Team Solent Kestrels continued their impressive form with a fine double display this weekend, handing top of the table Barking Abbey their first loss in NBL Division 2 on Saturday evening 94-65, before dispatching Division 1 side Thames Valley Cavaliers 80-73 in the National Cup Round of 16 on Sunday.
Kestrels proved too much for the talented Barking Abbey side at the SSC as they cruised to a 29 point victory, powered by Greg Durand’s 28 points and Isa Brandon’s 20 points improving them to 7-1. Sunday saw TSK take their second D1 scalp of the National Cup campaign as they knocked off a veteran TVC squad 80-73, setting up a quarter final clash with the Reading Rockets.
Saturday was a cagey affair early on with both teams finding their scoring rhythm early and nothing to separate the sides after four minutes of play. An 8-0 gave Kestrels a 6 point lead at 17-11 capped off by an Isa Brandon breakaway dunk and although the visitors responded, it was TSK who took a 25-17 advantage into the first quarter break. A 6-0 run to start the second quarter forced a Barking timeout as the lead reached double figures for the first time. They would hit back with a run or their own to force coach Guymon into his first timeout of the game also. The lead reached 17 when Brandon converted an and-1 and that saw Kestrels move into the driving seat in this one. A 12-5 scoring run for the hosts to close the half ballooned the deficit to 21, as Wayne Kitenge proved too much in the paint, 52-31 at the interval.
The sides traded baskets in the opening possessions of the second half with neither side really establishing control, which better suited TSK as the lead stayed put at 20 plus. A 7-0 run including 5 Greg Durand points gave Kestrels their biggest lead of the game with just 3 minutes to play in the third. Barking rallied to close the period and they cut the gap to 23 with ten minutes to play. Neither side scored across the opening three minutes of the final quarter, however Kestrels broke the deadlock with 5 quick points leaving the scoreline at 82-54 with a little under six minutes to play. The Londoners trimmed it to 19 late in the day but a flurry of TSK scores to close the game saw them take a 94-65 victory.
Thames Valley opened the scoring with 4 quick points in the paint on Sunday but Kestrels wasted no time in responding as they set about building a 14-6 lead inside the first five minutes. TSK would force the visitors into an early timeout when they pushed the arrears to 10 points, through back to back Isa Brandon scores. Russ Gariepy and Andre Arissol knocked down back to back triples to give the hosts a 24-8 advantage but TVC would rally to close the quarter, 29-18 Kestrels. A 5-0 run for the Cavaliers to begin the second period forced Coach Guymon into a quick timeout to regroup his side, but a further 10-2 run out of that timeout saw TVC take a 2 point lead and Kestrels take their second timeout of the half. Kestrels swung the balance back in their favour as they re-established a 7 point lead behind a Gariepy triple but a late Thames Valley surge meant the gap was just 3 points at the half time break, 42-39.
An 11-2 run to get the second half underway, for TVC, looked as though they were about to seize full control of the game as they built a 44-50 lead and forced Kestrels into a timeout. It was the hosts who struck back through Greg Durand and Andre Arissol as they put together a 13-4 run to edge back in front at 57-44. TSK would get up by as many as 8 in the quarter but a Jaun Manning 3 for the Cavaliers, left the game firmly in the balance at 66-63 TSK with just ten minutes remaining. Kestrels scored 7 quick points the shift the control back in their favour in the first three minutes of the 4th, but the visitors crept their way back to within touching distance. So much so that they trimmed the gap to just 1 point through an Aidan Saunders foul shot with just under four minutes left. Both sides would come up empty on a number of possessions late, however it was Kestrels who managed to hang on through 4 straight Ash Briggs points down the stretch to book their ticket to the quarter finals, 80-73.
Kestrels will now turn attentions back to their NBL D2 league campaign where they’ll head to Cobham Cobras this weekend, before returning home to the SSC on the 14th December to face Barnet Bulldogs in the final home game of 2024, tickets are on sale now for that game.
Barking Abbey Box Score - https://fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com/u/BBE/2549605/pbp.html
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