Division 1 Men find their rhythm against Oatlands
Strathclyde Basketball League Division 1
November 3rd, 2015 - The game started off with aggressive play by both teams trying to get the edge, however the Colliers struggled offensively to get going with only Graham Hunter scoring two 3 pointers followed by an and 1 by Jay Runga; the Colliers trailed the first quarter 16-9.
In the second the Colliers came out strong seeing Aarron Mitchinson run the break scoring consecutive back to back lay ups with support from another 3-pointer from Hunter and another 3-pointer by Chris Davidson.
The Colliers won the second quarter 14-13 finishing the half down 29-23.
The Colliers started the second half looking like they meant business, however they still could not get going offensively again only scoring 14 points for the quarter.
In the 4th quarter the Colliers finally gelled as a team playing fantastic team defence with multiple steals from Mitchinson and Davidson which led to fast break lay ups.
A strong drive to the basket from Alex Dobbie gave the Colliers the lead for the first time in the game followed by Dobbie again scoring at the basket, seeing Oatlands take a time out.
At this point in the game with about 2 minutes left Oatlands began to foul to send the Colliers to the free throw line with the hope they would miss and they would get the ball back and score.
Oatlands sent the Colliers to the line 5 times in which Colliers scored an excellent 9/10 (Mitchinson 3/4, Runga 2/2, Rankin 2/2 & Dobbie 2/2) building on there lead and eventually outscoring Oatlands 28-12 to win the game.
Player/Coach Graham Hunter top scored the game with 18 points followed by Jay Runga with 12, Aarron Mitchinson & Alex Dobbie had 11 and Ross Rankin added 10.
FINAL SCORE: SL Colliers 65 – 56 Oatlands
Player/Coach Graham Hunter commented: “A win is a win at the end of the day, so for that I’m happy.”
“The first three quarters were very difficult as a player and a coach, as we just weren’t gelling together.
“In the fourth quarter I saw a new confidence as our new team found our feet with only three players returning from last season.
“The guys were awesome in the final minutes of the game hitting 9/10 free throws as Oatlands tried pressure us.
“I’m excited for what lies ahead.”
The Division 1 men’s next game will take place on the 11th of November at the Alistair McCoist Complex (8:15pm tip off) against the Renfrew Rocks in the second round of the Anderson Cup.