BASKETBALL: Holt and Yates fire Thunder to third straight win

Northants Thunder men secured their third win of the Men's National League Division Three South Conference season with an 88-77 victory at Thames Valley IIs.
EYES ON THE BALL - action from Thunder's defeat to Notts Nova (Pictures: Dave Ikin)EYES ON THE BALL - action from Thunder's defeat to Notts Nova (Pictures: Dave Ikin)
EYES ON THE BALL - action from Thunder's defeat to Notts Nova (Pictures: Dave Ikin)

Thunder started sluggishly, but led 46-43 at half-time and then went on to win it.

Jacob Holt top scored with 22 points and Matt Yates scored 21.

Junior Men’s Midlands Conference

Thunder 52 Notts Nova 58

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THUNDER were outscored 10-4 in the final quarter to lose this game to Nova.

David Nieva and Shekina Ntumba led the scoring with 18 and 15 points respectively, with Jaz Campbell scoring 11.

Under 14 Boys East Midlands II Conference

City of Birmingham II 57 Thunder 65

WITH NBA legend Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon watching on from the sidelines, Thunder recorded their second consecutive win in Birmingham.

The win should have been more comfortable, but Thunder were outscored 19-6 in the final period.

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Jonathan Ntumba produced an excellent performance to score 31 points, and he was well supported by Ashley Kitchen with 18.

Under 14 Girls East Conference

County Upper Wolves 57 Northants Lightning 41

LIGHTNING put up a spirited display before losing out to Wolves in Bury St Edmunds.

The scoring was led by Lucy Needham with 16 points while Sade Chambers and Poppy Barnett enjoyed their best games of the season.

National Cup third round

Thunder 72 Mansfield Giants 61

THUNDER recorded a huge upset as they beat Premier League side Mansfield Giants at the Northants Basketball Centre.

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Giants arrived with no fewer than five regional league players in their line up and they were hot favourites to advance to the fourth round of the National Cup.

When the visitors started the final quarter leading by 54-46 it looked like the match would go to form, but Thunder had other ideas.

For the first six minutes of the final quarter the Premier League side were scoreless while Thunder poured in 18.

The Northants team had their noses in front and held their composure to run out impressive winners.

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Josh Lloyd was the star performer for Thunder as he scored a huge 39 points, while support came from Ed Wallhead and Amankonah who contributed 13 and 11 respectively.

National Cup

Northants Thunder 80 
Oakland College Wolves 84

After two periods of overtime, the Northants junior men were knocked out of the National Cup.

Thunder led 20-18 after the first quarter, but it was 28-28 by half-time. They were still level after three quarters, and two free throws from David Nieva ensured the match ended 57-57.

In the first period of overtime, Thunder were 68-65 ahead going into the dying seconds, but the visitors scored a last-gasp leveller.

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The second period of overtime saw Wolves clinch it with a 10-3 run.

Thunder’s scoring was led by Nieva who scored 29 points.

Fixtures

Saturday, November 5: 9.30-11am: Junior Ballers Session

There are no home games at the Basketball Centre this weekend

Junior Men travel to Ilkeston Outlaws

Sunday: Senior Men travel to Cardiff Met Archers; Under 14 Boys travel to Team Birmingham Elite

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE TITANS

BEL Under 16 Girls Northern Premier

Northamptonshire Titans 64 Manchester Mystics 70

NEBC Titans Under 16 Girls played host to the usual top of the table Manchester Mystics.

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Things didn’t go as planned as Titans put Mystics under a lot of pressure and after a hard fought game only lost by six points

BEL Under 16 Boys Northern Premier

Cheshire Phoenix Juniors 73 Northamptonshire Titans 80

NEBC Titans Under 16 Boys’ long haul to Cheshire on Saturday took its toll and it took them till the third quarter to warm up and find their flow, and flow they did pulling out in front at the end of the final quarter.

BEL Under 16 Boys National Cup Third Round

Northamptonshire Titans 83 City of Birmingham 95

NEBC Titans Under 16 Boys again hosted CoB at Weavers leisure Centre.

CoB were after revenge after Titans beat them at Weavers last week and with key players out and the long trip to Cheshire the day before Titans succumbed in the last quarter and were knocked out of the National Cup.

BEL Under 18 Men Midlands Conference

Northamptonshire Titans 72 Team Birmingham Elite II 62

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NEBC Titans Under 18 Men overcame not having a game for three weeks and got revenge for the overtime National Cup loss earlier in the month, as 32 points from Hayden Alcindor led the home side to a 10-point win at Weavers on Saturday.

Titans opened well, establishing their running game well jumping out to a 16-6 lead on the way to a 20-13 advantage after the first quarter with Alcindor contributing 10 points.

As in the cup game, Elite II responded in the second period, closing the gap to two points at half time with the home side in front 36-34.

The visitors opened the second half in fine style with a 10-6 run to edge in front 44-42 mid way through the third period.

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However, Titans responded positively with a 14-1 run led by Alcindor and Cameron Samuels to take the game away from Elite II, allowing the home side to take a 56-47 lead into the final quarter.

Elite II were unable to respond and never came closer than seven points in the closing stages as Titans ran out winners to take their league record to two and one.

Alcindor led the scorers with 32 points, Samuels added 20 with Keenan Salmon supporting with 16,

Titans travel to Shropshire next Saturday in the next game.