ASTON, Birmingham — Myerscough sank its last 10 free throws to help start its defence of the Aoc Sport Premier Cup with a 69-59 win over Aston Manor on Wednesday at the Lighthouse Young People’s Centre.
Myerscough entered shooting a shade over 60 percent from the line in the Elite Academy Basketball League, but missed just one in the fourth quarter and finished 15-of-19 for the game.
The Preston-based college also shook off a low scoring second quarter, which it won 8-7, a narrow 19-18 foul disparity and a last ditch effort from Aston Manor to overturn a second half deficit to advance to the quarterfinals.
“Adversity is going to happen — it’s a game of runs and we were able to get ours at the right time,” said Myerscough head coach Neal Hopkins. “We’ve learnt from our mistakes the last couple of weeks and that’s another step in our development.”
Edoardo Del Cadia and Konrad Kantorski each scored 18 points and Mate Okros added 16. Del Cadia grabbed 16 rebounds and Okros brought in 11 for Myerscough.
“The team we’re playing have a chip on their shoulder — we have to play harder and harder each game in order to defend the title,” said Myerscough guard Kantorski.
Myerscough, which led 32-27 at halftime, jumped out to 18-8 advantage and forced Aston Manor into a timeout with 4:08 left in the first quarter. The hosts responded with a 12-4 run to trail by four, before a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half brought Aston Manor within 32-30.
Kantorski would score the next six points in under 90 seconds, and Okros added a 3-point play to extend the lead to 47-35 and Aston Manor never got closer than six.
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