University takes lead in contest

Press, 14 May 1979, Page 19

University takes lead in contest

Basketbail

Not even the most optimistic I ’’.ns of the Pacific University i supporters could have predicted massive. one-sided defeat in-1 Hit led by the side on the nation*. club champion, Jaks-i H. 50.8 .. when the men s first division basketban competition! continued on Saturday. The fact that Old Boys was] beaten was not in itself ao sur-p:i.-.ing The team has yet to I .. k this reason — Checkers! efeat cd Old Boys in an earlier round, and it has looked far: ♦ rom convincing against much! weaker opposition so far. But the ferocity of the drubbing on Sat-j urdav must be causing heartburn' in ihe c ub champion’s camp. University's win propels the! team to the outfight leadership, t the competition, with 10 points from five consecutive vic!*he major question now J remaining unresolved is by how much the team will take the; title, for it has not looked like' being beaten so far. As well, University will be cons dered a threat in the national! ub championships in Christ-i church next month. If it can; brush aside Old Boys with such, ease, it should have little trouble! with >ome of the more highly-1 rated North Island sides. University’s victory was not exciting from the spectator view! point. After only five minutes of I the first spell, it became bvious i

i‘that Old Boys was heading for ’.*3, second defeat of the season. 1 . the interest centred aroundl ■by just how much Old Bovsl -."■ouid lose, as the tight Univer-< jsity defence prevented lav-upsh ■| and pressured the side into Loose ii passing. J University did not play fault-1 >I less basketball by any means, but! - was simply too good on the'dav. > I Both sides were without their H New Zealand representatives. r j They were in Auckland for final " training before the international 1 tomorrow night. ? Y.M.C.A.. a somewhat controversial Selection for the nat1 jonal club champion-ships, will have to do better than it did on ;■ Saturday if it is to have any >1 chance in June. ). The spirited Aranui Old Boys! I team held Y.M.C.A. to a single point at half time, but faded in - the second spell to go down 60- ‘ The third game, between Mairehau and Burnside, was a rather surprisingly one-sided affair. I Burnside had impressed in re■icent games and was expected to II give the national club contender 1 i. a tussle, but the score of 83-53 to !• Mairehau was a fair representation of the match. - I Matt Ruscoe. the burly Un- . versity player, won five points ] ; in the Guthrey Travel “player of 1 • the day competition” for his splendid defensive play and fine ;

shooting, which netted for him 12 points Murray Turner picked up three: points for his telling break in the} opening minutes of the second] spell w'hen he almost single-hand-; edly pulled Y.M.C.A. clear of Aranui. His contribution to the cause was probably the turning point in that game. One point went to Mairehau’s tall centre. Mike Stokes. His height under the boards made him one of t he outstanding rebounders of the game, and he; made a valuable contribution of: 12 points. Points after Saturday's games? are: University 10. Checkers 6.; Mairehau 6. Y.M.C.A. 6, Jaks-j H. 5.0.8. 4, Aranui 2, Burnside 0. 1 University 65, (C. Stent 12, M.' Ruscoe 12, A. Munro 10. P. Logan] 8. M. McLeod 7. B. Bishop 6. J.' Caldwell 6. R. Ruwhiu 4). Jaks-. H. 5.0.8. 41 (A. Manco 12, B. Teitchied 10, D. Barry 7. J. Wright 6 3 M. Searle 4. T. Guthrie 2i. University seized the game by the scruff of the neck from the first minute, and after eight minutes had burst into a virtually unassailable 12-2 lead. Old Boys could not get going, whereas University dropped straight into a rhythm that established its momentum and kept it going throughout the contest.

Old Boys tried to stage revivals at different times through the

\ first spell — Dennis Barry not- , ched three consecutive baskets l at one stage to pull Jaks back I from 14-2 to 14-8 — but they jw r ere invariably short-lived. Old Boy s could not get in close to the basket to make shots count because the University defence was too tight. The Jaks shooters were forced to commit themselves from beyond the key- ; hole and the tall Peter Logan was in like a flash for University; to snap up the rebounds as the .shots missed. University, on the other hand, ■looked sure and confident. Mike I McLeod, the diminutive Univer-' isity utility, and the mercurial! ; Bob Ruwhiu would bring the ball! jup to just outside the Old Boys! key and dictate play from there.! 1 Snappy passing and aggression in the layup paid dividends as University continued to pile on points. Unhappily for Old Boys, Teit-i chied missed an incredible num-; ber of shots, and his attempts at tip-in from the rebound often] missed too. The other establishedi shooters failed as well, while ■ University was able to score in] depth. University enjoyed a half-time] lead of 19 points, and piled the] pressure on throughout the sec-: ond spell to finish w’ith a re-; spectable 24-point margin over Old Boys. Any threatened revival

by Jaks in the second half wasj quickly stifled, and it was a dispirited Jaks team that trooped 1 off the court at the end. Y.M.C.A. 72 (J. Bosch 28, M. Turner 16. T. Neumann 8, T. McFarlin 8, P. Kuipers 6. C. Dobbs 3. C. Green 3), Aranui 60 : (B. Knops 20, A. Campbell 12, R. ! Atchison 11, A. Atchison 11, P. . Hill 3, T. Costain 2, N. Costain 1). ! Aranui refused to concede : defeat against an opponent that 1 was expected to do considerably better than it did, and Y.M.C.A. ] must have been a little appre- f ihensive at the end of the first . ! half, only one point in front. j But Murray Turner came alive in the opening minutes of the second spell, and his burst of 1 scoring regained for Y.M.C.A. a I composure that had been lacking 1 in the latter stages of the first' 1 half. Aranui pulled back to 52-5811 after 15 minutes of the spell, >< but Y.M.C.A eased clear again to ( win the match. j

f John Bosch had another outstanding game for Y.M.C.A. He shook off his marker time and again used his height to good effect under both boards to notch 28 points for the match. Mairehau 83 (K. Currie 20. M. Seaward 12. M. Stokes 12, J. Pickles 12, G. Phillips 10. B. Hail 6. P. Kearney 6, P. Van Hout 6). Burnside 53 tB. Cummack 21. A. Robson 12, G. Bain .8, R. Lee 7, J. London 3. B. Fifield 2i. Only the good work of the Burnside captain, Bren Cummack (21), and Al Robson (12), kept lhe scoreline respectable from Burnside’s point of view. The smaller Burnside players were never able to take the game to Mairehau. who are reaping the benefits this season of a taller line-up than in the past. : Kelvin Currie. John Pickles. 1 Mike Stokes and Mike Seaward • all stood out for Mairehau. while 'Cummack and Robson were the pick of the Burnside team.