Men's Basketball: England v Wales

Wales came into this match against defending champions, England, missing two important players, and the height of ex-Edinburgh University player, 6’ 9”Duncan Rae, who was suffering from an ankle injury sustained in a training session only yesterday.

A quick glance at the teams warming up made it clear that the Welsh were going to have a hard time in competing with their physically superior opposition, and England attempted to make the most of their strength and height from the outset, feeding Adrian Fenyn in the low post after Armand Anebo had won the tip-off. Fenyn, though, was besieged by tenacious Welsh defenders, and committed a travelling violation on his way to the basket, gifting possession to the Welsh, who promptly gave it straight back, allowing Fenyn to register the first points of the game soon after.

These early exchanges were to characterise the match, as England were too often allowed second, third and even fourth attempts at the Welsh basket, despite the best efforts of their interior players in the battle under the backboards. England had built a ten point lead at the half-way stage of the quarter, before the Welsh pulled to within four points at the 2:47 mark, after a three-pointer from James Dawe, who was to lead the Welsh in scoring with 17 points, brought the score to 20-16. It was not to get any better for the Welsh, though, and, indeed, things soon became a lot worse.
The English lead was back to eleven at the close of the first quarter and had grown to twenty-four by half time as Wales coughed up possession under unrelenting English ball pressure, which led to eighteen points for the Champions. The lone bright spot of the 2nd quarter, from a Welsh perspective, could only be the breakaway dunk thrown down by Foan Nickson – that this came in the final seconds of the half, and brought the score to 53-29, tells its own story.

England were determined to keep their collective foot on the Welsh neck, and went on a huge 17-2 scoring run in the first five minutes of the second half. This deflated the formerly stern Welsh resistance, and the English were simply overpowering their opposition with a combination of power, size and quickness that the hapless Welsh could not hope to match. As the fourth quarter began, the only question that remained unanswered was whether or not the English would rack up 100 points, as their women had earlier in the day – the answer came with a little under two minutes remaining, as Oxford’s Reed Doucette converted a lay-up to take the score to 101-48. This was to be the final English basket, though the diminutive Dorian Ducarre slithered his way to the basket in the closing seconds to bring the Welsh tally to 50.

A commanding start from the English, who have done little to weaken their pre-tournament status as favourites, though Coach Newby will no doubt be displeased by his side’s turnover count of 19. The Welsh must not dwell on today’s result, and should look forward to their clash with hosts, Scotland, tomorrow as one in which they will be able to compete far more ably.

Players of the game

England: Adrian Fenyn, with 21 points, 4 steals and 6 rebounds, performed admirably, while Reed Doucette’s impressive tallies of 19 points and 15 rebounds were key to English dominance under the basket – England scored 74 points in the paint, compared to just 22 from the Welsh.

Wales: James Dawe’s 17 points, including two three-pointers, were a welcome offensive spark for the Welsh, while Matt Garton’s 10 rebounds were a great effort against such physical opposition. Foan Nickson stood out, though, for his athletic play and a good display of mid-range shooting, which saw him register 14 points and 6 rebounds, as well as that dunk.