Crusaders (40) 77

Alconbury (32) 63

Alistair Inspires Crusader Win

There was a good confidence booster for Coventry and Warwickshire Crusaders on Saturday night, as they produced a convincing win over Alconbury Spartans at the Coventry Sports Centre.

While other Division 2 teams fought out the Patrons Cup Semi Finals, Crusader’s put their free weekend to good use, in what Coach Derrick Pope described before the game as a preparation exercise for the remaining half of the season.

Alistair Spires inspired Crusaders from the onset as he found the basket with his opening shot and having been fouled on route, converted his free shot to give the home side an immediate 3 – 0 lead.

Sam Spare dominated the boards at the other end of the court in the early stages as the Airmen struggled to find the basket.

It was good to see Manny Sharland getting back into his stride on court after spending Christmas in Kenya. Having dragged down a significant defensive rebound Manny took the ball down court and when he was fouled as his shot was blocked, Manny looked decidedly more confident as he stepped up to the line.

Five minutes into the game Spartans evened things up 6 – 6, however, Manny again confidently stepped up to the line and sunk both free throws and put Crusaders back into a lead they would never relinquish.

Checking into the game for the first time with four minutes left in the quarter was Ed Baynes Clarke, who immediately looked fitter and more effective than in recent outings and before the final buzzer Baynes Clarke would have produced one of his best scores of the season with a useful 10 points.

With nine seconds left Assistant Coach Marcus Garvey sent Dip Donaldson into the fray to replace, Coach Derrick Pope.

Evergreen Donaldson had an immediate impact on the game as with his very first touch of the ball he drained a long and impressive three pointer to close the opening period 17 – 13.

An exciting start to the second period saw Larry Graves find his target repeatedly from long range as Crusaders went on a 8 – 1 run in the opening two minutes, and as Crusaders experimented with some impressive defensive moves, they forced the Airmen into simple errors that saw them at one point, appear to reject their own shot.

There were times however, during this period that Crusaders left themselves open in the centre and were lucky not to be punished as they were far too easily stripped of the ball.

Without exception all Crusaders put in an improved performance and with the points more evenly spread than of late, the home side went into the interval 40 – 32 ahead and looking quietly confident.

With just one change to the Crusader starting line up for the third quarter, it was again Alistair Spires who got Crusaders off the mark for the second half, but not before the Americans had drawn first blood.

Rising above the basket Spires dunked his second shot of the half and as both Larry Graves and Dip Donaldson saw off the American defense, Crusaders once again began to dominate.

This being a training exercise Marcus Garvey steadily rotated all players throughout the quarter, and was again rewarded with a good variety of shots and shooters as all players rose to the challenge.

By the end of the third Crusaders looked comfortable with their 16 point lead of 64 – 48.

Wes Hall opened up the final period, after some solid defense from Ed Baynes Clarke saw him drag down three successive defensive rebounds from some wayward shooting from the Airmen.

Wes worked his way up court and was about to get on the score sheet with one of his athletic and exciting dunks when he was fouled very heavily and made to earn his points from the line.

He would however, get his chance minutes later as inside the final two minutes Wes again rose above the basket to produce a dunk that had the crowd and his team mates on their feet.

The Crusaders continued to look impressive particularly in defense, as they held on to record this moral boosting victory. Mores the pity however, that their efforts would not have any bearing on the league.

Speaking after the game, Coach Derrick Pope was pleased with the win and pleased with the improved performance of certain players.

Coach Pope however, is not going to permit his players to become complacent following this victory after weeks of disappointment, but he does plan to use it as a stepping stone for next weekend’s return to league action when they make their first visit to Northampton on Sunday afternoon.