Rising East Sports

UEL’s Men’s 4th Team maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a convincing 80-23 drubbing of rivals University of West London (UWL). UEL gaining local bragging rights in the process.

DOMINANT UEL

Both sides started the game slowly, finding their rhythm before applying the full throttle. UEL seemed to settle the quicker of the two sides, with bright sparks Peter Akinyede and William Clayton spurring their side into an early lead of 6-2, by pressing high. Dave Villegas got in on the act disrupting UWL’s play next to Akinyede, winning possession high up the court and not allowing their rivals to settle. By the end of the quarter UEL had opened up nine point advantage on UWL, 13-4.

UEL got off to a blistering start from second one in the second quarter, Clayton’s three-point shot slotting in to the basket set the tone. Captain Krishan Denning-Sen led by example making sure his team kept high pressure on UWL. Within the first three minutes UEL had accumulated 10 points whilst conceding just four points going into the quarter’s only time-out, 23-8. Despite UEL’s dominance, a stand-out Eugenio Donati of UWL kept the guests’ scoreboard ticking over. But UEL resisted any attempt by UWL to get close, and Clayton and co ensured a 22 point lead by the end of the second quarter, 32-10.

THE POWER OF THE CROWD

The onslaught continued after a brief break between the second and third quarter. UEL’s teamwork and disruption of UWL’s passing meant that Denning-Sen’s team opened up a strong lead with just over four minutes played, 45-12. John Kamara came on for Villegas and swift interplay was integral to UEL in limiting UWL to few opportunities. The crowd were fully backing UEL by this point in the game, further spurring UEL into gaining even more of a lead. By the time the final buzzer of the third quarter went UEL had stormed into a 54-19 advantage. Throughout the whole of the third quarter UEL only conceded nine points, scoring 22 points in the process.

A dejected UWL’s fourth quarter summed up their match as they were only able to register four points over the 10 minutes. UEL’s team performance was phenomenal, with an amazing contribution from every player of the team. Denning-Sen kept up his leadership from the front, as UEL continually carved open UWL’s defence again and again. Each time UEL came away with points, with every attack clinically finished off. On the final buzzer of the game UEL had well and truly finished their rout, ending with an 80-19 victory.

GOOD RESULTS FOR UEL

From quarter to quarter UEL scored 13, 19, 22 and 26 points to run out an 80 point game. That compared to UWL’s four, six, nine and finally four points in the final quarter.

Stand in coach, and UEL’s 2nd team Captain, Dom Stevens was understandablyh appy:

“I’m proud of the lads, it was a good game. The guys worked really hard, they were able to execute when they needed to execute, it’s a shame they really couldn’t get any more [points]. They were playing an opposition that don’t have as much experience playing together as these guys have done for the past two years. They’ve all come a long way since the start. So yeah, a really good win.”