The Medway Park Crusaders beat University of Birmingham by 56 points to keep their chances of reaching the playoffs alive. A 49-18 first half secured the victory, as Crusaders cruised to a 104-48 victory.

Crusaders came into the game knowing that a victory was needed to stay in the playoff picture, and that might have showed early. They allowed the University side to stay with them early on, as the teams traded baskets to the score 11-8, Crusaders. Two three pointers from James Harris and inside scores from Brad Smith got the home team going, triggering a 14-2 run. Crusaders closed the quarter up 25-10.

From the start of the second quarter Crusaders didn’t slow down. In the first eight minutes Crusaders outscored the guests 19-2 and the 44-12 lead effectively put the game out of reach. Sam Betts hit a 3-pointer as halftime buzzer sounded to put Crusaders up 49-18

Crusaders continued to pull away continuously in second half. The highlights included James Harris getting fouled on back to back 3 pointers, and making all six foul shots. Greg Currat had a series of drives, for easy scores, and young Crusaders Basketball Academy players Andy Chiguri and Disraeli made good use of their extended minutes to score 8 and 7 points respectively. Jeff Wadey, the oldest Crusader still playing, finished the game off with a 3-pointer to set the final 104-48 score.

Head coach James Vear looked forward to the final game of the season against Northumbria next weekend. With a win Crusaders will secure a playoff spot, while a loss could see them out.  “It all comes down to one game. The guys have worked so hard to get to this point, we know how tough it will be up at Northumbria but I’m confident we can go up there and get a result. At times in the second half today we looked rusty but I’m sure we can iron out the problems in practice this week”