The Winchester Wasps
After gaining promotion in their first season together by winning the Solent League division 3 title in 2008/09 with a 15-1 record the Wasps were then promoted to division 2 for the 2009/10 season, where they gained their second successive promotion. The 2010/11 season saw the Wasps become Winchester Citys first division 1 team finishing with a 6-8 record after an injury hit season.
The Wasps training times are:
- Thursdays 7pm - 9pm at Winchester College - Wykeham Sports Club
Home Games - Thursdays 8pm at River Park Leisure Centre
Solent League Div 1 table 11/12
http://www.solentbasketball.co.uk/League-Tables.aspx
| Team | Won | Lost | Ave F | Ave A | +/- | Pts |
| Bears | 7 | 2 | 66.3 | 60.4 | +82 | 23 |
| Smugglers | 7 | 1 | 77.4 | 62.0 | +123 | 22 |
| Kestrels | 6 | 1 | 84.3 | 64.0 | +142 | 19 |
| Isle of Wight | 4 | 4 | 69.5 | 68.9 | +5 | 16 |
| Soton Uni A | 3 | 6 | 64.4 | 75.2 | -97 | 15 |
| Stags | 1 | 7 | 63.0 | 79.4 | -131 | 10 |
| Wasps | 0
| 7
| 59.7 | 77.4 | -124 | 7 |
Wasp All time leading scorers to end of 2010-11 season
| Pos | Name | Team | Games Played | Points | Average |
| 1 | Jeff Sponagle | Wasps | 43 | 430 | 10.0 |
| 2 | Jon Neale | Wasps | 16 | 346 | 21.6 |
| 3 | Dave Sharpen | Wasps | 49 | 340 | 6.9 |
| 4 | Ryan Squires | Wasps | 39 | 304 | 7.8 |
| 5 | Jon Pickering | Wasps | 31 | 288 | 9.3 |
| 6 | Darren MacAskill | Wasps | 44 | 276 | 6.3 |
| 7 | Tom Smith | Wasps | 12 | 197 | 16.4 |
| 8 | Pascal Matthias | Wasps | 35 | 188 | 5.4 |
| 9 | Yaz El-Hakim | Wasps | 19 | 175 | 9.2 |
| 10 | Ian Hannah | Wasps | 17 | 164 | 9.6 |
| 11 | Steve Vaughan | Wasps | 46 | 155 | 3.4 |
| 12 | Mark Radford | Wasps | 25 | 148 | 5.9 |
| 13 | Isaac Paddington | Wasps | 20 | 111 | 5.6 |
| 14 | Dave Cooley | Wasps | 15 | 90 | 6.0 |
| 15 | Scott McMillan | Wasps | 14 | 51 | 3.6 |
| 16 | Adey Rochester | Wasps | 7 | 44 | 6.3 |
| 17 | Luke Dismore | Wasps | 3 | 27 | 9.0 |
| 18 | Louis Paddington | Wasps | 9 | 24 | 2.7 |
| 19 | Sam Smyth | Wasps | 10 | 23 | 2.3 |
| 20 | Jack Kendal | Wasps | 2 | 15 | 7.5 |
| 21 | Andy Reed | Wasps | 3 | 10 | 3.3 |
| 22 | Adam Gillies | Wasps | 1 | 8 | 8.0 |
| 23 | Sam Heppenstal | Wasps | 1 | 5 | 5.0 |
| 24 | Thom Attwood | Wasps | 1 | 4 | 4.0 |
| 25 | Rich Styants | Wasps | 7 | 3 | 0.4 |
| 26 | Pete Reed | Wasps | 7 | 2 | 0.3 |
| 27 | Stu Ibbs | Wasps | 1 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 28 | John Reid | Wasps | 2 | 0 | 0.0 |
2011/12 Reports
Armour Piercing Sting
The Winchester Wasps quicker and stronger big men were just too deadly around the basket for the plucky but outgunned Winchester Knights at the Wasps new home venue at Winchester College. The Wasps taking a comfortable 84-65 victory in the quarter final of the Solent Cup.
The Winchester University Knights who are flying high in Solent League division 4 came into this game looking for a Giant killing against their bottom of division 1 opposition. The Knights, who dubbed themselves ‘The Wasp Killers’, came out fired up and quickly moved into a 5-2 lead 3 minutes into the game as the Wasps took time to find their shooting range. The Wasps soon started to pick holes in the visitors defence and took the lead for good on a Ged Luksas basket 6 minutes into the first quarter. They then pulled away to a 23-14 first quarter lead.
Sean Gossett was the offence for the Knights in the second quarter scoring 14 of their 16 points on route to a game high 42 points. However the Wasps, marshalled by guard Liam Openshaw, played better team basketball and with Ryan Squires rediscovering his best form managed to extend the lead to 43-30 at the half.
Jon Neale scored 8 of the Wasps first 12 points in the 3rd quarter to keep the double digit lead. The reinitroduction of Luksas and Steve Vaughan spurred the Wasps into an 8-0 run forcing the Knights to call a time out to steady the nerves. This worked as they outscored the Wasps 4-2 to end the 3rd quarter 64-44 down.
The 4th quarter saw the Wasps extend the lead to 77-50, with 5 minutes remaining thanks to their running offence. He foot was taken off the gas whch allowed the Knights to pull the deficit back to 15 with 3 minutes remaining. Coach Styants called a time out to refocus the Wasps and they came back out and were more aggressive again offensively including a great baseline drive by Dave Sharpen to finish the game.
The Wasps are now awaiting next weeks Solent Cup semi final draw and will be hoping to take this form into their next league game against table toppers Solent Kestrels at Winchester College on 16th February (8pm tip)
Scorers – Wasps – Ged Luksas 31, Tom Smith 13, Ryan Squires 10, Jon Neale 10, Liam Openshaw 7, Steve Vaughan 4, Dave Sharpen 4, Grant Smith 2
Knights – Gossett 42, Gillies 10, White 6, Cameron 5, Wakefield 2, 5 others played but did not score
Wasps have no answer to Kestrels shooting
Kestrels couldn't miss at Quilley, including 6 threes in the 2nd quarter. The Wasps kept battling but were out gunned eventally going down 100-73.
Scorers & free throws - Liam Openshaw 15 6/8, Mike Sampson 14 4/6, Jon Neale 13 3/4, Grant Smith 10 5/7, Ian Hannah 7 1/1, Dave Sharpen 6 2/2, Tom Smith 4 2/2, Steve Vaughan 2, Mark Lewis 2 2/4.
Smugglers win with huge 3rd quarter
A 33-8 3rd quarter saw the Smugglers take this one against the Wasps 87-59 in Portsmouth.
Scorers & Free throws: Tom Smith 24 5/6, Liam Openshaw 6 1/2, Jon Pickering 5 2/2, Mark Lewis 5 1/2, Jon Neale 5 1/4, Grant Smith 5 1/1, Ryan Squires 4 2/6, Steve Vaughan 3, Dave Sharpen 2 2/2
Wasps free throw it away on the Island
The Wasps had chances but too many sloppy plays and bad passes against the IOW's full contact, trapping defence told in the end as the Wasps lost their 5th straight game to open up the season 56-55.
Scorers: Jon Neale 16, Liam Openshaw 15 (1/1), Tom Smith 12 (2/2), Ryan Squires 4 (2/4), Jon Pickering 3 (0/2), Mike Sampson 2, Dave Cooley 1 (1/2). Free Throws 6/11.
Wasps beaten by Bears
The top of the table Bournemouth Bears managed to hold on to beat the Wasps 67-61 in Bournemouth.
Scorers: Liam Openshaw 19 (Free thows 0/2), Ged Luksas 19 (9/10), Jon Neale 13 (1/4), Dave Cooley 5 (1/3) Darren MacAskill 2, Ryan Squires 2, Mark Lewis 1 (1/2), Steve Vaughan and Mark Radford DNS. Free Throws 12/21.
Wasps out lasted by Smugglers
The Wasps put up a good fight against the reigning division 1 champions the Portsmouth Smugglers eventually going down 69-60 due in a large part to the Smugglers superior fittness levels. Report to follow.
Scorers: Jon Neale 23, Liam Openshaw 18, Dave Cooley 12, Darren MacAskill 5, Eddie Owusu 2, also played - Steve Vaughan, Dave Sharpen, Ryan Squires & Mark Lewis. Free Throws 4/9 - Liam 2/2, Jon 1/1, Darren 1/2 & Dave Cooley 0/4.
Wasps Lose to the Sharks
Without leading scorer, Jon Neale, Wasps showed signs of improvement in this game however turnovers were too high as were missed calls and technical fouls also Yaz going down with a sprained ankle in the first half didn't help as the Wasps slumped to a 56-64 defeat.
Positives included the return to form of Tom Smith who ended the game on 15 points, Liam Openshaws 18 points despite the heavy handed guarding by the Sharks.
Scorers: Liam Openshaw 18 points, Tom Smith 15, Mike Sampson 7, Mark Lewis 5, Steve Vaughan 4, Darren MacAskill 3, Dave Cooley 2, Ryan Squires 2. Also played Isaac Paddington, Mark Radford, Yaz El-Hakim, Adey Rochester. Free Throws 8/16 - Smith 4/10, Openshaw 3/4, Sampson 1/2
Wasps ripped apart
The Wasps never really got going away to the Kestrels. They couldn't get any of the basics right, coupled with the Kestrels shooting the lights out the Wasps went down to their heaviest ever defeat by 99-54 at Quilley
Scorers: Jon Neale 17, Liam Openshaw 15, Yaz El-Hakim 6, Mark Radford 6, Tom Smith 5, Isaac Paddington 2, Dave Cooley 2, Steve Vaughan, Dave Sharpen, Darren MacAskill and Mark Lewis didn't score.
Solent League Div 1 final table 10/11
| Team | Won | Lost | Ave F | Ave A | +/- | Pts |
| Smugglers | 12 | 2 | 88.6 | 73.2 | 215 | 38 |
| Kestrels | 12 | 2 | 74.5 | 63.9 | 149 | 38 |
| Stags | 8 | 6 | 73.5 | 64.1 | 132 | 30 |
| Bears | 7 | 7 | 61.9 | 58.9 | 43 | 28 |
| Soton Uni A | 7 | 7 | 72.9 | 74.4 | -21 | 27* |
| Wasps | 6 | 8 | 63.4 | 67.9 | -62 | 26 |
| Bandits | 2 | 12 | 55.5 | 72.1 | -233 | 16* |
| Fury | 2 | 12 | 46.3 | 62.2 | -223 | 15* |
2010/11 Game reports
Last Second Wasps sting the Bears
The Winchester Wasps coach/superstar, Rich Styants, hit a jump shot with 1 second on the clock to win a tense encounter against the Bournemouth Bears at Kings school.
The Wasps only had 6 players available for the Solent League division 1 match against their top 4 opponent, meaning that coach Styants kitted up incase 2 Wasps fouled out. With 22 seconds on the clock this happend meaning the Wasps coach had to enter the game with the scores tied at 56-56. The ball found its way to Styants at the high post with 3 seconds on the clock, he took one dribble into the key and put up a jump shot that went in with 1 second of the game remaining to give the Wasps their first win after 6 straight league losses.
The Bears came out firing first putting themselves 8-16 in front 8 minutes into the first quarter. A 3 by Jon Pickering and 2 free throws by Tom Smith pulled the Wasps back to trail 13-16 after 1 quarter
Tom Smith and Ryan Squires took over the scoring burden for the Wasps in the second quarter scoring 12 of the teams 14 points between them. The Wasps took a 27-24 lead on a Tom Smith drive with 2 minutes remaining in the half before being outscored 6-0 to end the half and go into the break 27-30 down.
The Wasps held the edge in a low scoring 3rd quarter ending the quarter 38-37 in front thanks to some good play by Adey Rochester under the basket at both ends of the court and good defensive work from Dave Sharpen.
Four minutes into the final quarter the Wasps took a 7 point lead at 50-43 after 3 straight baskets from Luke Dismore, Rochester and Smith. Over the next 6 minutes the Wasps were outscored 11-5 to just lead by 1 when Dave Sharpen committed his 5th foul and had to leave the game. Ryan Squires was fouled in the act of shooting and hit 1 out of 2 from the foul line to put the Wasps 56-54 in front with 40 seconds to play. Squires then committed his 5th foul meaning that Styants had to come into the game. Bournemouths Lacey scored off an offensive rebound from a missed free throw to tie the score at 56-56 with 20 seconds remaining.
After the coaches heroics, Bournemouth called a timeout and still had time to get off a 3 point attempt which missed everything giving Wasps the victory that ensures division 1 basketball in Winchester again next season.
The Wasps play their final game of the season on Thursday 28th April, 8pm at Kings school.
Scorers: Tom Smith 22, Ryan Squires 9, Jon Pickering 8, Luke Dismore 7, Adey Rochester 6, Dave Sharpen 4, Rich Styants 2.
The Wasps lost out in the Cup away to Southampton University
The Wasps lost against Southampton University for the second week in a row going down 62-57 and exiting the Solent Cup. The Wasps gave up too many rebounds and turned the ball over more often than usual.
Tom Smith was the most constant offensive threat for the Wasps scoring 21 points, he was supported by Jon Neales 15 points. But it wasn't enough to take the Wasps through.
Scorers: Tom Smith 21, Jon Neale 17, Jeff Sponagle 9, Isaac Paddington 4, Darren MacAskill 4, Jon Pickering 2. Free Throws - 16/26
Sharks beat the Wasps
The Wasps went to Southampton Uni hoping to go 5-4 in the Solent League division 1. The game didn't tip till 8.50pm only giving it 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete before the Sports centre shut, which in some respects made it lucky that more violations were not called by the referees.
It was difficult to believe that only 1 foul could be called against the Sharks in the final quarter considering the Wasps went to the basket on nearly every possession and obviously drew contact on most drives, where as the Sharks went to the line 12 times in the final quarter.
I won't share my oppinion as its not worth it due to the fact that I still don't know the rules apparantly. Anyone else know that you can get a continuation while you are still dribbling the ball?
The Wasps fought back after slow starts to each of the quarters to take their first lead at 57-58 on a Jon Pickering drive with 5 minutes to play. They could not hold the lead though and from 64-62 down were outscored 7-0 to finish the game, 5 of the 7 came from the foul line.
Scorers: Jon Neale 23, Jon Pickering 15, Ryan Squires 11, Isaac Paddington 6, Tom Smith 5, Darren MacAskill 2. FREE THROWS 11/17 64.7% (Sharks 19/31).
Wasps 53-52 Jersey
Next it was the Winchester Wasps turn against the Jersey team, who were using the weekends games as part of their preparation for the upcoming Island games.
Jersey jumped out to an early lead as their quick guards and 2 big men surprised the wasps. A Chris Nutter 3 pointer took Jersey into a 9-21 lead 8 minutes into the game. The Wasps called a time out which paid off straight away as Dave Sharpen and Alan Mcdonald scored to cut the lead to 14-21 at the end of the 1st quarter.
The second quarter was a low scoring affair as both sides struggled offensively. At half time Jersey lead 23-30.
Jersey came out running in the 3rd and built a 26-39 lead half way through the quarter. A time out was called by the Wasps and the defence switched from a man to man defence to a zone. The zone worked as it stifled the Jersey big men and the Wasps guards were quick enough to jump out at the outside shots. Al McDonald hit 2 more 3s and Dave Sharpen hit one as the Wasps outscored Jersey 13-7 to end the quarter trailing 39-46.
The Wasps pressuring zone held firm in the 4th restricting Jersey to just 6 points in the quarter. The Wasps took their first lead of the game with 1.20 remaining on a free throw by Ian Hannah, who, like Adey Rochester and Steve Vaughan, was playing his second game in a row. Another Wasps steal lead to Alan McDonald being fouled. He hit both free throws with 30 seconds remaining to put the Wasps up 53-50. Jersey big man Bob Gouzinis scored with 14 seconds remaining but Jersey could not get the ball back from the Wasps who held on for a hard fought 53-52 win.
Scorers: Alan McDonald 22, Ian Hannah 11, Dave Sharpen 8, Adey Rochester 6, Barry Fitzgerald 4, Mark Lewis 2
Wasps beaten by Smugglers
The Winchester Wasps went to Portsmouth with a depleted but determined team. Having lost a close fought game at home to the Smugglers at the start of the season the Wasps wanted to redress the balance.
Portsmouths Louie Kirkman and Craig Dawson scored all but 2 of the Smugglers 1st quarter points as the home team were able to establish an 18-13 1st quarter lead. The Wasps kept up their full court man to man defence in the 2nd quarter causing the home team lots of problems, but Portsmouths outside shooting kept them in front and help them extend their lead to 35-28 at half time.
The 3rd quarter proved to be decisive quarter as the Wasps took 7 minutes to register their first basket of the second half, by which time the Smugglers had scored 15 unanswered. The score at the end of the 3rd was 57-34 to the Smugglers.
The Wasps kept fighting till the end and started penetrating the Smugglers 1-3-1 zone more regularly, but whenever it looked like the Wasps might make a run Dawson popped up with some big baskets. The Wasps eventually went down 76-53.
All the Wasps got on the score sheet played great defence but they lacked a real go to player especially in that 3rd quarter. They also only had 3 foul shots in the game (hit 1 of 3) despite taking the ball inside regularly. The Wasps did beat the Smugglers on one stat - fouls, Wasps were called for 15 to the Smugglers 3 (thats right, only three fouls in the whole game)!!! Portsmouths players must have been playing great defence or no defence at all!!!
Scorers: Darren MacAskill 10, Jon Pickering 10, Ryan Squires 8, Dave Sharpen 7, Steve Vaughan 6, Isaac Paddington 6, Adey Rochester 4, Jeff Sponagle 2
Team work wins through for the Wasps
The Winchester Wasps moved to within 1 win of the Portsmouth City Smugglers and Solent Kestrels at the top of Solent League division 1 with a crushing 72-102 win away to the Portsmouth Fury.
The Wasps, who could only muster 6 fit players for the game, gave a debut to Adey Rochester, who has impressed for the Wizards and Kings this season. The 6-7’ centre entered the game in the 8th minute of the first quarter and immediately blocked a Fury shot and scored 4 points in an 8-2 run to end the quarter putting the Wasps up 22-19 after 1.
A 17-2 start to the second quarter put the Wasps up 39-21 against their experienced opponents. All 7 members of the team played well for each other and never let the Fury come back into the game, Isaac Paddington was the main man offensively in the quarter scoring 9 of his 14 points. At the half the Wasps held a 48-33 lead.
With the 2 big men Tom Smith and Adey drawing the defence to them there was plenty of space for the rest of the team to take advantage of. Steve Vaughan, Jon Pickering and Darren MacAskill made the most of their opportunities helping the Wasps pull away to a 79-48 at the end of the 3rd.
With the game won the 7 Wasps went into cruise control in the final quarter. The Fury pulled back to within 24 at one stage but that just sparked an 8-0 Wasps run that killed the game off.
Rich came on for the final 22 seconds and was scored on by a 10 year old!
Scorers: Tom Smith 24, Adrian Rochester 22, Jon Pickering 18, Isaac Paddington 14, Darren MacAskill 11, Steve Vaughan 10, Dave Sharpen 4
Bandits panicked by Wasp attacks
The Winchester Wasps used a 21-6 run in the final 7 minutes of the 2nd quarter to take them to victory over the Weymouth Bandits at Kings school sports hall, moving the Wasps to 3rd place in the Solent League division 1.
Baskets were traded for the 1st 3 minutes of the second quarter, before the Wasps went on that impressive 21-6 run. Tom Smith worked effectively inside and Dave Sharpen, who had his most productive game of the season, scored 9 of his 15 points during the run that put the Wasps up 50-34 at the half.
The fourth quarter started with the Wasps up 62-46, this was soon reduced to 8 points as Weymouth found their shooting touch again. Weymouth called a time out to switch their defence with the scores at 64-56 to the Wasps. The ploy backfired as the Wasps were simply too quick for the Weymouth players as Pickering, Darren MacAskill and Sharpen scored in a 9-0 Wasps run that effectively sealed the game with 4 minutes to play. The Wasps eventually ran out 76-65 winners.
Scorers – Jon Neale 18, Jon Pickering 16, Dave Sharpen 15, Tom Smith 10, Darren MacAskill 9, Jeff Sponagle 4, Ryan Squires 4 FREE THROWS 9/18
Wasps shoot down the Stags
The Wasps recovered from a bad start to out shoot the Waterside Stags 93-86 in a game that saw a total of 22 made 3 point shots (12 for the Wasps 10 for the Stags) including 7 out of 8 from Wasps point guard Mark Radford.
The Stags started the game the brightest jumping out to an 8-0 lead 2 minutes into game. The Wasps managed to come back to trail 28-25 at the end of the 1st thanks to some great mid range shooting from Jon Neale and two 3 pointers by Mark Radford.
The Stags came out strong at the start of the 2nd quarter forging into a 41-28 lead thanks to some great long range shooting from Alan McDonald. A time out from the Wasps did the trick as Mark Radford and Thom Smith made some big baskets enabling the Wasps to pull level at the half, 47-47.
The 3rd quarter was all the Wasps as Jon Neale and Mark Radford kept hitting their shots from the outside and Jeff Sponagle, Isaac paddington and Thom Smith took the ball inside. The Wasps managed to forge into a 70-61 to end the 3rd.
The Stags rallied in the 4th pulling the lead back to 6 on an Alan McDonald 3 pointer, this was immediately answered by 3 consecutive Wasps 3 pointers by Radford, Jon Pickering and Dave Sharpen, which gave the Wasps their biggest lead of 15 points with 4 minutes to play at 87-72.
McDonald displayed his never say die approach dragging the Stags back into the game. The Wasps called a time out with the scores at 89-83 and 1 minute remaining. The message from the time out was to relax and make the easy passes against the desperate Stags press, which the Wasps did, drawing fouls and hitting their free throws.
Five Wasps scored in double figures in a great all round team effort.
Scorers – Jon Neale 26, Mark Radford 22, Tom Smith 14, Jeff Sponagle 12, Jon Pickering 10, Isaac Paddington 4, Dave Sharpen 3, Darren MacAskill 2. Free Throws 19/31.
Wasps have a sting in their tail
The Winchester Wasps learnt from last weeks disappointing game conclusion, by outscoring the Solent Kestrels 14-2 in the final 3 minutes and pull out a 68-61upset victory against last seasons Solent league division 1 runners up.
The Wasps struggled at the start to cope with the speed of the Kestrels 3 National League guards, finding themselves 7-17 down 7 minutes into the 1st quarter. After a time out the Wasps started to move the ball inside to Jon Neale and Darren MacAskill who scored and drew fouls against the Kestrels big men.
Trailing 15-20 at the start of the 2nd quarter Dave Sharpen started taking the ball aggressively to the Kestrels basket and with Ryan Squires working well inside the Wasps took the lead at 26-24. The Wasps then switched up their defence following a Kestrels time out stifling their long range shooters which helped the Wasps pull to a 36-30 half time lead.
The 4th quarter was dominated by the Kestrels with the Teesdale brothers taking over the game, driving the ball to the hoop and getting the Wasps into foul trouble. The quarter ended with the Kestrels leading 47-50.
The Teesdales scored the next 9 Kestrels points between them as they increased the Kestrels lead to 54-59 with 4 minutes of the game remaining. The turning point came when a technical foul was called against a Kestrels player for arguing a call. Jon Pickering stepped up to the free throw line and hit both free throws to start a 10-0 Wasps run which was capped by Jack Kendall and Mark Radford hitting 3s to put the Wasps up 64-59.
Despite new signing Jack Kendall fouling out, the Wasps kept their composure as the Kestrels pressed to get the ball back. The press left big holes at the back which were expertly exploited leading to Jeff Sponagle and Jon Neale getting easy points on route to a fantastic win against the previously unbeaten Solent side.
Scorers – Jon Neale 15, Jeff Sponagle 14, Jack Kendall 9, Darren MacAskill 7, Dave Sharpen 7, Jon Pickering 6, Mark Radford 6, Ryan Squires 4.
Smugglers steal one!
The Wasps suffered a defeat in the clubs first ever Solent League division 1 game. Portsmouth Smugglers came to Kings school with a high quality side featuring many of their current and former National League players.
Going into the game Portsmouth were heavy favourites having gone undeafeted in division 1 last season on route to the league title. Portsmouth started out very confidently coming through the first quarter with a 17-11 lead. The Wasps struggled for half court offence against the 1-3-1 zone employed by the Smugglers.
The Wasps were soon 21-33 down in the 2nd quarter. but after a Portsmouth time out the Wasps adjusted their offence and increased their defensive intensity going on a 14-4 run to finish the half down 35-37. Tom Smith scored 7 points in this run with some nice inside moves and he showed his touch from long range as well.
The Smugglers didn't fold under the pressure and with Kirkman, who finished the game with 37 points, proving a constant iritent to the Wasps defence, were able to build a 55-49 lead with 1 minute to play. A Tom Smith and one play followed by a Mark Radford 3 pointer leveled the scores going into the 4th quarter at 55-55.
The teams traded baskets for the first 5 minutes of the 4th quarter. Jeff Sponagle scored 13 points in the final quarter to keep the Wasps on level terms. With the scores tied at 73-73 the Wasps managed to find Jon Neale for 2 well taken jump shots pushing the Wasps in front at 77-73 with 3 minutes remaining in the game. Alex Byrne made a 3 pointer to pull the Smugglers back to within 1 point. The Wasps had opportunities to increase the lead with open shots and 4 free throws but could not score. Kirkman made a tough basket to put the Smugglers up by 1 with 45 seconds on the clock. With both teams missing opportunities again, the clock was no longer on the Wasps side.
A time out was called by the Wasps with 5 seconds remaining and the Smugglers having the next possession of the basketball. The instructions were to try and strip the ball on the inbounds or send the Smugglers to the line. Although Jeff and Mark Radford seemed to be fouling Kirkman no call was made, the foul was then made harder than first intended and an unsportsmanlike foul was called. This provoked and angry reaction from the Portsmouth player which went unnoticed by the referees. The referees then gave a technical foul to the Wasps bench. This meant that with 2 seconds remaining the Smugglers went to the line for 4 free throws and then possession. They hit 3/4 and held onto the ball to escape with the victory by 77-81.
Scorers - Tom Smith 22, Jeff Sponagle 21, Jon Neale 13, Jon Pickering 5, Mark Radford 5, Ryan Squires 4, Dave Sharpen 3, Steve Vaughan 2, Darren MacAskill 2. FREE THROWS 11/26!!!
