9th Sept, 2007 Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 77 - 83 Guildford Heat

Game details:-

Venue: Plymouth Pavilions

Competition:- BBL Cup Winners' Cup

Quarterscores:-13-20, 29-43, 53-60, 77-83

Overtime periods:- None

Final result:- 77-83

Top Scorers:

Raiders: D.Beasley 23, G.Moore 15, D.Lasker 12

Heat: B.Dux 17, M.Martin, T.Dorsey 13

 Match Report

Cup Winners' Cup - First Leg 

After the first-leg of the Cup Winners' Cup the advantage is with the Guildford Heat after an 83-77 victory for the BBL Champions at the Plymouth Pavilions on Sunday. The return leg is Saturday 15 September at The Spectrum, with the winner being decided by aggregate score.

Last year's BBL MVP Brian Dux paced the winners with 17 points, matched by his captain Mike Martin. DeAntoine Beasley led all scorers with 23 points for the Raiders.

The teams traded baskets in the early exchanges until the Heat opened the game up with an 8-0 burst. That set the tone for the first-half as they took an 11-4 lead which they maintained through to 20-13 after the opening ten minutes.

They stretched the lead early in the second period with an 11-5 start that was followed soon afterwards by an 8-2 burst as the lead peaked at 40-22. The Raiders finished the half strongly with a 7-1 response, but the Heat scored the last bucket and led 29-43 at the interval.

In front of their home fans, the Raiders came storming back in the third stanza as consecutive triples from Gaylon Moore and DeAntoine Beasley narrowed the deficit to three points at 53-56 before the Heat notched the last two baskets to maintain their edge at 53-60.

The Raiders completed a commendable comeback with 9 unanswered points to open the fourth quarter to give them a 62-60 lead. There were six lead changes in the ensuing minutes and the teams were knotted at 75 before the Heat's big men took charge. A basket from Mike Martin gave the visitors the decisive lead at 75-77 before two baskets from new signing Tony Dorsey and one from Carlton Aaron, a former Raider, finished the game off.

The Raiders will now have to overturn a six-point deficit at The Spectrum in order to raise the Cup Winners’ Cup, it is however a venue in which they have never won.

vs.

Mike Martin with the BBL Cup - it was their win in this tournament that made the Heat eligible for the BBL Cup Winners' Cup.