Preston, England – Myerscough College made it three EABL league wins in a row as they outlasted Derby Trailblazers Academy in a low-scoring affair yesterday afternoon, 55-49.
However, it would be the visitors that were first out the blocks and they quickly worked to establish an 11-0 lead before Myerscough had time to process what had happened. The home side were forced into a timeout which seemingly helped them regroup and settle into the game. Three-pointers from Euan Birch and Emmanuel Yeboah helped Myerscough outscore Derby 11-4 over the last 6 minutes to only trail 11-15 at the end of the first quarter.
The back-and-forth continued throughout the next two quarters as neither team was letting up defensively. Nevertheless, Myerscough would take them both by the narrowest of margins and found themselves down by a single point, 42-41, setting up an exciting finale.
Daniel Azancot would provide a spark off the bench in the fourth quarter and his activity on defense helped release Myerscough in transition at key points. Stephen and Peter Asante had scores either side of an Emmanuel Yeboah three-pointer to give Myerscough their first, and biggest lead of the game. Derby battled but were held to just two field goals and 7 points in the final frame and despite a late score from leading scorer Ben Hooper, Emmanuel Yeboah countered by stepping up to seal the game with a pair of free throws.
Peter Asante and Emmanuel Yeboah led the way for Myerscough with 12 points each whilst Stephen Asante was also in double figures with 11 points.
Emmanuel Yeboah reflected on the defensive clash at home with;
“We started off slow in the first half of the game, which allowed Derby to get a lead. We were missing pretty much everything, but we kept fighting through which allowed us to come back in the game later in the third quarter. Defensively I feel we were locked in, but we need to improve offensively next time out”
Ben Hooper was the only player in double figures for Derby with 11 points whilst Elliot Lawrence added 8 points. Mitchell and Ilijinas both added 7.
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