Derby Men’s Basketball 1sts 79-63 Nottingham Men’s Basketball 1sts: Hosts dominate local derby to progress in the cup
Words by Alex Wood.
Derby Men’s Basketball 1sts started their cup run off brilliantly with a dominant performance as they won 79-63 against Nottingham Men’s 1sts.
The visitors had star point guard Aravjo ejected in the third quarter following dissent to an official. Derby’s power forward Randy Holmes led the team in scoring with 26 points and 6 assists.
In a tense game, the home side took control early with a comfortable lead of 19-13 at the end of the first quarter. Holmes shined by scoring eight points in the first quarter alone. Point guard Daniel Garret sacrificed his scoring opportunities to register 11 assists for his teammates.
The chemistry between those two players seemed to be the hosts’ recipe for success until they both went to the bench midway through the second quarter.
Nottingham’s power forward George Goode was then the danger man as he was fouled three times in the paint by three different players. He scored all of his free throws and finished the night with a respectful 16 points, 6 assists and 3 blocks.
The visitors clawed their way back into the game with only a five-point difference in the score at the half which concluded with Derby leading 35-30.
The third quarter was when the hosts really pulled away and asserted their dominance on the contest.
Tempers ran high just four minutes into the quarter as Aravjo’s feisty disagreement with the referee led to him being ejected from the game. This was met with a lengthy delay as the visiting coach demanded an explanation from the match officials.
Despite the third quarter taking much longer than it should have done as a result of the delays, the home side took complete control and they went into the final period of the match with an 11-point lead.
The fourth quarter saw the emergence of Derby’s Elwa Shelton who scored 6 total points, finishing a nice 12-pass movement with a 3-pointer to secure his side’s passage into the next round of the competition with a dominant victory.
Derby Men’s Basketball 1sts are on the road next week as they look to carry on Championship-winning form in the league against Worcester.
