By James Bourne
Coventry Crusaders' winless start to the season
continued, but it was a much improved performance against a Taunton
Tigers side who remain unbeaten in the National Trophy, and one that
head coach Scott Neely could take a lot of positives from with the
league season fast approaching.
The Crusaders lost 90-89 in the last seconds of
overtime to end a thoroughly absorbing match that had the crowd on the
edge of their seats throughout.
An unfortunate slip from Jon Olinger let Joe Andrews
in twenty seconds from time for what proved to be the decisive score,
although Olinger had been the hero until that point, notching eight
points in overtime which included two fine 3-pointers.
In fact it was Andrews who had scored a heartbreaking
3-pointer on the buzzer of the fourth quarter to level the scores at
72-72 to take the game into overtime.
The Crusaders had looked as though they had done
enough to seal the win with a vastly improved performance in the latter
stages of normal time, with new recruit Stephen Danso hitting 21 points
in the final two quarters and being a thorn in the side of the Tigers
with his excellent rebound play.
But time and again they let the Tigers sneak back into
contention; a fact Neely puts down to inexperience on the big stage.
Neely said after the game: "Towards the end, we had
three 19-year-olds out on the court, and this is the English First
Division, so sometimes they haven’t been in those situations."
The visitors started the stronger in the opening
stages, with Sean Clifford's direct running and pinpoint passing causing
problems for the Crusaders' defence. He notched five points in the
opening quarter, including an exquisite 3-pointer to give the Tigers a
10-9 lead.
This lead was expanded on with further scores from
Russell Anderson and Paul Yabsley, but the Crusaders' Dan Taylor netted
a pivotal basket on the buzzer of the first quarter to reduce the
deficit to four points.
The Crusaders started the second quarter with more
vigour, with the two guards, Joe Francombe and Jon Olinger, being
allowed more freedom to cut in from deep and shoot, netting 10 points
between them.
However the Crusaders could have extended this good
run thanks to plenty of free throw opportunities resulting from the
Tigers' ill discipline, but they could only slot two points from six,
with Dave Edden the guilty party missing four free throws of his own.
But Edden more than made up for his
uncharacteristically below-par shooting with some superb defensive work,
with the visitors being denied a multitude of rebound opportunities in
the first five minutes of the quarter.
After this though, the Tigers found another gear and,
thanks in part to four successive two-pointers, found themselves ahead
44-38 at half time.
The Crusaders were sharing out the scoring duties,
with no less than seven players netting points in the opening two
quarters, a statistic that must surely please Neely for the trip to
Bristol in a fortnight.
The third quarter started strongly for the Crusaders.
Stephen Danso was the hero for the home side, slotting 11 points – more
than the entire Tigers’ team – including two free throws, a running two
pointer from inside his own half and a shot from range.
Taunton were being denied by some intercepted plays
and off-colour finishing, but they still remained in contention with the
Crusaders unable to fully capitalise on their purple patch. A slick turn
from Edden netted the last basket of the quarter to give the Crusaders a
slender one point lead, 55-54, going into the final ten minutes.
The fourth quarter displayed a similar pattern to the
third. Danso was the star man in attack, managing to hold his nerve by
shooting four free throws in his haul of 10 points, whilst Edden was the
defensive stalwart, managing to claim a hand to several rebounds to
thwart the Tigers.
A run of 13 consecutive points took the Crusaders from
an eight point deficit to a 72-67 lead, but they were unable to
capitalise, defending deeper and allowing the visitors to dictate the
final minute, which proved costly.
Paul Yabsley coolly slotted home two free throws to leave the Tigers a
score behind, before Andrews struck to send the Taunton bench into
raptures and taking the game into added time.
Quarter Scores: 17-21, 21-23, 17-10,
17-18 (OT) 17-18.
Crusaders top scorers: Stephen
Danso 28, John Olinger
18, Dave Edden 16.
Tigers top scorers:
Clifford 25, Zebrinski 20, Page 13.
Crusaders next home match is on the 31st
October when they face Bristol Academy Flyers, tip-off is 7.30pm at the
Coventry Sports Centre.
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