A Barrage of three pointers from James Harris helped silence the Plymouth Majon Cannons Saturday in Plymouth. Harris tied Paul Jessop’s record for most three pointers made in a game with eight. Seven of the long distance makes came in the second half, at the Crusaders put on an offensive and defensive show with a 53-25 second half showing.

“We’re starting to show that defensive killer instinct that characterized the team last season”, said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen after the game. “Defence was definitely the key to the game, as it got us a lot of easy fast break points. And of course it also helps when the basket seems the size of an ocean to an already good shooter. Harris put on an absolute show tonight; he just looked like he would never miss”.

Cannons started the game well, going up 5-0, but the Crusaders defence, anchored by big man JP Dimandja, soon started digging in and making plays. Seven minutes into the quarter Crusaders finally managed to go ahead, 13-11, after having tied the game at both 7-7, 9-9 and 11-11.

Over the next five minutes Crusaders put on a 15-4 run, and a couple of minutes into the second quarter they were up 29-15. It looked like it was going to be an easy win, but Cannons didn’t allow the guests to run away with it.

The Cannons answer to the Crusaders run was to get physical on defence, and for a while it worked, as Mitchell threw a couple of balls away, leading to easy Cannons baskets. At the same time Crusaders were called for ten fouls in the quarter, sending Cannons to the foul line for 15 free throws.

“We missed 11 free throws in the first half, going three for 11, while Cannons went 14 for 23”, said Olesen, “and that’s one reason we only went into half time up four. Another is that we let the referees decisions get to us. I might not have agreed with all the calls, but we simply have to play through it. We had a talk about it at half time, and we changed our focus for the second half back to the things we can control, and got the results we wanted”.

James Harris started off the second half with eight straight points, as an off balance three pointer seemed to raise his confidence, so he followed it with another three and a drive to the basket. Cannons got it back to a five point game, 48-43, but when Cannon big man Aris Kakonde fouled after four minutes, gaps started appearing in their defence. Crusaders build up the cushion up to 12 again as Parker scored twice, Mitchell scored a layup and Ayling hit one of two foul shots.

With two minutes left in the quarter Harris again found his range, and over the next five minutes, into the fourth quarter, he hit five three pointers, while Robbie Parker added one for good measure, and the 23-3 run decided the game, as the score was now 78-49.

Crusaders eased through the fourth quarter as Damian Lyons repeatedly got to the rim, and they could take a win and advancement from seventh to sixth place in the table into Sunday’s game at Plymouth Cannons.

Notes:

Records:

• James Harris tied Paul Jessop’s record for most three pointers in a game with eight.

EBL National League Division 2
Plymouth Marjon Cannons (14, 34, 46) 59
Kent Crusaders (22, 38, 67) 91

Scoring:
Plymouth Cannons: J Peake 12, J Wakenena 12, A Hatchell 10
Kent: J Harris 28, R Parker 15, J Dimandja 10