Mar 05: Westside do the double over Brixton

Westside travelled to South London on Sunday to take on the Brixton Topcats, needing a victory to maintain the championship push and secure a playoff position. Buoyant after last weeks defeat of Loughborough, Westside raced into a early 9- 2 lead with their defensive pressure overwhelming the home teams offense. This contined until two minutes left of the quarter when some ill advised fouls gave Brixton the opportunity to get back into the game via the foul line as the first quarter ended 23 - 11. At the start of the second, Brixton started to ease their way back into the game with their perimeter shooting as the Westside offence began to stall. The halftime score was 31 - 26.

At the start of the third, Westside restablished their offensive rhythmn to open up a 14 point lead midway through the quarter but once again, Brixton responded by making three threepointers to reduce the deficit to 4 going into the final quarter. The home team came out more aggressive and even took the lead briefly but Westside composed themselves to establish a 5 point lead with 3 minutes remaining. The lead grew to as many as 12 in the final minutes but Brixton refused to quit and got the score within 4 points through their perimeter shooting before Westside ended the game at the foul line for a final score of 76 - 70.

Coach Frank Lamptey commented "This was a strange performance because we looked like two different teams out there. In the first quarter, our offensive execution was excellent but for the last three quarters we got a bit selfish and went away from what was working for us. I'm glad we got the win but we really need to improve if we have any championship hopes for the season".

The win leaves Westside tied at the top with Solent Stars with 14 wins and 2 losses and they now have 2 games remaining in their schedule. On Saturday, they entertain TH London Eagles in a crosstown match which is sure to be explosive.

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