Feb 06: Westside avenge defeat against Brixton

Westside travelled to South London to face their cross town rivals, Brixton Topcats in a crunch showdown. Needing one win from their remaining 3 games to clinch qualification for the EBL Division 3 playoffs and eager to avenge their home defeat at the buzzer to Brixton, Westside started off brightly and led 9-0 within the first two minutes of the game. Brixton called timeout to adjust but Westside continued to pile on the pressure and the score at the end of the first quarter was 23 - 9. The second quarter was a bit more evenly contested but the away team went on a run at the end of the quarter to open up an 18 point lead at the break.

In the third quarter, Brixton put on an incredible shooting display to hit 7 three pointers in the quarter as the Westside offence went flat and reduced the deficit to 2 going into the final quarter. Both teams traded baskets for the first 8 minutes of the fourth quarter and Westside trailed by 2 when a big three pointer by Anthony Lazare gave them a one point lead with 1 minute remaining. Brixton drove to the basket and got fouled but only made 1 of 2 foul shots to tie the game again. Westside ran a play to get an open shot and missed and then Brixton came down the court and missed a shot with 16 seconds remaining. With the scores tied and Westside ball, the visitors ran an isolation play looking to score or at least get fouled but Brixton defended the first option but were unable to cover the second option and Daniel Worku found Mark Shipley, who calmly slotted a threepointer, to the dismay of the home support with four seconds remaining. Brixton still had a shot to tie the game but missed as Westside celebrated a big win and making the playoffs for the second year in succession.

The leading scorers for Westside were Mark Shipley with 19 points and Patrick Omigie with 14 points. Westside coach Frank Lamptey commented "I'm glad we won to qualify for the playoffs but we made the game harder than it needed to be. We were in total control in the first 20 minutes and lost our concentration totally in the third quarter to allow them back in the game. However, we showed that we can deal with pressure situations and made some big shots to win this game". Next Saturday, Westside entertain Eastside Eagles in their final league game of the season at the Kensington Leisure Centre at 6pm.

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