UEL Men’s Basketball first team made history as they reached the BUCS Championship final after defeating Durham University 113-101 at SportsDock in yesterday’s semi-final.
One more victory for the Premier South champions and they secure a league and cup double for the first time.
Down But Not Out
The game was evenly poised at half-time with both teams scoring a number of three-pointers. Durham’s stand out player was their point guard, Damon Coleman, who gave them a six-point advantage.
It wasn’t until UEL’s centre, Dominique Campbell, showed his size and strength when he made a huge block to stop Durham from extending their lead in the final minutes of the second quarter.
Small forward, Jonathan James, cut the deficit in the final seconds to score three points after intercepting the ball from Durham’s Coleman.
UEL head coach, Dave Greenaway, spoke after the game and gave his thoughts on the match: “I thought that it was a really competitive game, high scoring game. Both teams heading 50s at half time.
“We knew that we were going to have to find a way in the second half to make stops, you know. We know we were able to score, both teams seemed like they were fluent offensively, making shots, making plays,” he continued.
“It was going to come down to the fact that we’re going to have to make stops.”
Tactics Game
The third quarter continued in a similar pattern, but it wasn’t until UEL’s quality began to show on the court as coach Greenaway also made some smart tactical moves to stop Durham’s offence.
Greenaway said: “We made some adjustments at half time and went into a 2-3 match-up zone which worked for us and it took them out of their rhythm, which then allowed us to go in and get stops and scores consecutively.
“Then we were able to get a lead back in the game. It was a good win for us, you know, we’ve got to be better in our defence though.”
Although Durham didn’t have a coach and played with only two substitutes, the away side showed great fighting spirit and agility to keep the gap down to just 11 points.
The fightback was on when Durham’s Jonny Woolf cut UEL’s lead down to five points. That followed some great athleticism from point guard Coleman and strength from power forward Zarko Valjarevic to keep the game in close distance.
The game was finished in style when Brandon Peel slam dunked the ball into the hoop and made the crowd jump off their seats in disbelieve.
“We’re a resilient team and we fight”
UEL team captain, Justin Black also spoke after the game.
He said: “It felt we played inconsistent for most of the game, we didn’t get out to our best start but at the end of the day this kind of team we’ve been is a resilient team and we fight, we make a lot of shots and make a lot of plays.
“I thought Dom Campbell came in very strong for us and grabbing a couple of offensive boards for us that we needed, Jonathan James played one of the best games he’s had with us this season so that was a big help. I thought we did a good overall.
“Durham don’t have a coach, so essentially they’re out there playing, so it’s hard sometimes when you have a game plan and a strategy and you’re up going against guys that are basically suiting up like it’s the YMCA.
“That made it difficult for us but I mean, those guys are good and we just played better today, they presented problems for us but we just adapted,” Black concluded.
Tough Test
In his first year in charge, Greenaway will lead his men into a first ever final for the university and will face second semi-final winners, Loughborough University.
The next step for UEL will be to continue with their legacy and go the extra mile to bring home the win in the final, which will top off a great season for UEL Men’s Basketball.