Surprise Victory To Rex

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30802, 14 July 1965, Page 16

Surprise Victory To Rex

Rex provided a major upset In the Canterbury A grade men’s basketball competition last evening when it narrowly beat the strong University A. 39-34. The loss cost the students their second position in the competition. Their place was taken by Y.M.C.A. which comfortably defeated Y-Boys, 46-28, after a firsthalf struggle. In the other games, Burnham defeated Ranglora, 42-32, and H. 5.0.8. staged a late rally to beat Orients. 41-31.

Points after 16 rounds: —University B 27, Y.M.C.A. 22, University A 21, H. 5.0.8. 15, Rex 14, Burnham 14, Rangiora 6. YBoys 3.

The Rex players gave their best display of the season against University A and thoroughly deserved their win, although there was never a great deal between the teams. Rex began strongly and managed to hang on to its narrow lead to the end. With 2min to go, there was only two points difference but the students threw away their chances with hasty shots at goal and Rex calmly widened the margin.

University A contained no less than five players who had represented Canterbury A this season and one who had played for Canterbury colts. Yet its cohesion and shooting was poor. Rex played much better as a team with P. Lund-Jackson off the court, in spite of the fact that be is its leading scorer. Without him monopolising the ball, the players combined much better. The two most prominent players were M. Harley and B. Woolford, who successfully combined strong offensive play with sound defence. J. McEvoy also had one of his better games. Scoring in tbe University A

team was very evenly spread. B. Strong, C. Morris and M. Askew played well enough but lacked their usual sparkle. I. Day. who played so well at the South Island championships, was another who did not realise his full potential. Rex A 39 (M. Harley 13. B. Walford 12, J. McEvoy 7, R. Pfennlger 3, G. Jones 2, P. LundJackson 2) beat University A 34 (B. Strong 8. C. Morris 6. M. Askew 6, G. Williams 4, R. Mar 4. J. Stead 4, I. Day 2).

Y.M.C.A. Matched Y-Boys surprisingly matched Y.M.C.A. in the first spell, only conceding the lead a split second before half-time when J. Smith went in for an easy layup. At half-time, Y.M.C.A. led, 17-15, and the game appeared to be wide open. However, in the second spell, Y.M.C.A. applied a full court press on the resumption of play and an unusually large number of bad passes by Y-Boys gave its opponents a gift of eight quick points. This was the turning point in the game and YBoys were never again a threat. J. Smith was the architect of Y-Boys downfall. His positional play was excellent and his shooting accurate. C. Harley and B. Stead again led the Y-Boys attack reasonably effectively. Y.M.C.A. 46 (J. Smith 18, R. Roylance 8, J. Spencer 6, R. Entwistle 4. N. Saunders 4, P. Riss 4. A. Riley 2) beat Y-Boys 28 <C. Harley 10, B. Stead 9, R. Dew 5, A. Wilson 4). Although it improved considerably in the second spell, Rangiora was never the equal of Burnham. C. P. Dyson, J. Wright and A. G. Ward were more than a match for the Rangiora defence and scored freely.

Burnham 42 (C. F. Dyson 12 J. Wright 11. A. G. Ward 10 D. B. Watson 5. J. Nichol 4) beat Rangiora 32 (R. Spark 13. M. Callaghan 11, D. Lamb 6 A Nock 2).

Old Boys began slowlv against Orients, and It was not until well on In the game that it began to show any control A. Hounsell reached top form tor Old Boys, scoring 19 points. H. 5.0.8. 41 (A. Hounsell 19. G. Orchard 9. K. Milligan 8. P. Bell 3, J. Francis 2) beat Orients 31 (C. Hill 14. C. Cochrane 10. C. Chee 5, A. Chee 2). Lower grade results: Under 20.—Shirley A 19. Y.M.C.A. 15; St. Andrew's A 16. Christ's College A 16: Christchurch B.H.S. A 33, Y-Boys F 10: Christ’s College B 22,,Shirley B 8; West H.S. 24, Rex E 17: St. Andrew's B 28, Christchurch B.H.S. B 26.

Senior Reserve.—Y.M.C.A. B 48. H. 5.0.8 B 28; Rex B 25. Training College 18; Y.M.C.A. C 39, University C 29; Orients B 43, Rangiora B 12.

Record Still Intact

(N.t. Preu Auoctation) INVERCARGILL. July 13. The South Australian indoor basketball team maintained Ils unbeaten record in New Zealand with a 71-49 win ever a Southland invitation side in Invercargill tonight. The Australians did not have a convincing win. In spite of a 22-polnt lead, and it was onlv in the latter stages that they asserted themselves.