Smith leads Derby to Trophy with an outstanding display
CAPTAIN Malcolm Smith stepped up with a brilliant all-round performance as Derby Trailblazers beat Team Newcastle University 86-71 to win the L Lynch Trophy final at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.
Smith poured in 30 points and hauled down 18 rebounds to take the Most Valuable Player award but Raheem May-Thompson’s defensive job on Newcastle’s big scoring Ronald Blain, who was kept to 15 points, was also a massive factor and May-Thompson also added 19 points.
Eventually, Blain fouled out with a technical foul with three and a half minutes left after Newcastle had cut Derby’s lead from 13 points to six.
When Ryan Bruggeman converted the free throw and he and May-Thompson followed it up with a three-pointer each, Newcastle’s resistance was done.
“It feels awesome to win the trophy and I’m really pleased for everyone associated with the club, from the volunteers to all the different coaches,” said head coach Matt Shaw.
“One of the great things about this win is the number of players that have come through the club’s junior programme and this win is for all the different people who’ve been involved in their development.
“It’s a win the whole club should be proud of.
“Collectively, we did a great job on defence, just as we did in the quarter-final and semi-final.
“I think it’s our defence that’s got us over the line in all three games. We’ve got so many players who are capable of scoring but we’ve got to get stops and we felt if we could hold them under 80 points, then we had a good chance of winning.
“It was no surprise to see Malcolm picking up the MVP. Anyone who knows him and has seen him play over the last five seasons will know he’s a big-time player, will know what a great character he is and will know how much big games mean to him.
“His numbers were phenomenal, particularly his rebounding. To pull down 18 boards in a final when he averages fewer than eight a game was just next level.”
Newcastle enjoyed the lead only in the first quarter, first when Brandon Federici scored the first points, then when eight straight points gave them a 15-12 lead.
Derby responded with a Blake Bowman triple to start a 13-0 burst which saw them end the first quarter 24-16 up and extend that to 29-16.
Newcastle fought back to within four in the second but consecutive scores from May-Thompson had them 46-37 by half-time.
A three-pointer from Themba Yabantu and a Federici drive to the hoop again got the gap back to four but this time the Blazers went on a 14-4 burst to go 16 ahead and their lead peaked at 67-52.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Federici kept the university team in touch at 67-58 at the end of the third.
It was far from settled with the gap at single figures and Newcastle fought back further in the fourth.
When Shaw called a tme-out with 3.32 left, Derby led by six but it was during that break that Blain presumably said something which earned him his technical foul and Derby closed out the game with an 11-2 run.
Smith admitted he was surprised at how well he had played.
“I didn’t expect to come out and play this well but it kind of reminded me of my first final in this country when I had a doubledouble as well,” said the American.
“I just wanted to play as hard as I could, so it worked out well.
“I just want to keep playing well and representing Derby as well as I can because I love it here.
“For me, Raheem could easily have been the MVP. He did such a good job on Blain and he always plays unselfish basketball and does whatever it takes to win.
“I also thought Ryan did a great job of controlling the game and stopping their guards but it was a great all-round team performance that got the job done.”
May-Thompson led the plaudits for Smith: “Every time it looked like we needed a basket, Malcolm was there and he would score almost at will,” he said.
“Even when we missed shots, he was there to collect it and finish it, so he was instrumental in winning that game.” DERBY: Smith 30, May-Thompson 19, Bowman 13, Bruggeman 12, Elliott-Sewell 8, Dieterich 2, Ugo 2, Brown 0, King 0, Prospere 0, Roberts 0, Carter DNP. NEWCASTLE: Federici 24, Blain 15, Gayle 11, Moya 8, Yabantu 8, Cork 3, Hamilton 2, Kabengele 0, Rodwell 0, Leigh-Hales 0, Marsden 0, Abu-Ramadan 0.