In an incredibly tight game that saw the lead change over 20 times and maximum advantage to either side 6 points, Taunton Tigers Men had their hearts broken for the second week in a row as they went down 79 – 82 at home to Bristol Flyers.
Tigers MVP and captain Richard Anderson consistently kept the home side in it with 23 points and 9 rebounds but the star of the show was Tyrone Treasure of Bristol who finished with 32 points and 12/13 shooting from the field. Head Coach Ronnie Heath was quick to praise his opponents,
“Treasure is still very young but he plays with a veteran's head. He has a forward's body and guard's skills, but his ‘smarts’ set him apart. He knew where he could hurt us and his team-mates patiently found ways to get him the ball near the basket.”
Played at an incredible pace, Taunton finished the first quarter better — taking a narrow 26 – 24 lead with Richard Anderson and Treasure both on 10 points a piece. The 2nd quarter saw Taunton establish an inside game with both Kevin Anderson (11 points) and Paul Yabsley (10 points) getting easy scores in the paint as Tigers established a 46 – 40 lead. At this stage Bristol were surviving largely on the scraps of careless mistakes by Taunton.
It was Bristol who came out of the blocks by far the fastest in the 3rd quarter though, quickly erasing the lead. Taunton inexplicably drifted away from their previously successful inside game and had to rely on deep three-pointers by Clifford and Saunders to keep in touching distance 63 – 65 at the end of the period. As Taunton continued to struggle at the offensive end, Bristol opened up a 6 point lead. Then, spurred on by the famous Wellsprings crowd Tigers staged a fight back with Jones and Richard Anderson going strong to the hoop. On three occasions they got back to a one shot distance only for Bristol to finish the game off from the foul-line.
Heath explained why the whole staff and all the players were so disappointed after the match,
“We have lost close ones to Bristol recently, but we really felt the time had come for us to reverse that trend today. We felt a foul count of 28 – 18 against us was a little harsh, but more significantly a win was in our control. It hurts that their players were more fired up for the second half and were able to stick to their game plan and key principles better than us. In the cold light of Sunday morning the results will be viewed as progress but right now it doesn't feel that way!”
With 2 teams progressing to the semi-finals narrow losses against London Leopards and Bristol mean that Taunton not only have to beat Cardiff this Sunday at Wellsprings but probably have to sneak a result against group favourites Reading Rockets to progress in the National Trophy.
Heath predicted yet another close one against Cardiff,
“Our games against Cardiff have always been tight ones and they have built a formidable squad on their way back to Division 1. Both sides know each other well so I won't be letting anything out of the bag if I was to tell you it will be another explosive and fast paced affair this Sunday. Chris Horrocks' Team play with very similar principles, so the contests between us have the potential to be classic.”