Division Two South  14/10/18

Bears: 55

Plymouth Raiders 35

The Bears 2 made a dream start to their home fixtures on Sunday against a resilient Plymouth team.  Before the start of the game, the Bears were presented with a cheque by David Jameson, Director of Merchandising & Supply Chain, on behalf of Dreams Ltd who have chosen Bears Wheelchair Basketball Club to sponsor for the next two years.  Lisa Bond, Chief Marketing Officer, Dreams said: “At Dreams teamwork is at our core. We are proud to be supporting Bears’ own team and their work to foster talent in the local community. We wish the Bears the best of luck as they head into their next season.”

“This is a fantastic news for our club” said Club Head Coach Tom Masterson.  “Sponsorship partners such as Dreams are fundamental to us continuing to do what we do here. In particular, Dreams will help develop the club, especially our junior section and women’s team. Their sponsorship will help us to continue to develop the next generation of wheelchair basketball athletes.”

Bears 2 also had a game to play after this inspiring presentation, with their enthusiasm renewed and reflected in how well they played. However, encountering an obvious height difference from the outset, the Bears were unable to assert any control due to the dogged and resilient Plymouth defence.  The Raiders were in fact able to take an slim lead going into the end of the first quarter, Bears 2 10- 12 Raiders.

The break seemed to bring about a second wind in the home side who came out more resilient and determined and quickly gained the lead back, and pulled further away to take both teams into the break with the scores Bears 2 31 – 18 Raiders.

After the half time break Raiders came out with a much stronger defence, but Bears were able to find the Raiders basket and pulled even further away at the end of the quarter Bears 2 47 – 30 Raiders.

With the game virtually won, both teams turned to their benches to give their squad players a run out and see out the game with the scores at the buzzer Bears 2 55 – 35 Raiders.

After the game Coach Peasley said “A big thank you to Raiders who had an awful journey up and still put on a great performance.  It was not the best of performances today and I think we started slow but eventually turned it around.  I also have to bear in mind that we are still gelling as a team and we will get better as the season progresses. ,”