Kent Crusaders opened 2016 with a 87-76 win over Doncaster Danum Eagles on Saturday at Barking Abbey Leisure Centre.

RJ Eytle-Rock, Amin Adamu and John Shodipo had 18 points-a-piece, whilst Dan Akin added 17 inside, as Crusaders recovered from a slow start to improve to 10-1, second in the Division 2 Men’s league table.

With Obi Agu and Josh Kanini absent through sickness, the team were still able to get the job done, with Amin Adamu and Akin carrying the load in the first half and Eytle-Rock and Shodipo getting going in the second.

“I thought we did a good job today,” said Head Coach Lloyd Gardner.

“Offensively, I thought we were very good, we could have scored a lot more points if we hadn’t missed some good opportunities. I thought defensively we had some lapses but Doncaster are an incredibly tough team to match up with they’re nowhere near where their record shows at this moment in time.

“I said at the start of the year I think they will beat some teams and I still believe that. They’re a very difficult team to play against and I thought we did a good job for long stretches, we could just never really break the game properly. We were a little short-handed today as well with a sick bug going around but overall I was pleased with what we did.”