Tallinn, Estonia – Myerscough’s third season in the European Youth Basketball League continued this past weekend as the Preston-based academy faced off against teams from United Kingdom, Estonia and Finland.
The academy-side would claim second place out of the eight teams in attendance with a 4-1 record across its five games with convincing wins over BC London United, TalTech BS, Keila KK and a nail-biting overtime game against Omnia BA. The lone loss came in a 51-60 game against Audentes who were crowned overall winners of the stage.
Myerscough’s Captain Euan Birch was named the team’s best player
Whilst Peter Asante was selected to Stage III All-Star Five.
Friday 24th February
Game 1 | Myerscough BA 50 – 24 BC London United (United Kingdom)
(19-2, 13-4, 4-8, 14-10)
Myerscough started Stage II with a clear intent as a strong first half display (32-6) powered them to their first win of the stage. Myerscough capitalised on London’s mistakes with 17 points off turnovers and saw its bench outscore the opposition 20-4.
Top Scorers: Euan Birch had a game-high 10 points to go along with 7 rebounds. Peter Asante was shy of a double-double with 9 points and 9 rebounds to go with 3 assists whilst Denilson Caschili added 7 points and 5 rebounds in support.
London was led by Rinor Dragusha and Mergim Sokoli who had 8 points each.
Game 2 | Myerscough BA 62 – 42 TalTech BS/FENSTER/TSK (Estonia)
(19-7, 11-8, 13-16, 19-11)
Myerscough made it two from two on the opening day with a comfortable win over local team BS TalTech. Myerscough held their opponents to just 15 points in the first half as they built a double-digit advantage. TalTech would go on a 9-0 run to cut the score to 43-33 before Myerscough responded with 13-0 run deep in the fourth quarter to put the game beyond reach. Myerscough once again dominated in points in the paint doubling TalTech 40-20 as well as outscoring their opponents 16-7 and 11-7 in fast break and second chance points.
Top Scorers: Euan Birch top scored with 12 points (3-8 3PT), 6 rebounds and 3 assists whilst Daniel Azancot added 12 points (2-3 3PT) off the bench. Dayvantia Campbell-Deeble (8 points, 5 rebounds) and Peter Asante (8 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds) offered further support.
TalTech BS was led by Sten Kaarel Kuimet’s 12 points. Gregor Veiper was the only other player in double figures with 10 points.
Saturday 25th February
Game 3 | Myerscough 43 – 41 Omnia BA (Finland) – Overtime
(8-10, 11-12, 5-4, 11-9, 8-6)
Myerscough would make it three from three in dramatic fashion as they came back from 7 points down to steal the 2-point win. Dan Davies would beat the final buzzer to tie the game in regulation to force the extra period which set up the stage for Myerscough to complete the comeback. Myerscough’s defense came up trumps as it held Omnia to just 13% (3/22) from 3-point range and their leading scorer, Okku Federiko to just a single point.
Top Scorers: Denilson Caschili had a game-high 15 points including the go-ahead 3 pointer with 56s left in regulation. Euan Birch had 6 points on a pair of 3 pointers whilst Emmanuel Akubuo, Dayvantia Campbell-Deeble and Peter Asante all added 5 points with the later adding 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
Gezim Bajrami and Vaano Mustola both led the way for Omnia with 11 points each. Veikka Koivisto added support with 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Game 4 | Myerscough BA 51 – 60 BS Audentes (Estonia)
(11-18, 14-13, 16-12, 10-17)
Myerscough would suffer their first loss of the stage in a game as Audentes used a 10-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away. Despite dominating the glass and outrebounding their opponents 53-30, Myerscough struggled from behind the arc 4-24 (16%) and Audentes generated 21 points off Myerscough’s turnovers to power them to victory.
Top Scorers: Peter Asante had 13 points on 6-8 FG to go along with 7 rebounds to lead Myerscough. Denilson Caschili was the only other player to reach double figures with 10 points. Stephen Asante provided support with 7 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Georg Oliver Metsaorg had a game-high 24 points on 10-19 FG whilst Rasmus Andre added 19 points of his own.
Sunday 26th February
Game 5 | Myerscough BA 83 – 38 Keila KK (Estonia)
(23-16, 21-9, 21-8, 18-5)
Myerscough bounced back from their narrow loss in convincing fashion as they dispatched Keila KK. Myerscough outscored their opponents by 20 points in the paint and poured in 17 second chance points as they outrebounded their opponents 55-32. Myerscough had a season-high 20 assists on 28 made field goals as they connected on 10-26 (38%) three-point field goals.
Top Scorers: Euan Birch had a game-high 22 points on 7-11 FG (5-8 3PT) and Denilson Caschili followed with 16 of his own (4-9 3PT). Emmanuel Akubuo provided a spark off the bench with 10 points (5-7 FG) and 5 rebounds whilst Peter Asante (9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) and Stephen Asante (8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) provided further support.
Kermo Sepik led Keila KK with 10 points with Rasmus Hulkko added 9. Robin Rukis and Christopher Lenk contributed 8 points each.
Myerscough has now finished the 2022-23 EYBL regular season with a 11-4 record which sees them secure 3rd place and book a place in the post-season with a trip to the 2023 EYBL SuperFinal alongside BS Riga/LU, RIG Lulea and Omnia BA.
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