[03 NOV 07] CRUSADER NEWS                                                       Sheffield Arrows (40) 83

Coventry Crusaders (37) 78

The Crusaders opened their league campaign by travelling north to Sheffield, and narrowly missing out on a victory. 

They were without their junior players who were engaged in a local derby against Leicester Beaumont Cannons. Robert Clarke, Crusaders centre, was also unavailable due to injury problems.  

Even so, the Crusaders managed to take an early lead in the game and keep their opponents down to 15 points in the opening quarter. Ryan Luethy started well for the visiting Crusaders hitting two 3-pointers to bring his personal 1^st quarter score to 10. 

In the second quarter Arrow’s Martin went on a roll, converting his shots to three pointers, and being very instrumental in Sheffield’s comeback half way through the period.  With just over three minutes left in the half, Sheffield surged ahead of Crusaders and managed to hang on to the lead through half-time 40-37. 

Once play got under way again, Crusaders once again took the lead with a basket by Ed Baynes Clarke, and a three pointer by Keith Sudler. 

The two sides played cat and mouse for the rest of the quarter, neither one being able to shake the other one off, and Arrows closed the 3^rd up 58-60. 

Three more 3’s in the final period by Crusaders Luethy were not enough to stem the tide for Coventry, however, as Rankine was sent to the free throw line 15 times. Although he only made 6 of those, the Arrows did dig deep enough to hang on to their advantage and start their season with a win 78 - 83. 

Despite a fine shooting display by Luethy, with seven 3-pointers, the Crusaders just did not have enough fire power on court to pull off their 1^st league win of the season. 

Crusaders Scorers: B. Clarke 2, Spare 3 Linacre 5, Hall 5, Baynes Clarke 9, sudler 24, Luethy 30. 

Arrows Scorers: Marsden 2, Bell 3, Siddal 4, Rankine 20, Martin 24, Bevard 30 

Crusaders U-14’s played a round robin tournament at home in the Alan Higgs Centre on Saturday against last year’s Champions Milton Keynes Lions, and City of Birmingham.  Both teams beat the young, Crusaders side who gained valuable experience by playing at that level.   

Milton Keynes went on to be the winner on the day, also beating City of Birmingham. 

Crusaders U-18’s also played at home in the Alan Higgs Centre against Leicester Beaumont Cannons.  The Juniors put on a fine display of teamwork and confidence throughout the game, showing poise and composure under pressure, and leading throughout the game.   

Although they weren’t able to shake the Cannons until late in the game, all the players got court time and all but one of the home team and all of the Leicester side scored during the game. 

Final score Crusaders U-18 (49) 90 – Leicester Cannons (42) 78 

Top scorers for Crusaders were Dave Edden 20, Sydney Donaldson 23, Ricardo Gordon 29.