Magic Seize Table Lead After Weekend Win
 Manchester
Magic took the initiative at the top of Division One with
a 95-69 home hammering of title rivals Worthing Thunder. Magic’s
victory effectively ends Thunder’s defence of the title
they have won in each of the last two seasons, and comes a
week after they were beaten in the National Trophy final at
the same venue.
After last week's performance where they struggled to score
against Derby Trailblazers, Magic had no problem finding the
basket against Worthing as they scored 51 points in the first
half en route to a 26 point margin of victory.
Steve Gayle returned to the Magic starting lineup after missing
two games and he had no trouble finding his rhythm getting
off to a hot start scoring nine points in the first quarter
as the Magic took an early 19-16 lead.
Worthing’s main offensive threat came from American
forward Cleve Woodfork, who used his inside presence to dominate
the paint early on and scored eight first quarter points,
but he received little help throughout the game as the rest
of the Thunder only made 18 of 51 shots from the field and
struggled to get anything going offensively.
While the Thunder continued to miss shots the Magic were red
hot from downtown converting eight of their 16 attempts with
Patrick Dwyer leading the way, connecting on four of seven
treys to add to his seven rebounds and six assists.
Stefan Gill once again provided an enormous spark off the
bench with 14 points and 3 steals in the contest. His steal
and baseline jumper at the end of the 3rd quarter gave the
Magic a 17 point lead going into the final stanza and virtually
put the game beyond Worthing. Taner Adu also performed well
scoring an efficient 10 points converting 4 of his 6 shots
from the field.
As the game wore on the Thunder were noticeably tired and
the Magic capitalised on the visitors fatigue, with centre
Steve Boonham being the main beneficiary scoring 8 of his
16 points in the 4th quarter with an array of close range
moves including a fierce two handed dunk off a nice feed from
Gill putting the Magic up 93-64 with 2 minutes to play.
Gayle finished with 22 points, while Steve Boonham and Dwyer
each scored 16. Woodfork finished with 20, while Demetrius
Scott added 15 and Danny Hildreth nine.
Magic’s title rivals now appear to be Trophy champions
Reading Rockets who strolled to their eighth straight league
win with a 106-75 home win over Taunton.
David Watts led the scoring with 21 for the Rockets, and he
opened the scoring for Dave Titmuss’ team, with Richard
Wellings sinking the first of his four three pointers in a
sixteen personal points tally. Andy Harper and Watts also
scored from outside the arc as the Rockets' power play gave
them a double digit lead at 25-15 which Taunton closed to
seven as the first interval beckoned.
Wellings was on fire as the second quarter began, hitting
a pair of superb threes and leading the way on the defensive
boards as Rockets went on a 16-3 run in a sparking four minute
period where Taunton were restricted to just one scoring shot.
Danny Carter had a magnificent one handed dunk while 'Tintin'
Watts and Dan McKay added to Taunton's woe by hitting two
more three pointers as Rockets stormed to a 21 point half-time
lead at 62-41.
The third quarter was peppered with fouls as both teams found
themselves at the foul throw line disrupting the flowing basketball
of the earlier periods. The impact was a disjointed low scoring
quarter with Rockets still edging it 19-15 and extending their
commanding lead to 81-56.
Taunton really fought like Tigers earning the respect of their
travelling fans and Rockets supporters and matched Rockets
with 70% success rate at the free throw line, but Rockets'
pressure defence was outstanding at times.
With Dan McKay continuing to impress in his point guard role
where he drives determinedly to the basket, drawing fouls
and scoring. Rockets maintained a comfortable 23 to 28 point
lead throughout the final quarter as six Rockets players racked
up double points and Danny Carter and Tom Sadler led all players
with eight and seven rebounds respectively. Rockets rounded
off their triumphant home coming with a resounding victory
including 6 points from young Jason Sayers as he helped them
through the 100 point barrier.
Harper finished with consecutive threes from way downtown
as he amassed 19 points, second only to Watts.
Richard Anderson (17), Joe Andrews (14) and Paul Yabsley (13)
led the Tigers.
Team Wins Losses Void % For Against Pts Diff. Points
Manchester Magic 13 1 0 .929 1279 1004 275 26
Worthing Thunder 12 3 0 .800 1322 1196 126 24
Reading Rockets 11 2 0 .846 1161 867 294 22
London Leopards 9 6 0 .600 1270 1253 17 18
Bristol Academy Flyers 8 7 0 .533 1275 1268 7 16
Sheffield Arrows 8 8 0 .500 1179 1246 -67 16
Derby Trailblazers 6 9 0 .400 1206 1199 7 12
Coventry Crusaders 4 11 0 .267 1172 1222 -50 8
Taunton Tigers 4 12 0 .250 1220 1400 -180 8
College of West Anglia Fury 0 16 0 .000 1002 1431 -429 0
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