance that saw Crusaders connect on 13 three point shots.

The game was even from the start, with NEWI entering the first quarter with a narrow two point lead, 18-20, behind aggressive defence that forced the Crusaders into a few turnovers, and good inside play by the NEWI big men. In the second quarter the Crusaders held the initiative however, as Sam Bets started connecting from the outside, which opened op the NEWI defence, leading to a four point Crusaders advantage at the break, 43-39.

The third quarter continued the trend from the first half, as NEWI tried to get the ball inside, while Crusaders kept hitting from the outside. Crusaders offence looked very good at this point in the game, as point guard Damian Lyons was everywhere, running the offence to get shooters good shots and get the ball inside.

“Damian was huge for us tonight”, Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen said, “He set a club record for assists in a game with 12, while at the same time looking to score, striking a very good balance. We have worked a lot on finishing with Damian, and five makes on six shots speaks for itself”.

Going into the fourth quarter Crusaders were up by seven, 59-66, and the guests gave it their best shot to go for the lead, coming out in a zone defence. After some initial confusion the Crusaders managed to solve the NEWI defence, getting the ball inside, and Sam Betts hitting another three point shot, his fifth of the game.

The end of the game turned into a catch-up game, as NEWI desperately tired for the come-back, while Crusaders steadily kept putting points on the board.

After the game Olesen was happy with the win, but thought the Crusaders defence needed work; “We put up a lot of points tonight, and are able to walk away with the win, but sometimes we seem to be lacking the sense of urgency to play defence that I think all really good teams need to have. It’s something we will need after the Christmas break, as we’re looking at eight games in the month of January, starting with a double header in Plymouth on January 5^th and 6^th. It looks like some games will have to be moved, and most likely seven of the eight games in January will be away games. We can’t expect to shoot like this every game, especially playing away, and we need to get down and dirty and play some defence if we want to get out of January in a good way”