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Feb 06: Westside beat Eastside in a balanced performance Westside entertained crosstown rivals Eastside Eagles on Saturday eager to maintain their winning ways as they look towards the playoffs. However, with injuries rife at the moment, the home team employed an unconventional lineup with 6 guards and only 2 post players. As the game started, Westside came out slowly as Eastside scored the first 8 points of the game and continued to dominate the early stages of the game by taking a 20 - 10 lead. Coach Lamptey called timeout and changed his defensive lineup to a 3 - 2 matchup zone which gave immediate dividends as Westside ran off a 10 - 0 run of their own to get back into the game. The visitors seemed confused as to what to do against this defense and Westside continued to pile on the pressure and finished off the quarter in front. In the second and third, Westside maintained their defensive intensity and with their small lineup were able to establish a 10 point lead going into the fourth quarter. However, the fouls were beginning to pile up and when Westside forward Andrew Mayers went to the bench with his fourth foul at the beginning of the quarter, Eastside gradually began to wear their opponents down with their bigger size and tied the game with 2 minutes remaining. The home team continued to attack on offense and with both teams on team fouls, it was looking like the winners would be who could make the most free throws. With 1 minute remaining, Westsides Mark Shipley hit a runner at the end of the shot clock for a two point lead and the Westside defence held firm on the next possession as Eastside resorted to deleberately fouling. However, Westside were in a real shooting groove and made 5 out of 6 foul shots to seal the game 87 - 80. The leading scorers were Patrick Omigie (18 points) and Jermaine Purcell (16 points) Westside Coach Frank Lamptey commented "This was a pretty good performance particularly after a poor start. Everybody played their part and we had people really step up today and show some leadership and this performance will stand us in good stead as we look towards next weeks playoffs
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