The City of Sheffield Saints beat Loughborough Student Cardinals in the second round of the National Shield on Sunday, with an 85-66 win at All Saints School. The game was tight in the first period but a 21-7 run in the second quarter gave the Saints an advantage they would never relinquish.

A Garnet Gayle jumper opened the scoring for the Saints though Loughborough responded immediately through Overton. Tilly Hackett was fouled under the basket and converted both foul shots to give the Saints the early 4-2 lead. Overton and M. Wickham continued to score for the visitors but Loughborough were forced to settle for outside shots as the Saints clogged up the lane with great team defence. At the other end, Pete Olusoga managed to find his way through the lane to the hoop for 2, while Gayle and Hackett continued to abuse the Cardinals zone defence. Two 3 pointers from Olusoga and another lay-up from Hackett put the Saints up 18-17 after the first quarter.

The Cardinals switched to man-to-man defence in the second quarter but to no avail as this sparked a 21-7 Saints run in the first 5 minutes. Hackett dropped in 2 from underneath the basket yet again, and drew the foul, converting the bonus shot. The Cardinals extended their defence to full court but slick ball movement from the Saints broke the press and the Cardinals spirit as Chris Law was rewarded with and easy 2. Gayle continued to score inside and as the Loughborough defence began to collapse on him, Nick Savage benefited from one of Gayle's 11 assists on the night. 7 points from Loughborough's Holland gave the Cardinals some hope but they had no answer for the inside presence of Hackett, Gayle, and Dean Griffiths working solidly off the bench. Another 3 from Olusoga and two more easy scores from Hackett saw the Saints cap a 31-15 second quarter and take a 49-32 lead at half-time.

Both teams traded baskets in the third quarter. Andy Turner scored 3 times and Olusoga drained his 4th 3 pointer of the game to extend the Saints lead to 23. The Cardinals seemed to have switched off defensively as the Saints repeatedly scored easily from inbounds plays, with Hackett, Law, Turner, and Savage all scoring off Gayle passes from the baseline. Although Holland kept up the scoring for the Cardinals, their 8-2 run end the third period was far too late to concern the Saints who led 64-47 with one quarter to go.

The final period saw the Saints consolidate on their earlier work and hold on to a 20 point lead for the rest of the game. Savage scored inside from another Gayle assist and Olusoga was able to find the gaps in the Cardinals' defence, scoring 2 quick baskets. The highlight of the 4th quarter was a spectacular block from Garnet Gayle, who ran the full length of the court to get back on defence and terminated a lay-up attempt from the Cardinals joint top scorer for the game, Overton. Unfortunately, Galye also terminated Overton and sent him to the free-throw line where he made both shots. 8 further final quarter points from Overton was not enough for the Division 3 side as the Division 4 Saints closed the game out 85-66 winners. Although not playing, it was good to see Kyle Styan on the bench after his broken ankle earlier in the year and, hopefully, Kyle will resume light training with the team in the coming week.

The Saints will now play away at fellow Division 4 north contenders Mansfield Giants, who have managed to get to the 3rd round of the competition without actually playing a game. The Saints won by 3 in overtime the last time the 2 teams met so it should be another classic match-up. Before that though, the Saints have a vital league fixture on Saturday the 25th November, against current table leaders Leeds met Carnegie, the only other unbeaten team in Division 4 North. Tip-off is 6pm at All Saints School

Scorers
Saints
Olusoga (24), Hackett (18), Gayle/Law (14), Turner (7), Savage (6), Griffiths (2)
Cardinals
Holland/Overton (20), C.Wickham (11), M. Wickham (8)

Posted on: Monday 20th November

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