Medway Park win D2 Men's playoff title - April 18, 2011 By Dave Ryan Medway Park Crusaders 75 (21,39,56) Westminster Warriors 72 (12,31,51) OJ Reed was in imperious form as he poured in 28 points to go with his 14 rebounds, five steals and four assists to lead Medway Park Crusaders to the Division Two Men's playoff title. Akeem Abdul added 12 points and Steve Vear (180-G) had ten assists and nine points for the Kent team, while Lekan Popoola (183-G-81) led Warriors with 18 points and Luke Baker finished on 14 and Yannick Bulambwe 13 for the London side. Both sides struggled at the foul line in the opening minutes before four quick Crusader points put them 9-5 up at the midway stage of the quarter. Disralie Lufadeju made it a six point game with a good drive to the basket, and he then hit a trey from the top of the key to put Crusaders 14-6 ahead to force a Warriors timeout with 2:55 on the clock. A pair of Reed free-throws put Medway up by ten before Jonathan Johnson replied, but it was Crusaders who went into the first break 21-12 ahead Whatever player-coach Junior Williams said in the break clearly work as that lead was quickly erased as Luke Baker capped a 10-0 run inside the first 100 seconds of the second period before Reed tied the game at 22 from the foul line. A spin move from Marvin Addy saw Warriors up by two and a steal from Popoola set Baker up to make it a four point game. But a great pass from Reed set up Abdul to give Crusaders a one point lead and a big Steve Vear three kept the Kent side ahead. With Popoola being called for an unsportsmanlike and-one on Reed, Crusaders went into the locker room 39-31 ahead. Reed made it a ten point game with the opening score of the second half, but Popoola replied from the outside and back-to-back Addy scores cut that lead to three. The game remained tight with Popoola bringing his side within two at the four minute mark, but a big Sam Betts three followed by a Reed dunk put Crusaders up by nine. A Baker trey helped trim that lead to 56-51 at the final break. Steve Vear opened the final quarter with a lovely move but Damien Harris made it a two point game with 7:13 on the clock and Yannick Bulambwe levelled it to force a Medway timeout. A single Vear free-throw made it a six point game with four minutes remaining, and Crusaders were still up by five heading into the final two minutes. But Popoola brought his side within two 55 seconds from time before Abdul took it back to four from the charity stripe. Johnson turned the ball over and Vear was sent to the line where he continued to struggle with one from two only to see Baker drain a three to make it 74-72 with 16.7 seconds left. Dimandja was sent to the line where he hit one of two and Baker saw his potential three-point tying attempt hit iron as Medway took the playoff trophy. Courtesy of: https://www.englandbasketball.co.uk |
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