WSN Basketball: Wasps Slay Dragons to Reclaim Fourth

Thanks to Dave Bushall and our friends at the Wasps, for providing match report and pictures.

Hull Wasps player-coach Matt Fawcett inspired his side to overcome a sluggish start, and put an end to Bradford Dragons seven-game winning streak with a 72-64 victory on Saturday evening.

In front of a packed crowd at the Bonus Arena the Wasps found it hard to get into the game and fell behind early on. Miles Anderson and a three pointer from Adrian Blatherwick opened up the scoring for the home side but the Dragons looked sharp and opened up a six point lead to close out the first quarter 21-15 ahead.

Matt Fawcett made some swift changes in the second period and the Wasps began to claw their way back into the game. With a full team rotation mid-way through the period, the Wasps managed to close the gap by three points and go in at the half 32-35 behind.

The third period saw a very even contest continue between the two sides, who were placed fourth and fifth in the league before the evening began. John Brignell led the line for the Wasps with some strong inside scoring. The Wasps' captain scored 12 of their 17 points to bring the home side to within one-point at the end of the period (49-50).

But an inspirational Matt Fawcett and ever commanding John Brignell, led the Wasps to a commanding final quarter performance to take control of the game. The Wasps outscored their opponents 23-14 in the period to cap an outstanding fight back and win 72-64.

Following the game, Fawcett said: "It was a great fight back from the team tonight. We played well in the second half particularly. I always felt we had the team to win but we didn't do ourselves any favours with the start we had. We've been in these situations before and our experience pulled us through this time.

"It's been a hard mental recovery this week for us. The defeat at Lions last week was a big psychological blow to us I think and to bounce back tonight in the manner we did, once again shows the character of our team. I'm very proud of my players tonight and we can go away next week to Burnley with our heads held high."

The Wasps are now back into fourth position in National League 4 North but sit four points behind third-place Middlesbrough. John Brignell led the scoring for the Wasps with 22 points. Fawcett, Rayner and Anderson all scored 12 points each.