Pace-setters pile more pressure on the Met

Men's Basketball: Leeds 1sts 65 - 52 Sunderland 1sts

By Joe Short

Leeds University Men’s Basketball 1sts showed why they are top of the league and unbeaten this season with a convincing victory over a lacklustre Sunderland side.

    The Uni side dominated much of the play, impressing in their counter attacking play and the quantity of chances created.

    The league is likely to go down to the deciding match between Uni and Leeds Met to establish this seasons champions.

    The knot binding Leeds at the top of the table is so firm not even a Boy Scout with three untying badges and a penknife could loosen it.
    The Uni team, who have won all six of their matches in the BUCS Northern Conference 2B, were simply dominant over a poor S

underland side.
    The away side turned up half an hour late for the game, and to be honest should not have turned up at all.
    Not that Leeds had it all their own way, however. Sunderland took an early lead of 8-4 as Leeds struggled to pick holes through what was really an undisciplined defence. Indeed, the Uni had to resort to quick counter-attacks to secure most of their points in the first quarter.
    Their poor start was quickly forgotten after the brief break, however, with star man Krumesh Patel bagging two 3-pointers in quick succession.
    Patel really did rule the play, dictating his men in attack and being just as noisy without the ball. An incredible amount of 3-pointers from Krumesh in the third quarter saw Leeds increase a lead to 19 points, with help from the bustling Serge Leshchuk and springy Andreas Tsiatinis.
    The game was all over in the fourth quarter with the Uni 65-52 up, but the deficit could have been so much greater as the Leeds attack fell victim to complacency at times.
    A poorly co-ordinated Sunderland defence was not exploited as much as it could have been, with the home side quite often being forced to storm through their opponents rather than spread the play.
    A back injury a the end of the fourth quarter forced a late finish to the game.
    Leeds should be pleased with this result. The performance was maybe not as impressive as their league position suggests, but this game can be counted as one the team simply wanted to win, after waiting so long for their opponents to turn up.