After being 6 – 0 down in the opening minute, two successive classic fade-away jump shots mid-way through the opening session by Coventry's Stephen Danso, followed by a finger tip roll after a drive to the basket, showed that he was likely to be a major threat to the home side. However, the early play was dominated by Tigers' Chris Page who scored 15 of his 31 game high points in the first quarter. Crusaders pulled back to within 2 points following an 8 – 2 run late in the first session, but Tigers increased their intensity in the final minute to close the quarter 26 – 17 ahead.
The 2nd period saw the visitors' captain John Olinger make his presence felt. After making all three of his shots from the line after being fouled on the perimeter with 2 minutes to go, he immediately drained another from outside to make his quarter tally 9.
You can watch the full game video here or View it on Vimeo. The match report continues below.
After the mid-way break the Crusaders came back strongly. They seized the opportunity after some early unforced errors by the Tigers and increased their pressure on the home side and forced even more turn-overs. A 10 – 2 run mid-way through the quarter saw them take the lead by 5 points with 2 minutes to go before the final break and hang on to close the quarter 63 – 59 ahead.
Early in the final session Taunton fought back to level the scores at 65 – 65 only to find themselves again trailing after Hudson immediately sank a long ranger. However, this was answered by one by Tim Clifford to again make it anyone's game. The steadying influence of Yabsley and Rickwood in the next 3 minutes produced an 11 – 2 run and enabled Tigers to regain the lead.
Despite some determined play in the final minute by the ever present Olinger (in which he scored two inside and added one from outside the arc making his tally 10 points in the final session) Tigers remained calm and closed-out the game 89 – 82.
Tigers Head Coach Kambouris said after the game,
“We weathered a storm tonight, this was the type of game in which we would have struggled to grind-out a victory last season. However, we did that today. This was another character step forward for our team.”