Christ Church shock Exeter
Cuppers Basketball Christchurch 29 - 24 Exeter
A keenly contested group match saw the powerful Exeter outfit take on Christ Church. Exeter, having won both their previous matches, were looking to extend their winning run in the competition, while the opposition needed to win the game to retain their hopes of reaching the next round. Both teams seemed nervous and took their time to settle into a rhythm. Christ Church began the game with only four men and were understandably defensive.
Their restraint also seemed to lull Exeter into a defensive mode as Eric Markovsky impressed early on with a series of blocks. With the away side unable to take advantage of an extra man it was James Spooner of Christ Church who opened the scoring in the eighth minute of the game. He followed it up with a couple of free throws and a field basket to give his side a six-point cushion.
Exeter, however, slowly found their range and equalled the score at 6-6 with seven minutes to go in the first half. Both teams proceeded to miss a series of easy opportunities before Christ Church took the upper hand. The favourites’ defence was left in a shambles by Christ Church’s penetrating drives, whilst at the other end the visitors were restricted to unlikely long range efforts.
Bola Ogidan entered the game for Christ Church with six minutes to go in the half and immediately made his presence felt by scoring a lovely two-pointer. Galvanised by the extra man Christ Church turned on the pressure, racing into a six point lead. Exeter clawed back again thanks to a Chris Collins’ layup for two points, meaning that they went into the interval trailing by 14 points to ten. Both teams adopted more aggressive tactics as they came out from the break.
Exeter took their time in offence and were trying to get the ball to their centre as often as possible. Despite some good ball movement they were not making enough of the chances and repeatedly missed easy baskets. Christ Church on the other hand made their forays into the opponents’ half count, and slowly dissolved Exeter’s hopes of a comeback.
Spooner, who had an excellent all round game, scored 13 points and claimed eight rebounds, steering Christchurch into an eight point lead with twelve minutes to go. A dogged Exeter refused to give in as a steal and break by Rhyss Jenkins cut the lead by two points. This provided the catalyst for his team in what was to be a tantalising finish. At 23-22 with four minutes to go the result could have gone either way. It was Christ Church who produced a six point run to effectively seal the match.
Exeter called late time-out in a desperate attempt to try and find a way back into the game, but this appeared only to disrupt their own rhythm as the final minutes were filled with scrappy play.
19th May 2005