Coventry Crusaders' head coach Scott Neely was delighted after his team picked up their first victory of the season, defeating Sheffield Arrows 104-89.

 

"It's always good to get a win, even though I wasn't necessarily happy with how many points we gave up, especially in the first half," he said. "But it's good to get the monkey off our back, to get the win and hold on. There were still too many times that Sheffield was coming in there, and that's how they stayed with us, otherwise we could have been up by 20-25 points, but they were getting offensive rebounds and it just can't happen," he added.

 

The Crusaders head coach, however, praised the players' mentality in getting the win once they'd gained the lead. Neely said:

 

"What I told the guys at the end was that I was happy we played not to lose; once we'd got the lead, we played to win.

 

"We kept being aggressive, and taking on the shots we normally shoot, not holding back and trying to take care of the ball, and that's when a lot of teams come back and get you."

 

The star man for the Crusaders was Jon Olinger, who notched 27 points in the match and clearly enjoyed the time and space he was afforded by the Arrows' defence. He led from the front in the first quarter, hitting two three-point shots as well as making strong runs and causing chaos for Sheffield whenever he had the ball in an attacking play.

 

But the first quarter wasn't all Crusaders. After Coventry amassed an 8-2 lead after a Stephen Danso lay-up, Sheffield hit back with consecutive three-pointers; firstly from Anthony Oxley and then Luke Ellis. It was a combination of accurate long shooting and good rebound work - both in attack and defence - that kept the Arrows in it for much of the game.

 

However, after Oxley hit another three-pointer from the far left of the court making it 14-16, the Crusaders built up a lead to end the first ten minutes on a high. Slow reactions from the Arrows' defence off a play in the end zone allowed Will Bastin to net an easy two points making it 21-18. A long range effort from Olinger, as well as another Bastin score, enabled the home side to lead 26-22 at the end of one.

 

The second quarter started off relatively evenly, with both sides trading scores in a cat and mouse opening period. But after Sebastian Chitagu left Olinger for dead in a one-on-one inching Sheffield in front 39-38, the subsequent timeout sparked the Crusaders into life and they began to find holes in the Arrows' defence once again.

 

Coventry hit 20 points in the remaining five minutes of the first half to the Arrows' seven, which proved to be the turning point of the game. Danso, in particular, was on form for the Crusaders hitting five baskets. This was supported by three-pointers from Ryann Samuel and Kane Hudson giving Coventry a 57-46 halftime lead.

 

The second half began with Crusaders holding a halftime advantage for the first time in the League this season and the lead would not be relinquished at any time during the final 20 minutes.

 

The Arrows, however, still retained some parity in the contest thanks to better rebound work, with former Crusader Sam Spare playing a bigger part for the visitors as the game wore on. Two rebounds from him in the space of a minute - the second coming from an Andrew Purnell shot - helped reduce the deficit to nine points.

 

A three-point shot from Hudson gave Coventry the 82-70 advantage going into the final quarter, however.

 

Chitagu started off the fourth brightly for the visitors, firstly outfoxing the Crusaders' defence to net inside the first five seconds, then nailing two free throws, as well as scoring again to reduce the hosts' lead to only six points. It wasn't just in attack that the Zimbabwean impressed either, a superb defensive leap and block denied Simon Payne two points when attempting a lay up.

 

This was only a momentary blip for the Crusaders though, as a run of eight unanswered points dampened the Arrows' revival. Payne succeeded with his lay-up this time round following a quick break by Danso.

 

The Crusaders broke the century mark - again, for the first time this season - with a couple of minutes to play thanks to man of the match Olinger's cool lay-up and Kane Hudson's three-point shot on the buzzer left the scores at 104-89 lifting Crusaders off the foot of the table.

 

Sheffield head coach Pete Kelly was pragmatic about his side's expectations following the defeat. He said, "We're disappointed because I don't think we brought anything like our best game. We didn't compete hard enough and that's a disappointment.

 

"But we're in it for the long term, we only have three players above 22 and today we never got to grips with the game. You can't gain experience unless you're in a situation."

 

Kelly was also quick to praise the work put in by the Crusaders and noted the similarities between the two teams in terms of their young squads. "I take my hat off to Scott Neely's Crusaders. They've had a tough time, but once they got in front, they really grabbed the enthusiasm of being in front and they out-worked us.

 

"I like Coventry; I like what they've done. They've reduced the age of their team in the last couple of years and they will have a bright future, like us.

 

"But like us, they'll struggle, particularly away. You can see how well those guys can play when they get their confidence, but confidence has to be earned."

 

Chitagu led the Arrows with 20 while Ben Murray added 18 with Spare and Eboigbe scoring 15 apiece.