The second tense conflict occurred on Sunday afternoon at the Coventry Sports Centre when Paws London Capitals arrived in Coventry. 

This was another very close game. Throughout the game there was rarely more than 3 points in it between the two sides.

The game was almost a repeat of Saturday’s game, however, and the result was that Crusaders are still hoping to find their 4^th elusive win of league play. 

The first quarter was opened by a basket by Marcus Saunders. The quarter was dominated by Marlo Saunders, however, who accumulated 12 of his 34 points in those opening minutes. 

Crusaders hung with the Capitals and only trailed by 16-20 at the first interval. 

The second quarter belonged to new Crusaders Malik Omar who used his 6’11” height to his advantage and scored eight of his 12 points then, showing Crusaders fans a taste of what he is capable of.  

At half time the Crusaders were still trailing 31-38, but they were not about to lay down and die, as demonstrated when they came out storming in the third period. 

It took Paws Capitals almost four minutes to score their first basket, by which time the Crusaders had caught up with the London side 38-38.  Two quick baskets by Marcus Saunders put Capitals ahead again and for the rest of the quarter Crusaders spent playing cat and mouse, never falling too far behind but never quite catching up again either.

That changed in the last minute of the quarter when Dip Donaldson scored a basket, and two made free throws by Oatman in the last seconds gave Crusaders the slight edge going into the last period 56-55. 

The last quarter was certainly a tense one for anyone watching who cared about the outcome, because the outcome of the game was certainly up for grabs!   

Capitals went up by a point in the first minute of play, and managed to just stay ahead of Crusaders until half way through when another Oatman three pointer gave Crusaders the edge again. 

This was counteracted by a Marcus Saunders free throw and a Marlo Saunders three pointer giving Arrows a three point lead.  And that is the way it continued until with just over two minutes left, Crusaders again tied the score 72-72.   

A basket by Mumuni put Arrows in the lead once again, and although Crusaders went to the line and made one, Arrows were awarded two free throws to put them ahead by one point. 

With the clock running down, Oatman controlled the ball for one last play for Crusaders, hoping to make a basket or draw a foul to get to the line.  The play went amiss, causing a technical foul to be given instead, and with two free throws sunk by Marlo, and possession, Crusaders hopes were sunk, and their second heart breaking game of the weekend ended in defeat. 

Crusaders scorers: Baynes Clarke 2, Spare 4, Donaldson 7, Owen 8, Omar 12, Neely 13, Oatman 27. 

Arrows scorers: DaSilva 4, Mumuni 4, Ataha 6, Harris 10, Marcus Saunders 20, Marlo Saunders 34