York Men’s Firsts rally to beat University of Huddersfield

Despite a poor first quarter York managed to come back and then surpass their opponents, comfortably finishing the game in the fourth quarter. A combination of strong post play, good passing and experience by York led the team to victory.

The first quarter opened with a three pointer by Marcus Johansson and a carrying foul against Huddersfield’s centre, which hinted at a game that would be a simple win for York. Sadly, the next three minutes completely changed any hope of this. Huddersfield’s power forward, being fed the ball at the low post by sharp passing from his teammates, scored ten points in quick succession whilst their defence racked up four blocks against York. On offence York seemed unable to find the right combination to work against the opposition and on defence York’s normally strong zone could not contain Huddersfield. There was a brief spark at the end of the quarter when Deniz Ekren and Rodrigo Donadi played well together on offence but the quarter finished a disappointing York 8 – Huddersfield 20.

This poor performance from York was turned on its head within minutes of the start of the second quarter. The home team came out strong, scoring ten points within two minutes, thanks in part to good passing from Ekren and a return to form by Samuel Bentley, which brought York within four points of Huddersfield. On defence, York increased the pressure on Huddersfield with positive results. Their opponents quick passes began to go astray and Ekren, Ben Barrett, and Brendan Moran intimidated their opponents, blocking three shots from Huddersfield. Thanks to this pressure and the strong defence by Ekren and Barrett, York were able to hold Huddersfield to eleven points for most of the quarter, giving a good base for York to catch up with their opponents. Halfway through the quarter York retook the lead, thanks to a communal effort from all the players, and Huddersfield only remained in touch with York through the play of their power forward. With three seconds left David Nalton drained two free throws, bring the team average up to twenty-five percent from the line, and put York ahead by three points. Unfortunately Huddersfield’s power forward managed to answer with a buzzer beating three to finish the quarter tied at 33-33.

The third quarter saw York cement their advantage over their opponents. Again, on defence York managed to hold their opponents in check, including another block by Barrett, and offensively York continued their scoring runs. Donadi found his rhythm, attacking the low post effectively, and Moran managed to score twice, complimenting his four rebounds during the quarter. By the end of the quarter York had a total of seventeen steals and eighteen rebounds for the game, showing once again York’s ability to rebound well and continually steal the ball. Stand out players in these two categories so far were Donadi with four steals and five rebounds, and Moran with one steal and six rebounds. The quarter finished in York’s favour 55-49.

The final quarter was a solid one from York although there were a couple of mistakes from the home team. The stand-out mistake from the quarter was Moran’s attempt at a three, possibly trying to emulate NBA All-Star Ben Wallace, but which didn’t finish as successfully. York grabbed the offensive rebound and the ball found its way to Bentley, who had already drained one three during the game, and proceeded to air ball this attempt. York once again grabbed the offensive rebound, only to be blocked by Huddersfield’s power forward, their offensive power house, who then landed badly, twisting his ankle and remained benched for the rest of the quarter. Without their star player, who had racked up thirty points, Huddersfield quickly fell apart, swearing at each other and only managing to score six points in the quarter. Despite the mistake by Moran and Bentley they both finished the game well with Moran grabbing two offensive rebounds and Bentley providing some sharp passes. Johansson equalled Donadi for steals, both finishing with five, and Jassen Liu showed a knack for good passing, all helping to extend York’s lead. Johansson lead the scoring again, whilst Donadi finished a strong second. Ekren once again played a game with a lot of energy and determination, starting the game on the bench but bringing a valuable extra dimension to the team stealing the ball twice and grabbing an offensive rebound for himself in the final quarter. Despite a poor start York saw off their opponents thanks to a good communal effort from the team, showing the necessary experience to keep a cool head and play to their strengths throughout the final three quarters, easily defeating their opponents 70 – 55.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.