Crusaders Fail To Capitalize 

Failing to capitalize on given chances, left Coventry and Warwickshire Crusaders staring in the face of defeat again on Saturday afternoon. 

Their disappointing  104 - 73 defeat at the hands of unbeaten North West London Wolverines saw Coventry drop to sixth place in the league. 

Playing in their new, even if unfinished state of the art arena, Northwest London turned out to be, just as they looked, a class side full of youth and athleticism. 

Crusaders kept in touch with their hosts for the first quarter, despite squandering too many chances to score, and even when former Crusader Milek Jivens put the home side 14 - 7 up from long range, Crusader fans were confident that their team would be able to make up the points.

Their faith was rewarded as Crusader Player / Coach Derrick Pope hit his second 3 for the quarter in the closing seconds to end the first period 19 - 18. 

Poor shooting from Crusaders in the second period saw the advantage swing in the direction of the home side, who took very little time to stretch out a 10 point lead. 

Apart from Larry Graves who produced 11 of Crusaders 15 points of the quarter, Pope's players looked far from attractive as they lost out time after time on the boards, by failing to get in position for any second chance shots. 

The result was that Crusaders trailed 46 - 33 at the interval.  

In the third quarter the scoring becoming a little more wide spread.  Despite Craig Robertson, and Ed Baynes Clarke getting onto the score sheet for the first time in the game, Crusaders  continued to make hard work of the game.  

While Crusaders played a zone defence, London's choice of man to man marking appeared to be more effective.  

However, once again the game was lost on the boards as Crusaders continued to struggle to pull down the rebound and clear the ball. 

Fifteen personal points for Martin in the third, put the home side in the driving seat as the final quarter approached with the score standing at 72 - 54. 

Within sight of almost inevitable victory the home side played entertaining basketball that thrilled the home supporters and although each move was not successful, Crusaders still had nothing in reply.  

Marcus Garvey rotated players from the Crusader bench with little effect.  

The lack of a proper scoreboard and clock just prolonged the agony for Crusader fans who watched in dismay as their team were torn apart, wondering how much longer they had to endure this. 

Crusader veterans Derrick Pope and Dip Donaldson teamed up to produce 13 points in the closing minutes. 

Nevertheless, like the rest of the team they were no match on the day for the athletic Wolverines, who deserved their win which left them still undefeated this season, but left Crusaders thinking hard on how to make the necessary adjustment before they return to the Coventry Sports Centre next week.

Crusader Scorers             Northwest London Scorers

Larry Graves             24             Martin             39

Derrick Pope             17             Jivens             19

Kevin Richard             13             Agulara             12

Dip Donaldson            10             Maitland          9

Sam Spare                 4             Jack                  5

Ed Baynes Clarke 3                   Madike             5

Craig Robertson 2                       Cadet              4

                                                Lafit                  4

                                                Garbia             3

                                                Team                4