The Kent Crusaders took an important win in their battle to avoid relegation, as they beat fellow bottom dwellers NEWI Nets 67-60 in Wales. Along with Plymouth Raiders and Black Country, the Crusaders and NEWI are fighting to avoid the two relegation spots. With their fifth win of the season the Crusaders went two points ahead of NEWI and six clear of Black Country ahead of next weeks matchup in Canterbury with Plymouth Raiders, also on five wins.

“This game was as big as they get in this end of the table”, said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen after the game, “We didn’t play a great game by any stretch of the word, but as a team I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of the guys than I am tonight. We just got defensive stop after defensive stop, and scraped out the points needed to win the game.”

The Crusaders came out looking a bit shaken by the importance of the game, as NEWI scored the first five points, but for the next five minutes the hosts were kept scoreless, as Kent came out behind James Harris’ hot shooting and claimed an 11-5 lead. The hosts recovered slightly as Greek import Kostas Psarris hit a couple of shots, but the Kent side could have their first rest up 14-9.

NEWI recovered from their slow start by shutting down Kent on defence, as the Crusaders were only able to score six points in the second quarter. The Crusaders played some good defence of their own, and with eight minutes gone of the quarter the score was tied at 22. Psarris again stepped up for the home team though, as he hit two three pointers which helped put NEWI up nine, 31-22, at the half.

After the break the visitors came out aggressively on defence and forced NEWI to make tough decisions, which often lead to difficult shots or mistakes that gave the Crusaders easy fastbreak baskets at the other end, highlighted by a J.P. Dimandja dunk that brought even the home crowd to its feet. For the first four minutes of the quarter the teams had only managed one basket each, but then the Crusaders scored 22 almost unanswered points, mostly on the back of NEWI mistakes, as NEWI only managed a three pointer by Psarris and one free throw for the rest of the quarter.

The Crusaders looked like they thought the 46-37 lead they took into the fourth quarter had the game already decided, and NEWI scored 11 unanswered points and got up by two, 48-46, before Crusaders veteran Mike Webber finally got a basket to go in to even the score.

The teams traded baskets as Psarris hit for four more points, and Crusaders’ Steve Findley made a three and a two, but with four minutes left in the game the Crusaders’ defence again stepped up, stopping NEWI from scoring and converting turnovers into points. Crusaders slowly build their lead to 62-54 going into the last minute off two Damian Lyons baskets and five of six made foul shots.

NEWI were now fouling to stop the clock, hoping that the Crusaders would miss their free throws and that NEWI would be able to convert misses into quick points. The home side got as close as 64-60 with 20 seconds to go after the Crusaders missed two of four from the line, but Lyons and Harris sealed the deal from the line for the Crusaders, who came away with a 67-60 win.

Olesen thought a key to the win was how Crusaders spread out their scoring, as Steve Findley top scored with 13 points, while they had five other guys score between 8 and 12 points. “We never found a great offensive rhythm, but various players just stepped up at different times in the game. James Harris was hot early, Findley stepped up and hit some shots at key times, Lyons got our last run going, and Dimandja had some great finishes. Having so many players stepping up and taking responsibility for the win is key as we continue to fight relegation.”

Crusaders captain Pete Ayling agreed; “Everyone contributed to a crucial win. The team showed character and determination and ensured we continue to have next season’s destiny in our own hands”.

NEWI (North Eastern Wales Institute) Nets v. Kent Crusaders

60-67 (12-16, 31-22, 37-46, 60-67)

Saturday 1 February at 5.00 pm

Venue: Plas Coch, Wrexham

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 11:37 pm and is filed under Game Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.