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*** SCOTTISH MEN BASKETBALL MAIN PAGE ***
 | TEEN FURY TOPPLES KINGS | |
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Two remarkable teenagers helped unbeaten Falkirk
Fury topple the champions Edinburgh Kings 78-72
at the Mariner Centre on October 3.
Ali Fraser and Jonny Bunyan are both first year
juniors having been prominent members of the
Scotland cadet men's team who won the European C
Championship in Gibraltar last June and they
are part of a young Falkirk side who look
increasingly like genuine title contenders.
Fraser top-scored with 22 points and Bunyan
netted 18, his older brother Keith adding 17 in
one of the better Scottish League games so far
this season.
Another youngster Daniel Donnelly, who is not
long out of the junior ranks, scored 21,
including the three-pointer which sealed victory
for the home side.
'It's only what they've been doing in training,'
claimed Fury coach John Bunyan senior, who still
believes that the league is extremely tight:
'Whoever wins the title will lose at least two
games,' he predicted.
That may be a small crumb of comfort for Kings
whose only hope now is that their rivals start
losing games in the mix.
Scottish international centre Simon Flockhart replied with 25 for Kings,
Garreth Lodge adding 14 and Paddy Campbell 13
but at times they had no answer to Fraser who
scored 10 in the first quarter after which Fury
led 20-15.
By half-time it was back to 42-42
St Mirren are also still unbeaten, following up
their 56-54 away win over Kings by thrashing
Glasgow Storm 76-42 at Linwood and Troon
Tornadoes defeated Grampian Flyers 88-68 at
Ellon.
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| SCOTTISH LEAGUE NEEDS OLYMPIC BOOST | |
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| | | Only seven senior men's teams are contesting the Scottish League this season, the lowest number for several decades.
That is two down on last season's nine which in itself was a poor shop window for the sport which in the seventies could boast three divisions and once even four.
Edinburgh University have dropped out after only one season but even more shocking is the demise of Boroughmuir who were one of the league's founder members and still hold the record for the number of title wins.
Boroughmuir, whose long-standing secretary is the current chairman of British Basketball Bill McInnes, are at least continuing to contest the RAF-sponsored Scottish Junior League, and McInnes must be hoping that some of the shine of the current highly successful Great Britain teams will rub off in Scotland.
The teams taking part this season are: Edinburgh Kings, East Lothian Buccaneers, Falkirk Fury, Glasgow Storm, Grampian Flyers, St Mirren and Troon Tornadoes.
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| EDINBURGH COP HELPS KINGS MAKE REGAL START | |
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| | | Scottish 2006 Commonwealth Games rep Campbell Flockhart is back in
an Edinburgh Kings' shirt after a five-year exile along the road at
East Lothian Peregrines in Musselburgh and helped the champions to
an impressive opening win in defence of their Scottish League title
in Glasgow.
Kings tamed Glasgow Storm, a team expected to give them a close run
after taking Troon Tornadoes to a point the previous weekend, 80-44
with the 31-year-old Lothian and Borders policeman being asked to
try to fill the gap left by departed Aussie ace Brett Jefferies.
'Campbell did a good job for us,' said Kings coach Danny Costello,
who also gave a senior debut to 16-year-old Scottish junior cap Lee
Reilly, who is just out of the cadet ranks and scored 10 points.
'Lee's quite a prospect,' said Costello.
Kings have also lost long-serving club stalwart and Scottish cap
Kevin Anderson from last season's squad and were without the coach's
son Scotland point guard Laurie Costello for the Glasgow game.
'Given that we had so many new players to slot in, I was very
pleased at the way they all stepped up - the old guard gave us a bit
of stability while the new lads all made a positive contribution,'
added coach Costello.
It was another Flockhart, Simon, who shared joint top scoring spot
on 20 points with point guard Garreth Lodge while Paddy Campbell
added nine.
Kings led 20-12 after the first quarter, 33-16 at half-time then
survived a rough patch in the third before cruising the final 10
minutes 31-10.
Kings juniors had overcome St Mirren 68-63 after overtime in Paisley
the previous day, though the team to beat in this league looks to be
Falkirk Fury, who beat Arbroath 81-33.
Fury also soundly beat a weakened East Lothian Buccaneers 76-51 in
the senior league.
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| INJURED ARCH OUT OF GB EUROBASKET CAMPAIGN | |
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| | | Britain's hopes of competing in next year's Eurobasket Finals in Poland have been hit by the shock withdrawal from the GB squad through injury of Scottish star Robert Archibald.
The 27-year-old, 6ft 11in former NBA centre played a key role in last year's campaign, helping the British men to win promotion to the European A division.
But, as they bid to reach next year's European finals, GB will have to face a new series of tough matches without the former Dunfermline star, who has tendinitis in the knee and is back in the USA undergoing treatment.
'Robert will obviously be a huge miss,' said GB coach Chris Finch.
But Finch also had good news when Chicago Bulls star Luol Deng confirmed that he will be giving the GB games his full attention after agreeing a new four-year 36 million deal with the Bulls.
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| Well-known Glasgow coach dies at age of 59 | |
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| | | James 'Mickey' McKechnie, a much-loved coach from the East End of Glasgow, has died from cancer after a short illness.
Mickey, who was still coaching kids in Easterhouse in Glasgow only last month, was responsible for introducing thousands of youngsters to the hoops game in the city and for many years kept the game alive almost single-handed.
With Paisley, Penilee, Bannerman Vikings, GEAR, Glasgow Brightsiders and Glasgow d2 he won almost every honour in the game, first as a player, then as a player-coach and coach yet he never received the recognition he deserved.
His funeral, details of which are stil to be announced, will be on Tuesday August 5. |
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| Scotland unsure of a place in 2010 Commonwealth Hoops | |
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| | | Thanks to the intervention of FIBA, there will after all be a Commonwealth Basketball Championship in Delhi in 2010, despite the fact that basketball has not been included in the list of sports for the Commonwealth Games there in October of that year.
But it will be for men only, although a women's event is to be added, possibly in 2012 and possibly even in Glasgow.
Eight countries will be invited to take part in the first FIBA
Commonwealth Championship which will be hosted by India in Delhi in
July 2010 and Australia have already announced that they will be
taking part.
India, Nigeria, England and possibly Canada and South Africa have
also been mentioned but it is not clear yet whether Scotland, who
finished sixth in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, ahead of
both India and South Africa, would earn a direct invitation.
'We are still awaiting details of the new event from FIBA and are
unsure whether we would have to play off with other countries for
one of the eight spots,' said Basketballscotland Chief Executive
Kevin Pringle.
Plans for a Commonwealth Women's Championship have still to be
finalised but FIBA have suggested the first event could take place
in 2012 and Glasgow, which has also left out basketball from its list of sports for the 2014 Games, could be in line to host it, possibly in the new Indoor Arena.
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| Scotland U16 are crowned European champions in Division C | |
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by Eurobasket News - Jul 2, 2008 | | | Scotland U16 - Wales U16 102:39
Scottish U16 Team improved on the 2006 European championship result this year. They thumped Welsh U16 side to claim the Gold medals of the 2008 edition of the event. Wales could not put up a worthy fight in the Final yesterday. Scottish players were dominant right from the start and never loosened the grip throughout the action. Alasdair Fraser came up with yet another extra class performance leading Scotland to a stunning victory. He tallied 38 points and 9 boards to almost outscore Wales singlehandedly. His four points early in the game put Scottish side 6:0 up. Alasdair Fraser dropped 16 points in the first frame and Scotland enjoyed a 33:9 lead. Scottish side opened the second period on a 12:0 run to pile up a 32-point cushion. Finally Wales managed to answer with some decent stuff as Daniel Pulman and Adams dropped back-to-back trebles. But it was just a brief display of skills from Wales as they trailed by 38 points at the interval. The teams traded baskets in the third period with Scotland still mounting their advantage. The scoreboard read 77:30 at the end of the third stanza and Wales were done for the day. Scottish team breezed to an overall victory at the end finalizing an overwhelming success for Scottish U16 side. Lee Reilly provided 17 points for Scotland. Jonathan Bunyan had 12 points and 8 assists for the winners. Daniel Pulman and Alex Kilmartin answered with 8 points apiece for Wales. Jared Adams secured 7 points in defeat.
Scotland U16: Alasdair Fraser 38, Lee Reilly 17, Jonathan Bunyan 12
Wales U16: Daniel Pulman 8, Alex Kilmartin 8 |
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| Scotland U16 reaches the Final in Gibraltar | |
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by Eurobasket News - Jul 1, 2008 | | | Scotland U16 - Gibraltar U16 103:52
Scottish U16 National Team is looking to improve on the 2006 European Championship in Division C result. Scotland finished in the second place that year but they received the chance to claim the crown this year. Scotland advanced to the title game yesterday holding off Gibraltar in the semifinal. Alisdair Fraser exploded with 31 points and 11 boards and the Tartan left no chance for the hosts. Reilly and Fraser teamed up for 22 points in the first period and Scotland grabbed a 31:16 lead. Trebles from Grieve and Haldane stretched the gap to as many as 21 points. Six straight points from Alasdair Fraser carried Scottish side to a 49:21 advantage midway through the second period. Moreno scored 5 points for Gibraltar late in the first half but the hosts trailed by 32 at the sides change. Scotland wisely kept the home side at bay throughout the third frame and enjoyed a 41-point cushion before the final stanza. The visitors never looked back in the final frame and eased to an overall victory at the end. Reilly came up with 17 points, while Haldane scored 11 in a winning effort. Kevan Sercombe replied with 13 points for Gibraltar. Sercombe and Moreno had 10 points apiece in a loss. Scotland will take on Wales in todays championship game. Gibraltar will be opposed by Moldovan team in the consolation final.
Scotland U16: Alisdair Fraser 31+11 boards, Lee Reilly 17, Kyle Haldane 11
Gibraltar U16: Kevan Sercombe 13, Jamie Sercombe 10, Dale Moreno 10 |
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