The Kent Crusaders went up North for two games against top five teams and secured their place in Division 2. A win at Team Northumbria on Saturday night combined with a NEWI loss to Leicester means that the Kent side will stay in the division. The Crusaders went to Newcastle and Middlesbrough with the added confidence of knowing standout player Robbie Parker was back from a three month injury break.

“We have played timid for a couple of games, knowing the importance, but once we had our backs against the wall, the players responded with an almost perfect defensive game against Northumbria”, said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen. “When we played them in Canterbury in January they came out hitting six three pointers in the first quarter, which basically ended the game, and we knew we’d have to stop their outside shooting to have a chance to win the game”.

The Crusaders came out aggressive on defence from the tip, rotating to the Northumbria shooters, as they kept the home side to only three points in the first eight minutes of the game, running up a 15-3 lead behind Parker, Lyons and Betts baskets. Northumbria then hit a couple of three pointers, as the Crusader defence relaxed a little bit, but captain Pete Ayling was substituted onto the court and immediately the defence settled again.

Apart from the two three pointers Northumbria made in the first quarter the Kent side always seemed to get a hand in the shooter’s face, or run at him to disturb him, and it paid off as the home side never hit another three in the game.

The lead stayed around ten points until the last minute of the first half, where the home side hit a two pointer and a couple of foul shots to draw within six at the half, 35-29.

After the break the home side immediately hit a two pointer to get within four, but for the next five minutes neither team could get a shot to drop, as Crusaders’ defence was still getting stops, but also looked like the importance of the game got to them on offence. Northumbria’s Steutel finally broke the deadlock with two baskets to tie the game, but Robbie Parker forced his way to the foul line to bring the Crusaders up two, and that woke up the Crusaders offensively.

Northumbria tied the game again on the next possession, but then the Crusaders ran off the next 11 points, bringing them up 48-37 early in the fourth quarter. For the next couple of minutes the teams traded baskets, before the away side ran off another nine unanswered to go up 62-43 with four minutes left.

Northumbria desperately tried to shoot their way back into the game, but the Crusader defence continued to rotate aggressively to the three point shooters, and the home team had to settle for a couple of inside shots to bring them within 15, before Crusaders’ Betts and Lyons iced the game with a couple of baskets. The final score was 68-51 and the Crusaders could huddle at mid court as the travelling Crusaders fans chanted “We’re staying up!”.

After the game a relieved Crusader big man JP Dimanjja called the game “a gutsy performance where everybody stepped up”. Coach Olesen echoed his words and added “It was a load off everybody’s shoulders. You could just see the anticipation in the player’s eyes as we were waiting for the NEWI result to come in, and then the relief as we learned of the result.”

On Sunday the Crusaders faced the Tees Valley Mohawks, who had secured second place in the League on Saturday. After a hard fought game on Saturday coach Olesen elected to use his entire bench, and eleven Crusaders played in the first quarter. The game started with Robbie Parker being hot for the guests, as the teams traded baskets until the middle of the quarter where the Mohawks scored three baskets in a row to pull away for a 17-8 lead.

‘The Crusaders were able to pull back within six, 22-16, at the end of the quarter, as Rob Dagger, an under 18 player who’s played with Crusaders for two seasons, hit two shots at the end.

The second quarter was more of the same as the teams traded baskets, with Crusaders at one point getting as close as four, 30-26, but with the Mohawks able to go to halftime with a 40-31 lead as young guard David Hanson hit two three pointers to bring his total for the half to 14.

The gap stayed around ten points after the break, as the Crusaders stayed within striking distance by forcing turnvers with aggressive defence, but without ever getting closer than nine points, and the Mohawks never going up by more than 14 until the middle of the fourth quarter,

With four minutes left of the game Hanson hit another three pointer to finally bring the Mohawks up 16, The Crusaders tried to come back behind Parker and Betts scoring and Dagger and Rikki Broadmore forcing turnovers on defence, but they were only able to get within 11 with two minutes to go, before Hanson hit his fourth three pointer of the game to ice it. In the end the Mohawks won 78-65.

“I was pleased to see how the young players responded against a quality opponent”, said Olesen after the game. “We haven’t been able to play the youngsters as much as they need to to develop because of the threat of relegation, so it was great to see Dagger, Dan Garrad and Rikki Broadmore step up and take responsibility.”

The situation in the bottom of the league is that there’s still a chance for the Crusaders, NEWI and Plymouth Raiders to end up with the same number of wins and in that case the tie breaker is the games those teams have played against each other. The three teams all have two wins in the six games played between the teams, but the Crusaders have the best points difference, followed by NEWI and then the Raiders, securing the Crusaders safety.

Team Northhumbria 51 v. 68 Kent Crusaders (13-17, 29-35, 37-46)

Saturday 22 March at 4.00 pm

Venue: Westgate Centre

Tees Valley Mohawks 78 v. 65 Kent Crusaders (22-16, 40-31, 59-45)

Sunday 24 March at 4.00 pm

Venue: Eston Sports Academy

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