MK Breakers Men secured their place in the BCB Trophy quarterfinals after a weekend of mixed results that saw them lose to Hemel Storm before bouncing back with a big win over Bristol Hurricanes.
Action got underway on Saturday at Hemel Leisure Centre, with Breakers holding a 13-point lead at half time. That would be overhauled however, Hemel fighting their way back into the game behind 21 points from Matt Norman and an 11-point, 17-rebound performance from Darien Nelson-Henry.
Breakers got good individual contributions from Jordan Spencer (33 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds) and Chris Tawiah (13 rebounds, 6 assists) but ultimately found themselves on the wrong end of a 89-82 final score.
That left Breakers needing a big win against Bristol on Sunday, and in front of a loud Bletchley Leisure Centre crowd they jumped out to an early lead thanks to good play from their starters.
Jonas Dietrich, Chris Tawiah and Mike New Jr all had excellent first quarters at both ends, helping the home side establish a 21-11 advantage that they never relinquished. The game would become testy throughout, Vilmantas Dilys ejected and a number of technical fouls called on both teams.
That seemed to bring the best out of Jordan Spencer, who also brought the crowd into the game as he made some big shots on his way to a team high 17 points to go with 4 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals.
Having watched his team eventually run out 92-63 winners, Coach Ben Stanley was delighted to survive and advance. “It was a very tough weekend against two talented teams,” he said, “we’re happy to be able to progress in the Trophy.
“We’ve been very up and down as a group, and I think that was evident on Saturday where we played well in the first half but didn’t respond the right way in the fourth quarter. We were much more consistent on Sunday, and hopefully we can build on that moving forwards.”
Their next opportunity will be a rematch of last season’s Trophy final, with a Quarter-Final matchup away at Reading Rockets, which will tip off at 17:00. Tickets for that game at Loddon Valley are available here.