Tamar Valley Cannons (37) 85

Crusaders (44) 92

Crusaders Disarm Cannons

With Dip Donaldson in America and Manny Sharland out with an ankle injury, it was a nine man Crusader squad that made the long cold trip down to Plymouth on Saturday, to face Tamar Valley Cannons. 

With Tamar boosted by their home win to Oxford last weekend, and Crusaders wanting to impress after their defeat to North West London, both teams looked confident in warm ups, and the crowd anticipated a good show. 

Having won tip off it was the home side that drew first blood with their Captain Nathan Hayes scoring from his opening lay up.

Nevertheless Matt Collins was quick to respond for Crusaders, and although Crusader's failed to reach the target on more than one occasion in the opening period, an excellent display of defensive play from all five Crusader starters kept the fast shooting Cannons away from the basket and the scores tight. 

Top shot for the home side in the first was Solomon Sheard Jr with 11 points. Having only recently signed for Cannons, Sheard had not been in the Tamar side that visited Coventry in December, and although allowed 11 points this quarter, Crusaders would soon have him "weighed up" and keep him boxed out for the remainder of the game. 

Something however, Cannons were unable to achieve with Crusader's Larry Graves who despite carrying a slight injury, produced 12 points in the first and was to continue racking up the points until the final buzzer. 

The opening period finished a lot closer than it should have at 20 – 21 with neither side scoring in the final minute. 

Derrick Pope got the second period underway as Crusaders began to establish a lead despite their shooting being still just 50% accurate from the floor.

Tamar were held to just 4 points ahead of their sixth minute time out as the Crusader defence continued to pressurise.  

A couple of home side fouls gave Crusaders further advantage, ahead of Matt Collins running the ball in by avoiding all five Cannons in turn, to put up a 10 point lead and receive appreciative applauds from the impressed home supporters.  

However, an equally impressive long shot from Marcus Cronin on the buzzer brought the deficit back down to 37 - 44 at the interval.

Total Crusader domination in the opening minutes of the third saw the gap widen to 20 points with Larry Graves, Derrick Pope, Sam Spare and Alaster Spiers all getting a share of the points to go 37 - 57 ahead. 

That was until Marcus Cronin again hit the target from long range and followed up with a two point jump shot with four minutes gone.

Much to the dismay of their fans, after such a blistering start to the second half, Crusaders shooting form suddenly abandoned them, hitting just one from seven and allowing their hosts back into the game 52 - 59.

Collins produced a long and much needed three pointer inside the closing minute to restore confidence and set up an exciting finale 54 - 62.

The final quarter would test the hearts of both teams and the nerves of both sets of supporters in a period of basketball, which, after a slow start, was to turn into a high scoring spectacle from all players.

By the time a time out was called in the third minute, the only change to the score sheet from the opening of the period was a solitary 2 points from Sheard for the home side 56 - 62.

Graves and Craig Robertson got Crusaders underway and again took the lead to double points.  Robertson, who has been somewhat off target with his shooting of late, was this time an integral part of the Crusader defence.

Sheard notched up just a single point from the line, after Ed Baynes Clarke who was also excellent for the Crusader defence all night, picked up his third foul, and when Graves was fouled on his lay up, he converted his bonus shot and put Crusaders very much back in the driving seat 12 points ahead.

Sheard managed to break through for the Cannons, but moments later Pope punished Sheard harshly when he fouled the Crusader Coach in the act of shooting from beyond the arc, by converting all three shots.

Six more unanswered points from Graves and Crusaders appeared to be coasting into the closing three minutes 62 - 76. They still looked confident despite the home side producing four successive three pointers to narrow the gap. 

A massive dunk from Spiers again brought applause from both sides and concluded Crusaders floor shooting. 

In the final minute Tamar tried desperately to regain possession with a series of fouls, but with the win already in sight Crusaders were not going to slip up now. Converting eight of ten from the line, they secured the 85 - 92 victory and took back fourth place in the league. 

It was a pleased Derrick Pope enjoying the excellent Tamar hospitality after the game. Coach Pope was pleased with the way his team stepped up their performance after last week's disappointment.  

He was particularly pleased with the way Crusaders defended against the potentially high scoring Cannons, giving deserved recognition to players whose lower scores might not get them noticed each week, but without whose defensive performances a win would be impossible.

Crusaders Scorers

Larry Graves 32, Alaster Spiers 21, Derrick Pope 17, Matt Collins 10, Ed Baynes Clarke 4, Craig Robertson 4, Lee Muir 2, Sam Spare 2

Tamar Valley Scorers

Solomon Sheard 28, Marcus Cronin 18, Nathan Hayes 15, Eddie Duke 11, Matt Peard 8, Matt Hatchell 4, Adam Hatchell 1