The Big Tall Order Bristol Academy Flyers progressed in both the National Trophy and Cup over the weekend with a pair of home victories.

 

Saturday saw them reach the last eight of the Trophy with a 72-69 win against Coventry Crusaders, while the following day they defeated Plymouth Marjon 90-61 in the National Cup second round.

 

The match-up on Saturday was Flyers' first game after a break of a couple of weeks due to the new seating being installed at WISE campus, which increased seating capacity to 800 spectators.

 

The break was evident as Coventry started the game strongly and an early three-pointer by Edden gave them an 8-4 lead in the first minutes of the game. The Flyers side responded back cutting the deficit to two by the end of the first period, 17-15.

 

Nevertheless, the Crusaders were determined to put the home team under pressure as two consecutive baskets by Taylor increased the difference to nine at 32-23 after seven minutes of play in the second period. Five unanswered points by Bristol in the closing three minutes brought the Flyers back to striking distance at 32-28.

 

The third period was similar story as Coventry looked to extend their lead, but always valuable baskets by Mike Gregory and Doug McLaughlin-Williams, kept the Flyers close. They trailed by four points going into the last period 53-49.

 

A basket and a bonus free throw by Bristol's Rob Loftman brought the difference down to two midway through the last period as the Flyers looked desperate not to suffer their first home defeat. A run of 9-0 in the closing minutes however gave the Crusaders the biggest lead of the game, 66-55.

 

With 2:20 remaining, it was obvious that the Flyers needed a miracle to come back in the game. The miracle was led by Flyers captain Greg Streete and US import McLaughlin-Williams, who with seven quick points brought the game back to four points, 66-62. With 55 seconds remaining, a three pointer by Coventry's American, Jon Olinger, increased the lead to seven but back-to-back treys from Mike Gregory and McLaughlin-Williams brought Bristol to striking distance, 68-69 with 30 seconds remaining.

 

In the next play, the Flyers pressure forced Olinger to commit an offensive foul and with 20 seconds on the clock the Flyers had a chance to win the game in an amazing turnaround of events. A drive by Greg Streete with 10 seconds remaining was unsuccessful but Flyers forward Davis Bowne got the rebound and scored whilst being fouled to put the Flyers ahead for the first time in the game with seven seconds remaining.

 

The missed free throw attempt by Bowne would proved beneficial for the Flyers as Mike Gregory picked up the rebound and time ran out for Coventry.

 

Streete led Flyers with 15, while Gregory added 14 and McLaughlin-Williams 13. Crusaders were led by 17 Olinger points, with Eden (15) and Simon Payne (13) also contributing.

 

Flyers will now host Taunton on Thursday in the final pool game, with the winner getting home court advantage in the quarter-finals.

 

Sunday's game proved less exciting as the Flyers secured a comfortable 29 point victory versus Plymouth Marjon.

 

Plymouth took an early 12-20 lead halfway through the first period but a three-pointer by Gregory at the end of the first period gave the Flyers the lead 25-24. The home side never looked back as it expanded its lead to 12 by half-time and continued to dominate the game as an impressive 29-11 third period secured their place in the third round of the National Cup.

 

McLaughlin-Williams led his team with 22 while Gregory finished on 20. Saul Rogers led all scorers with 28 for Plymouth, while John Peake added 11.

 

The win sets up a home game against Taunton Tigers in the next round.

 

Flyers head coach Andreas Kapoulas was pleased about the two wins but at the same not particularly happy about the way his team performed at the weekend: "It is really positive that we started our home games this season with two wins. The Coventry game was a great season opener and showed to everyone watching that we are determined to win games even when we are not playing well. A good confidence boost but at the same time, we need to perform better as a team if we are to achieve the goals that we set out at the start of the year.

 

"We are very much a new team and we are still learning how to play with each other. There are a few areas in particular that I expect us to improve on starting from next game. Having said this we have progressed to the next round of the Cup and we have also put ourselves into position to finish first in the National Trophy group so in terms of results we should be pleased. I definitely think the longer we are going to be together, the better we are going to become."