Team Solent Kestrels opened their Kit King Trophy campaign with a double defeat this weekend as they lost at the SSC to Reading Rockets 74-120 before falling to an 82-91 loss at Barking Abbey.
The NBL Division 1 side, built to compete at the top end this season, were too much for TSK on Saturday evening, whilst a youthful but talented Barking side edged Sunday’s match up.
Kestrels were led on Saturday by Andre Arissol with 21 points as he continues to work his way back to full health post knee injury whilst Greg Durand and Isa Brandon added 13 and 12 respectively.
Whilst Sunday saw Isa Brandon lead with 20 points and Russ Gariepy add 14, with Wayne Kitenge chipping in 11 off the bench also.
Kestrels started Saturday evening in fine spirit taking an early lead but it was short lived as Reading begun to show their quality taking a 20-32 lead after the first quarter. Kestrels were unable to slow down the sharp shooting Reading outfit as they pushed the score out to 37-61 by the half time break.
A 15-0 scoring run to open the second half for Reading effectively shut down any hopes of a Kestrels comeback and allowed Coach Guymon to focus more on experimenting with different line ups, rather than the final scoreline. TSK were unable to slow Rockets scoring charge down as they poured in 41 3rd quarter points. Naturally the came slowed down heading into the 4th as both teams rotated through their line ups, Kestrels eventually losing 74-120.
Sunday’s game started in free flowing fashion as both sides found rhythm early and traded baskets for long spells of the opening quarter. Barking edged ahead to close the first but Kestrels quickly built an 11 point lead as the second period got underway. The hosts stayed with in touching distance but it was Kestrels who held a 6 point lead at the break, after Matt Hughes beat the buzzer.
Kestrels were unable to stop the home side swinging the balance in the third period, as turnovers led to scores for BA and in turn saw them take a 3 point advantage into the final quarter. A 13-2 scoring run in favour of the hosts pushed the gap to 14 and although Kestrels trimmed it to 5 with just a minute to play, that would be as close as they got, TSK losing out 82-91.
Kestrels travel to Worthing Thunder in the final group game this Saturday evening with a place in knock out stages still up for grabs.
Reading Rockets Box (H) Score - https://fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com/u/BBE/2522608/bs.html
Barking Abbey (A) Box Score - https://fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com/u/BBE/2522611/bs.html
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