A strong last quarter of 34 points helped the Medway Park Crusaders pull out a 93-83 victory against the BA London Leopards at Medway Park on Saturday.

Report by Nick Moore

The win, which helps the Crusaders move up to mid-table in the EBL Division One, is their second win of the season. Stand out players on the night were guard Vear, who hit a double-double of 13 points and 11 assists, making him only the fifth player in Crusaders history to make 100 career assists, and the power forwards, 6’9 Joseph Schow and 6’6 Adrian Fenyn, who combined for 50 points.

The game was always going to come down to how well Medway contained the Leopard’s Vernon Teel and Ousman Krubally, who are the top two scorers in the league – between them have averaged nearly 55 points and 24 rebounds per game.

Luckily for the Crusaders, Krubally did not play, and they managed to keep the import Teel to just 24 points. The BA-sponsored Leopards won impressively last week against league leaders Bristol, and their confidence showed in the first quarter, with Teel hitting three 3’s early on.  The Crusaders struggled to find any rhythm offensively and were down 20-15 after 10 minutes.

In the second period the Crusaders started to get the ball inside to Schow and Fenyn who both were becoming a handful for the Leopards defence.

The Leopards though continued to knock down their shots to remain in the lead, and with only a few seconds left in the quarter 6’2 guard Luke Baker knocked down a big three to take the Crusaders into the break trailing 39-35.

After the interval, both teams came out a bit flat in the third, but half way through the quarter the Crusaders began to hit some big shots. Vear and Schow combined well giving the Medway team some easy looks at the basket.  They took the third by three points meaning it was 60-59 to the Leopards going into the fourth.

In the final 10 minutes the Leopards came out very strong and Teel once again found himself getting to the basket and hitting some tough shots. They took a quick five point lead, but the Crusaders continued to chip away at the lead.

In the last 4 minutes of the game the Crusaders caught fire with everyone hitting shots. Vear, Baker and Schow all hit huge threes to put Medway up by eight. The chasing Leopards had to foul to kill the clock, but the Crusaders held their nerve and saw out the game to get their second win.

Crusaders coach, James Vear, was thrilled with his teams result. He said: “We showed great mental toughness tonight and we have been lacking a bit of confidence over the past month, but the guy’s hard work in practice has finally paid off.”

He also paid credit to the efforts of Schow, Fenyn and Baker: “Our big guys were great today. Both Joe and Adrian played some fantastic team basketball and Luke hit some big shots towards the end of the game – he is easily one of the best shooters in the division.”

Leopards’ coach, Dejan Mihevc, was understandably disappointed. He said: “I would like to congratulate Medway Park’s players for a deserved win. They showed more desire and were more focused especially in the last part of the game.”

He also praised point guard, Steve Vear: “Vear was a true leader on the floor tonight and he showed that he is exactly what they needed.”

Steve’s brother, James added: “It was a massive boost getting Steve back tonight. He hasn’t played since we won the playoff final last year but he had a great game.”

The Crusaders next game sees them take on the Bristol Academy Flyers at home on Saturday, 10 December at 5pm. The Flyers have been the stand out team in this year’s campaign winning six out of their seven opening league fixtures.

Scoring an average of 81 points per game, the Bristol side will be very hard to stop. Coach Vear concluded by saying: “we know we will have to be better defensively when we come up against Bristol next week who are arguably the best team in our Division.”

Picture supplied by Cesar Velasco