Basketball: Edinburgh set for relegation battle after narrow defeat

Glasgow edge out Edinburgh 60-63 in overtime to win their first game of the season. Both teams still rooted at the bottom of BUCS Premier North Division with only one victory apiece.

Given Edinburgh’s two-point win over Glasgow last November (their only win so far this season), this was always going to be a tight game with neither team managing to gain the upper hand. Points were scarce, a combination of inaccurate shooting and tight defence preventing either side from building a substantial lead.

Edinburgh initially looked the better side, storming to a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes. Glasgow soon settled into the game, scoring two successive field-goals. From thereon in both teams were almost always within four points of each other. The home team held the lead for much of the game, with Glasgow snatching it in the second quarter, holding on briefly until an Edinburgh fightback, led by standout Michael Kirkpatrick, regained them the lead in the third quarter.

Going into the fourth quarter, the game was on a knife edge. Edinburgh were still hanging on to a 40-36 lead, but wary of the visitors, whose performance in the second quarter showed they had the potential to score in rapid succession and retake the lead. The game became frantic as the clocked ticked down as both teams stepped up their urgency in attack, Edinburgh looking to pull away, Glasgow fighting to stay within a few points. Aggressive defence led to frequent fouls, both sides trading a number of free throws. Inevitably tempers flared as players started to contest every call.

A minute from the end Edinburgh were ahead by five points, when suddenly the game, their’s for the taking, unravelled. Sluggish defence allowed Glasgow to score a three-pointer and then, just six seconds from the end, Glasgow’s Ugnius Zasimauskas was fouled from behind on his way to the basket. Handed the chance to make the scores level at 50-50, Zasimaukas held his nerve, ignoring the jeers of the home fans as he made both free-throws to take the game into overtime.

There the frenetic pace continued, though the momentum was clearly with the visiting team. John Bustin scored most of the points as Glasgow seized the lead, and now it was Edinburgh’s turn to try and claw their way back. Placed in the same precarious position their opponents had been in just a few minutes before, they were unable to make up the deficit in the last minute, succumbing to a 60-63 loss.