Blackstone make winning start to league campaign

BLACKSTONE Basketball Club came through their first game of the season on Sunday night against Kilkeel Knights with an 80-72 victory that was very physical from the outset with the bigger Kilkeel side creating a lot of problems under the Blackstone boards.

The opening quarter was a basket for basket affair with the Blackstone just ahead by a score most of the time. Openers for the Blackstone were Adam Murray and Martin McDonald for a 6–4 lead.

Peter McNicholl took the bumps in the key to stop the penetration of Malvenius and his good work on the defensive boards brought Adam Hillis into the play on the break to score and stretch the lead to a 6 points.

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Two three pointers from Putma saw the visitors tie the game before Michael Murray shot from the corner to give a 19–18 lead at the end of the first.

In the second phase Peter McNicholl shot two from the top of the key to extend his team’s lead and McDonald found his range from three point territory with two more.

Blackstone began to up their intensity with a full court press which was creating a lot of problems for the visitors. They saw the fruits of their pressure give them a 10 point lead as Hillis again made the steal to set in on the break for 4 points.

Good defensive rebounding was a focus of this lead as Michael Murray and Peter McNicholl did not give the visitors any second shots and this sent them in at half time leading 45–35.

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In the third quarter the game went again into a very close contest but the Blackstone kept a 10 point gap going basket for basket.

It got very scrappy and over physical at this stage with Kilkeel getting 8 points from inside scores from second phase as they out rebounded the Blackstone too often from the weak side of the defensive court.

McDonald and Murray went to the free throw line after aggressive fouls as the guards looked for space from penetration and pulled up for the shot and hit the floor both times.

The ten point gap was maintained by McDonald with two three pointers on the trot and a 65–54 lead.

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The closing quarter was a nail biting affair as the Kilkeel team hit three 3 pointers on the trot and the Blackstone faltered with the movement of the ball in offence turning over three times. This gave the impetus to the visitors to score on the run and close the gap to 72–70.

After a time out the Blackstone worked the ball with more confidence and found Adam Hillis cutting back door. He was ably assisted by McNicholl was a clever pass and Hillis set in to stretch the score to 4 points.

Then it was a string of fouls on the open shooter that put Blackstone onto the free throw line to gain final control of the game. The visitors gave up the foul on the shooter rather than the score and Adam Murray, Dean Hillis and Peter McNicholl all scored on the line.

The job was complete with an 8 point victory and a tough test that takes them onto Andersonstown on Saturday for game 2.

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