Strong debut but Blazers lose opener
THE NBL Division One began with a defeat for Derby Trailblazers as they were beaten 87-79 away to Thames Valley Cavaliers.
The contest began to slip away from Derby in the second quarter and they had a 20-point gap to try to make up midway through the third.
Though the Trailblazers did hit back to cut the home side’s advantage to three points, time was against them and Thames Valley eased clear from the free throw line in the closing minutes.
“It was a tough start to the season and credit to Thames Valley because they came out of the traps ready, while we started poorly,” said head coach Matt Shaw.
“You can’t afford to give teams like them a 20-point start and they punished us for it.
“However, I was pleased with our second-half response. We battled hard and clawed our way back into the game and were in a chance of changing the result until the final minute.”
There was good and bad news for Derby ahead of the fixture.
Charlie Brown recovered from a hamstring injury to play for the first time this season and American guard Ryan Bruggeman finally had his visa application processed, allowing him to join up with his new team-mates.
However, Malcolm Smith missed a second game through illness and, against a physical side like Thames Valley, his absence was felt, with Blazers out-rebounded 42-32 and Thames Valley picking up 20 second-chance points.
Bruggeman went on to lead Derby with 24 points, off the back of 71.4% field shooting, to make it an impressive debut.
Acting captain Jonas Dieterich added 22 points.
Derby made a good start, racing to a 10-4 advantage after Dieterich buried a pair of threepoint shots, but Cavaliers were 26-21 up by the end of the opening period.
With Sol Rolls-Tyson and Raheem May-Thompson in early foul trouble, Thames Valley outscored the Blazers 13-4 to start the second period.
Having averaged 29.5 points per game in Derby’s opening L
Lynch Trophy games, it was clear Thames Valley were focused on stopping Rolls-Tyson. He was held to nine points in the first half and foul trouble restricted him to four minutes after the break before fouling out of the game.
By half-time, the Cavaliers were 52-36 ahead and their lead peaked at 68-48 midway through the third quarter.
But over the next 10 minutes Derby went on a 20-9 run which cut the gap to 77-70 and only three points separated the clubs with 50 seconds to go.
Thames Valley kept their nerve from the line and it was a decent shooting night for the Blazers, who converted 47.1% overall and 50% from beyond the arc.
Impressive as that was, their three-point success rate was bettered by the Cavaliers, who sank 58.8% of their long-range attempts, with Blayne Freckleton leading the way with five of seven.
The Trailblazers hope to have the influential Smith back when they return home on Saturday to face Team Solent Kestrels, who are looking for a fourth straight Division One league title.
The match at the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre is a 7pm tip-off.