GRASSROOTS WEDNESDAY TN MEN’S BASKETBALL
FAO: TONY HODGSON, EC SPORT
FROM: SIMON RUSHWORTH, 07949 845848
Marc Steutel’s Team Northumbria continued their drive towards Division One glory with a ‘solid’ win away at mid-table Hemel.
A tight game saw the visitors work hard to keep on top of Hemel through all four quarters - resulting in a 98-87 victory on the road.
“It was tight all game - I think two points separated the teams at the end of the first and we were up 10 at the half,” said coach Steutel.
“There were two or three times in the game when we kept going up by 10 or 12 then they kept chipping away making it relatively close.”
TN edged Hemel 17-15 in the first quarter and maintained their lead to half-time.
The fourth quarter proved to be pivotal with Hemel mounting a comeback and threatening to take the points from Northumbria.
“Tom Devitt gave us a pretty good spark when we needed it,” added Steutel.
“That was the game in the fourth quarter. They were on a bit of a run and Tom made the difference there.
“It probably felt a little bit closer than it was because they went on a few runs. Overall it was a good game of basketball.
“It was a solid performance, everybody chipped in across different areas of the game. There was good defence, rebounding and scoring that resulted in a strong team performance.”
TN’s in-form American star Malcolm Smith lead the scoring with 24 points, followed closely by Lewis Champion who bagged 21 on the back of a solid offensive performance.
Steutel was also quick to highlight Tayo Oyefusi’s consistent performance at both ends of the court.
With three regular season clashes to play, another vital road win kept TN four points clear at the top of the first division ahead of a free weekend.
ENDS
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