5/5/2018

In a season-defining weekend for Bears 1 and 2, both teams travelled down south to London on Saturday for Bears 2 to play Hackney Sparrows and then travel to Stanmore for Bears 1 and 2 to face London Titans 2 and 3 on the Sunday.  After last weekends win against Norwich Lowriders, Bears 2 needed another win from one of the weekends games to secure their place in the 2^nd division, and avoid relegation.   The Bears 1 team had to face Titans 2 on the Sunday, with both teams on one loss each, and a game that could be the decider to who would finish top of the 1^st division South this season.

5/5/2018

Second Division South

Hackney Sparrows: 49 

Bears 2: 40

On the first game of the weekend the Bears 2 were able to secure their place in the 2^nd Division for next season with a win against a weakened Sparrows team.  From the tip the Bears were able to find their way to the Sparrows basket with Invictus hopefuls Rick Powell and Andy Roberts scoring for the Bears and young Aaron Grant also adding to the Bears scores.

After the game coach Masterson said “Really proud of the team today.  They have dug in and secured their place in the last 2 games.  They’ll be a better side next season”

6/5/2018

Second Division South

Titans 3: 52

Bears 3: 35

First game on the Sunday saw Bears 2 take on Titans 3.  After the heroics from the previous day, the Bears were looking to try and gain a win in their last game of the season.  After staying close to the Titans till the half time break, the Bears eventually run out of steam and couldn’t hold onto the strong Titans team who finished comfortable winners at the final buzzer.

After the game coach Masterson was in a reflective mood when he said “ Super proud of the team toady and last couple of weeks.  To secure our place in div 2 is as big as an achievement as the first team.  They’ll be a better team next season for sure”

6/5/2018

First Division South

London Titans 2: 46

Bears: 74

In the big game for the day, Bears were facing the team that were fighting for the top spot of division one South.  In their last meeting at the start of the season, the Bears came out on top, winning by one point scored in the last seconds of the game, so knew this was going to be an awesome battle.  From the tip Bears were in a steely determined mood playing a tough defence to try and shut out the Weeks brothers who were the Titans major threat  With a fantastic defensive display by Bears guards Lee Powell and Rob Whale, the Bears kept Titans score to only one point, whilst Jacob Robinson, Ben Haigh and Dan Gill piled on the points  to end the quarter  Titans 1 – 22 Bears.

Titans came out resolute in the second quarter with a renewed effort to fight their way back into the game. The Titans were able to release the Weeks boys from the strangle hold in the first quarter and they helped the Titans to pull back the early lead Bears had made, but the Bears were able to add to their tally to go into the half time break with the scores  Titans 18 – 35 Bears.

After the break the Bears came out determined again, spurred on by a warning from Coach Masterson about the dangers of being complacent and of a Titans come-back.  The Bears took on board their coaches words and with Robinson Haigh and Gill finding their way to the Titans basket. The Bears were able to pull further away to go into the last quarter with healthy lead of Titans 31 – 59 Bears..

The final quarter again went to the Bears who now knew that they would just need to see out the last quarter and keep the lead they had built up.  The Bears were able to call on Derek Hall and Dan Smith to come on and shore up the last quarter plus also give some valuable minutes to their junior prospect Aaron Grant who seen out the game with the final score Titans 46 – 74 Bears.

After the game Coach Masterson said  “Firstly I’d like to thank Titans for a brilliant game.  All the way through I was apprehensive as I know what a fantastic team they are and could come back at us at any time.  The Team were absolutely awesome today and the usual accolades will go to Jacob (Robinson) Ben (Haigh) and Gilly (Dan Gill) for the scores but the stars for me today were Rob (Whale) and Lee (Powell) who were absolutely awesome defensively today and don’t get the recognition they deserve like the other lads get.”