UEL Men’s 2nd Basketball team remains on course to clinch the South Eastern Division 1A title after a convincing 103-61 victory over rivals London South Bank.
The home side produced a classy performance after they initially struggled in the opening quarter, but a strong performance from Oladimeji Okonlawon saw the East London side pick up all three points.
This was UEL’s first fixture since the 21st November and they were looking to take advantage to the game in hand that they have over their title rivals.
Electric Opening
UEL took charge of the match within 40 seconds, as Troy Nwanna stayed calm as he converted from his free throw attempts.
Curtis Hayden continued the positive start from the hosts, as he found the basket from close range moments later.
The visitors mounted attacks of their own, but they lacked a clinical edge in the opening stages, with shots unable to fall into the basket.
Nwanna was almost left red faced as he failed to convert a dunk after stealing the ball from Max Robson, but he recovered well and was able to convert at the second attempt as UEL raced into an 11-2 lead.
Louis Annan was the main source of problems for UEL, as he converted to reduce the deficit, but the home side were ruthless in attack and Hollis Mitchell converted both of his free-throw efforts.
South Bank continued to give away needless fouls, as Okonlawon was next to convert from the free-throw line, extending the lead to 20-8 in favour of UEL.
The sensational Okonlawon converted his mandatory slam dunk to end the first quarter with a healthy 26-8 lead.
Quashed South Bank Revival
The away side started the stronger of the two sides at the start of the second quarter, as Annan continued to carve out the opportunities for his team-mates to convert.
A time-out was called by UEL coach Marvin Addy, as he attempted to re-focus his side after they saw the gap close to within 15 points.
After the restart, UEL captain Matthew Mckoy-Mcintosh turned up the heat in to second quarter as he was at the heart of everything good for the hosts.
As a result of the quickened pace, which South Bank couldn’t handle, UEL raced into a 40-26 lead at half time.
Unrelenting UEL
UEL continued their period of dominance in the third quarter as South Bank struggled to deal with their intense attacking plays.
The home side dominated the quarter with both Mitchell and McKoy-McIntosh creating attack after attack, which lead to a large advantage.
Okonlawon continued to cause plenty of problems as he raised the roof at Sports Dock with a superb slam dunk as the third quarter game to a close with the score at 72-42.
Century Men
Mohammed Hussain got South Bank off to a good start in the final quarter as he found the basket from the three-point line.
Rusarn Peters responded with three points of his own after a good move from the hosts who looked to lower the tempo and secure the victory.
Mitchell stepped up in the final quarter, ended a superb move with a brilliant lay-up.
Annan tried to restore from order for the visitors, but his lay-up was poor, and he couldn’t reduce the deficit with the scores at 88-47.
Nwanna found the basket as the hosts moved onto 93, with the century edging ever closer, and that target was reached with a minute remaining after good work from Tyrelle Blake, who found the basket with a nice lay-up.
The scoreboard read 103-61 in favour of the hosts as the final buzzer sounded, and UEL claimed an important victory which keeps their ambitions of a title on track.
Line-Ups
UEL: Nwanna, Mitchell, McKoy-McIntosh, Peters, Blake, Henry-Fellows, Okonlawon, Manalo, Basnet, Hayden, Sharp.
London South Bank: Oladoutun, Sykes, Gilchrist, Hussain, Said, Rodriguez, Annan, Robson.
