Jan 05: Westside win at the death against the Crusaders

Westside got back to action in EBL Division 3 on Saturday with a journey to
Canterbury to play East Kent Crusaders, eager to avenge their previous
defeat against Westside and maintain their unbeaten home record. The
Shepherds Bush based team have had a lengthy break from competitive action
and it showed in their early play despite going ahead on 12 - 2 early on.
The first quarter ended with a lead of 5 points for Westside. In the second
quarter, East Kent started to get open to hit three pointers and took a
small lead before Westside came back to level the score at halftime at 32
each.

In the third quarter, it was East Kent who came out more aggressive as they
continued their three point onslaught to seize the momentum and open up a 10
point lead. The home team continued to score on offensive rebounds but
towards the end of the third, Westside began to chip away at the lead and
the score was 55 - 49 going into the fourth quarter. Once again, East Kent
started the first two minutes brightly as the lead stretched to 11 points.
Westside Coach Frank Lamptey went to a small lineup in search of speed and
transition opportunities to get them back into game and the team went on a
run to tie the game at 61 each. East Kent responded by scoring 6 straight
points for a 67 - 61 lead with three minutes left but Westside responded
again and closed to within 2 points with thirty seconds remaining. Looking
to tie the game, Westside looked inside but all the options were covered and
guard Daniel Worku put up a contested three point shot which went in to the
dismay of the home support to give them a one point lead. East Kent called
timeout and run a play to take the final shot but Westside's defence
held firm and were fouled on the rebound to give then foulshots. They made 1
out of 2 to finish the game victorious 79-77.

Westside Coach Frank Lamptey commented "This was a poor performance from our
team and a combination of poor rotations on defence and poor defensive
rebounding gave the home team opportunities which we don't normally allow.
However, despite this we once again showed that we can deal with adversity
and come back from behind to win, especially on the road. We can build on
this experience as we step up our challenge to win the division. However, we
are going to have to improve in certain areas if we are going to reach our
season goal."

This result leaves Westside at the top of the division tied with Solent
Stars, who they face in a crunch match in two weeks in Southampton. On
Saturday, Westside entertain Swindon Sonics at Kensington Leisure Centre at
5pm.

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