Chester Jets (47) 100

Crusaders (40) 78

BBL Cup Tournament 

A trip up the M6 on Friday afternoon was a change of pace for the Crusaders, as they headed north to play Chester in the BBL Cup.

Being drawn in a pool that has three BBL teams in it, Sheffield Sharks, Chester Jets, and newly promoted Worcester Wolves was always going to be an uphill battle, and Friday proved that true.

The opening quarter wasn’t a very brilliant start for Crusaders, unlike Maurice Hargrow who had a great first quarter scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first 10 minutes. 

Scott Neely suffered an injury to his face that sidelined him for the rest of the game, and left Crusaders, who had travelled with a depleted squad with a six man team.  

Crusaders struggled to find the basket, and ended the first period behind 12-24. 

The second quarter was a complete turnaround for the Coventry visitors.  Sam Oatman found his shot and put in 11 points while hooking up teammate Marcin Twierdzinski with 10 points.  Crusaders outscored the Jets 28-23 in the second period and went into half time down a respectable 40-47. 

The Jets came out of the interval on fire – Terence Robinson hitting three 3 pointers along with player/coach Billy Singleton’s 11 points and John Simpson’s 10.  Jets had run the score up to 40-54 and played four minutes into the half before Crusaders put their first points on the scoreboard, and they were never able to make up the deficit or pull close again. 

The score after three quarters was 56 – 79, and the last quarter was a matter of trading baskets and no ground was gained for Crusaders throughout the rest of the match in spite of another 10 Oatman points. 

The match ended with Chester winning 78 – 100 and Crusaders knowing they could have done better, but knowing at the end of the day, they still have one more BBL game to gear themselves up for, and improve upon.

Crusaders scorers: Spare 4, Donaldson 4, Baynes Clarke 6, Owen 8, Twierdzinski 24, Oatman 32 

Jets Scorers: Virgil 7, Hamilton 8, Cowan 11, Singleton 13, Robinson 13, Hargrow 13, Simpson 17, Murphy 18