Saturday 1st October 2011
TCAT SHROPSHIRE WARRIORS     vs.     BIRMINGHAM UNIVERSITY LIONS
EBL Division 3 North

Today’s EBL Division 3 match at the TCAT Sports Arena had Shropshire Warriors welcoming the side from Birmingham University Lions for the opening league game of the EBL season. There was also a warm welcome to our new head coach Nico Kolokythas as he took charge of the team for the first time today, allowing Coach Dave McLean to take a more hands off position following his recent illness.
Sadly, also due to illness, regular team captain Craig Strickland was absent, with Matt Hardman taking on the captain’s role for the day.

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Following their defeat to Derby Trailblazers in the National Cup two weeks ago, the Warriors were looking to achieve an all round team improvement and started the match confidently with some fast passing and controlled offense work, but found themselves three points behind after the initial exchanges. The Shropshire team tightened things defensively, and with some fine steals by Simon Hoar leading to excellent fast breaks by Josh Crutchley, Warriors soon took the lead, and with two from two at the free throw line by Sam Shepherd right at the end of the quarter, the home side went into the first interval leading 16 points to 9.
The strong defensive work continued throughout the second quarter with Hoar dominating both boards, leaving the pressurised Lions players with mostly unsuccessful long range shots. Some slick offensive work also ended with a huge slam dunk from new player Aaron Withe flying high over the Lions number 15. More sharp passing from Hardman and Hoar opened up the Birmingham defence generating well taken lay-ups for Luke Grant and Ben Parry, and a long three pointer from Parry led to a half time score of:-
Warriors 29 : Lions 18.

Although holding a lead, coach Kolokythas knew his side should be scoring more than 29 points at the break, so in his half time team talk he called for better structure and a lot more discipline in offense.
His team responded well to the call and some fine shooting and more fast breaks by Crutchley helped to increase the Warriors lead. Excellent defensive rebounds by Hoar and Withe kept the Lions at bay, and Hoar adding 5 more to his points tally at the other end, gave Warriors a third quarter lead of 52 points to 28.
The home team started the final period though with a number of unnecessary turnovers, allowing the Lions a few too many scoring opportunities. Crutchley played his part well in maintaining the Warriors lead with some fine outside shooting, and Shepherd again finished off the scoring in adding another 4 points to give a final score of:-
Warriors 70 : Lions 46.

Warriors top scorer – Josh Crutchley: 20 excellent points with 2 assists and 1 steal

Warriors MVP – Simon Hoar: 11 big points, 5 from 5 at the line, 8 defensive rebounds, 4 offensive rebounds and 3 assists. Great work all over the court, giving loads of encouragement and enthusiasm to the team.

 

Once again very many thanks to all our fans for their much appreciated support today helping the Warriors on to their first win of the EBL season, hopefully the first of many victories to come here at the TCAT Sports Arena.
Also best wishes for a speedy recovery to Craig Strickland, hoping he is back with us very soon.

 

Match Report: Adrian Rushton

Photos: Carsten Dieterich