Leicester, England – Myerscough’s second half comeback was not enough to get them over the line as they fell 99-94 to Leicester Warriors on Saturday.
Leicester jumped out of the blocks and raced to an early 10-0 lead in the opening two minutes forcing a timeout from the travelling Myerscough. Dayvantia Campbell-Deeble would score 6 quick points inside and sharpshooter Denilson Caschili connected from outside as Myerscough fought back to tie the game at 15-15. However, a scoreless closing two minutes that mirrored the start combined with back-back three pointers re-established the double-digit lead for Leicester at the end of the first quarter, 26-15.
Both teams traded blows throughout the second and third quarter and the deficit peaked at 20 points before being slightly pinned back to 16 points heading into the last ten minutes.
Myerscough would have an offensive explosion in the final quarter as they poured in 37 points, but it would come agonisingly short. Mandre Costa hit a three-pointer with 1:38 remaining to cut the gap to 91-89 but Leicester would close the game on a perfect 8-8 from the foul line to seal the home victory.
Mandre Costa led Myerscough with 30 points (12-16 FG) off the bench whilst Denilson Caschili (16 points) and Peter Asante (11 points) added support. Dayvantia Campbell-Deeble was the only other player in double-figures with 10 points (5-5 FG).
Carl Pearson’s game-high 37 points (9-11 3PT) and Delaney Powell’s 29 points led the way for the Warriors. Gabriel Assinder and Leon Henry added 11 and 10 points each.
Preston, England – Myerscough would slip to its second defeat of the weekend and fall to 3-5 in league play as Doncaster Eagles would come from behind in the fourth quarter to seal the victory, 76-71.
In a competitive game, neither team could find any breathing room throughout the first half and Myerscough had built itself a single possession lead, 36-33. The third quarter proved to be much of the same as Doncaster edged it by a single point to close the game to 55-53.
Myerscough would break the deadlock as Daniel Azancot’s three-pointer capped a 7-0 start to the final quarter and force their opponents into a timeout. Doncaster would regroup to take the lead as momentum would swing the other way as they held Myerscough scoreless across a 4-minute spell. Despite a valiant effort to fight back, Doncaster would convert all twelve of their free throw attempts to seal the game down the stretch.
Denilson Caschili paced Myerscough with 18 points whilst Daniel Azancot supported with 11 points. Dayvantia Campbell-Deeble added 8 points of his own.
Rob Marsden top scored for Doncaster Eagles with 27 points and 23 rebounds whilst Walsh and Speight added 11 and 10 points respectively.
Caschili reflected on the weekend with “It’s been a tough week for us and definitely something that we can all learn from. Now it’s important to get back to practice and work to get back into winning form “.
Myerscough returns to the floor on Thursday 1st December as they host NBL Division 1 side Manchester Magic in the NBL Men’s National Cup Fifth Round tie at 7:45pm before facing Bristol Hurricanes in league action on Sunday 4th December, at 4pm.
Other weekend results:
Saturday 26th November 2022
U16 Conference v Mersey Mavericks – 89-20 L
Top Scorers
Lord, Pangan, Van den Biggelaar, Holden – 4 points each
U18 Premier v QE Knights – 90-39 W
Top Scorers
Nwauzu – 17 points
Coxon – 15 points
Campbell – 13 points
Sunday 27th November 2022
U18 Premier v City of Edinburgh Kings – 74-58 W
Top Scorers
Steadman – 19 points
Nwauzu – 14 points
Campbell-Deeble – 12 points
U18 Conference v Manchester Giants Blue – 52-51 W
Top Scorers
Lambert – 13 points
Mason – 10 points
Hezekiel – 8 points
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