Photo’s: Andy Brain

— Please make sure your web browser is up to date to ensure this site displays correctly —

06/11/11 - We were without our two leading scorers Andy and Drew when we faced a feisty Birmingham A's team at Sportspace on Saturday but our strength in depth got us through and we chalked up a 101 - 77 victory in front of a noisy crowd.

Between them the injured pair are averaging just over 40 points a game but in Saturday's National League clash we made up the deficit with a balanced scoring attack and had five players in double figures. All twelve of our guys made contributions to the win including juniors Michael Darlow who was in the starting five, and Davis Nicholson.

We survived a 3-point barrage from Birmingham in the first quarter and trailed 30 - 20 with two minutes to go as the visitors connected on six shots from behind the arc. But we then held them scoreless for the rest of the stanza and edged ahead 31 - 30 when the irrepressible Bode scored a free-throw in the dying seconds after he was fouled driving to basket.

We turned the tables on Birmingham in the second period holding them scoreless from long range while scoring four three-pointers of our own, Fred hitting two and Rich and Spud adding one each. By the half-time interval and despite the scoreboard showing the game was close at 53 - 47 we looked in control.  

From the restart we stepped-up the intensity of our man-to-man defence, and on offence our slick passing and player movement exposed gaps in Birmingham's zone defence.

Click here to return to the homepage

"I thought we gave a terrific effort after the break and began to eliminate the small mistakes which sometimes can add up and cause you to lose," said Coach T.  

"We didn't really make any technical adjustments at half-time, we just focused better on execution."

We quickly opened a 20-point lead as Tom and Lee found room inside Birmingham's defence for close-range efforts, and also accurate perimeter shooting kept the scoreboard ticking over. The period ended with Spud, Rich and Lee finding the bottom of the net without reply and we moved 88 - 62 ahead.

Birmingham fought back in the fourth quarter hitting three consecutive three-pointers in the opening two minutes but they also conceded open opportunities for us to hit back.

We remain undefeated and have moved to second place in the National League Table but with a game in hand over leaders Team Northumbria.

We're at home again next Saturday (November 12th) against Killamarsh (Sheffield) Arrows, tip-off 7.00pm.

Bode - top scorer against Birmingham A's