It was a strong first half-performance from the Tigers that set up this victory against the visitors from the Channel Islands.
The opening exchanges were pretty even and the score stood at 12 – 10 to Taunton before, behind 11 points in the period from Chris Mullan, they charged away to a 30 – 15 lead at the break. The second quarter began very scrappily but Tigers again had the better of the later stages. Alastair Bird and Matt Nolan both made successful 3-point shots during an 11 – 4 run at the end of the half that stretched the lead to 47 – 26.
Surprisingly, though, Guernsey came right back into the match in the third quarter. Everything seemed under control for Taunton as Bird scored 6 points early on, but the visitors claimed 19 of the next 21 points and had closed the gap to just 6 going into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, Taunton's lead was down to as little as 4 at one stage, but coach Gary Carter had plenty of experience at his disposal and his side held their nerve. Dan Howe, in particular, showed his class down the stretch as Tigers pulled away again.
Carter was pleased with the afternoon's work,
“The first half was the best offensive performance of the year with the team sharing the ball as we talked about before the game. Credit has to go to Guernsey for their fight back during the 3rd and 4th quarters but I was happy with the way the team eventually closed up the game.”