Dunfermline clinch first league title with highest points tally

BASKETBALL: Reign uncatchable after beating Knights

Dunfermline Reign have been confirmed as the Scottish National League senior men’s champions for the first time after a decisive 113-60 home win over Stirling Knights at St Columba’s High School.

“It’s well deserved,” said assistant coach John Day, the club spokesman, after the Fifers reached their highest tally of the season to clinch the title with two games left to play.

A measure of how easy the victory was is that 11 players scored, led by Bruce Taylor with 25 points, Kieron Lynch 17, Jake Sirrell 14 and Craig Ferguson and Gordon Young both with 10.

Nearest rivals City of Edinburgh Kings, who have lost four games, cannot now catch Reign, who have lost only one game in their entire campaign, away to Kings at the end of last month.

Indeed Reign have only lost two games this season, the other being their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Falkirk Fury, who have also lost four league games and cannot now complete a league and cup double.

“This is a great testament to the hard work and great team ethos present in our senior men’s team,” added Day.

The nearest that Reign had come in the past was to win the now defunct Scottish Under-23 title under coach Neil Thomson, when the future one and only Scottish NBA player Robert Archibald was still a fledgling junior.

Reign’s current coach is the Dunfermline-reared and domiciled CEO of Basketball-Scotland Kevin Pringle, who has done well to combine both demanding roles.

His team’s high pressure, high octane game has withstood the challenge of bigger teams such as Fury and St Mirren, who lacked consistency when it mattered.

In the end Reign did add some height to what was a comparatively small team, when they signed Dutch student Lauritz Juffer, a 6ft 8in centre, but his role was relatively minor.

It was their guards, including diminutive ball-handler Ferguson, captain Lynch and left-hander Nicky Sim, allied to the athletic three-point shooting of Sirrell and solid centre Eric Potts who provided the core of the success.

“This is a great testament to the hard work and great team ethos. JOHN DAY