Delpeche stars with 26 points as Flyers overcome Phoenix
BRISTOL Flyers won their BBL Championship season opener, fending off the visiting Cheshire Phoenix 76-68.
Malcolm Delpeche led all scorers with a huge 26-point game. Trejon Jacob and Marcus Evans followed with 16 points apiece.
WHAT HAPPENED
FLYERS got their backcourt going early, with Jacob scoring off a sideline out of bounds. Evans followed with a fadeaway jump shot and Delpeche attacked the basket for a three-point play. Former Flyers Ben Mockford and Levi Bradley did damage for the visitors, but a closely contested first quarter finished 18-17 in Flyers’ favour.
Josh McSwiggan scored inside and out for the Nix to put them back in front. Evans kept the Flyers offence rolling on his way to 14 first-half points. Phoenix took the narrowest of leads heading into half-time with the score at 34-33.
Bristol came out with renewed intensity, building a lead in the third quarter behind successive trips to the foul line for Raphell Thomas-Edwards and excellent post play from Delpeche. Phoenix were able to tighten it up to a onepoint game again at 56-55.
Flyers’ defence was effective at generating stops in the fourth quarter. With Delpeche dominating inside, Jacob found himself with open looks from beyond the arc and converted a huge three.
TURNING POINT
A 6-0 run from Flyers midway through the fourth quarter saw them establish a lead that they never looked back from. Forcing two turnovers on the defensive
end, including a 24-second violation, gave Flyers the momentum. A Phoenix timeout steadied the visitors but they were not able to bring the game back within one possession down the stretch.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
MALCOLM Delpeche dominated the paint amassing 26 points and added six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
With former team-mates Daniel
Edozie, Panos Mayindombe, Chris Taylor and his twin brother Marcus Delpeche all cheering him on from the sidelines, the big man had his highest scoring game as a Flyer to date.