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The City of Sheffield Saints finished off the first half of their season undefeated in all competitions after an 80-61 victory over WNC Mansfield Express II on Sunday. The Saints travelled to Oak Tree LC in Mansfield for the second time in four days and, after beating the Giants in the Shield on Wednesday night, dominated their younger opponents to go into the Christmas break top of EBL4 North with a 7-0 league record.
An 11-0 tear from the Saints, including easy scores for Andy Turner, Pete Olusoga, and a 3 pointer from Chris Law, immediately put the Express on the back foot. A jump shot from Mike Elland gave the Express their first points of the afternoon, but 2 more from Turner gave the Saints a 13-2 lead. Four more points from Olusoga and 2 inside from Garnet Gayle gave the Saints a commanding 21-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Tilly Hackett got in on the act with 2 baskets from close range to start the second period, as the Saints looked to fast break off Express turnovers. Franz-von Shorter backed up a solid performance on Wednesday night with more good play against the Express, finding his way to the basket for 2, and exerting pressure on the Express' guards at the defensive end. The Express only managed to find the hoop 3 times in 6 minutes, Elland and Watts their only apparent threats, but a flurry of points from the Saints' Chris Law, including 3/3 from the foul-line, put the Saints up 39-18. Nick Savage and Turner worked well inside, and Dean Griffiths contributed with his first 2 of the afternoon, giving the Saints a 47-24 half-time lead.
Mansfield tried to extend their pressure to full court in the 3rd period but the Saints beat the trap easily to go on a 19-6 run. Turner continued to find the basket on the inside as the Saints stretched the Express' zone defence with good ball movement. Express continued to struggle on offence and the Saints continued to capitalise on the fast break, Olusoga finding Gayle for an easy lay-up. Griffiths kept working hard on the offensive boards, keeping the ball alive and being rewarded with 2 trips to the line to double the Express' score, 68-34, although points for Elland and Richards meant the quarter finished 68-39.
Mansfield showed signs of life in the 4th quarter but, as many of the Saints opponents this year have found, it was too little, too late. Elland drained a 3 to spark a 15-6 Express' run but the Saints were coasting at this point, and Olusoga knocked down two more 3s to keep them comfortably ahead. Kyle Styan and Griffiths looked to cause problems for the Express inside, both scoring easy baskets as a result of more good ball movement. Griffiths took his total to 8 points for the game with a nice jump shot over the Express' defence and capped the 80-61 win for the Saints. The Saints now head into the Christmas break undefeated and will look to continue that run in their first game back, at home, against Barrow Thorns on 13th January at All Saints School. Tip off, 6 pm.
Scorers
Saints
Olusoga(25), Law(17), Turner(15), Griffiths(8), Hackett(7), Gayle(4), Shorter/Styan(2)
WNC Mansfield Express II
Elland(17), Watts(12), Murphy(8)