Basketball Delpeche stars as Flyers beat Giants to reach last four of the cup
BRISTOL Flyers are through to the BBL Cup semi-finals after a dominant 95-76 win over Manchester Giants.
Malcolm Delpeche’s 18-point, 12-rebound double-double ensured Flyers advanced to the next stage of the competition.
A hot start, ignited by a Delpeche dunk, saw Flyers score on their first three possessions to get a 7-0 lead. Manchester managed to get out in transition to end their early drought with a Dirk Williams dunk. Tajh Green was effective inside and out for the Giants cutting into the lead.
Delpeche kept the pressure on the visitors’ defence - battling for paint position and earning trips to the foul line. He went perfect from the floor for eight points in the quarter and showed his defensive chops drawing a charge from Green. Outside shooting from Jelani Watson-Gayle allowed Flyers to maintain their lead, finishing the first quarter 27-21 up.
Giants racked up fouls quickly in the second quarter with both centre Legend Robertin and power forward Green hitting three fouls and coach Vince Macaulay also picking up a technical foul. With the penalties piling up, Bristol extended their lead to double digits. Corey Samuels brought scoring from the bench with a three-pointer and Flyers’ energised defence forced a shot clock violation.
The Giants rallied on defence and Nathan Robinson scored a fast four points. Coach Kapoulas took a time out and drew up a play for VJ King, who knocked down a triple. Mike Miller, the Flyers captain, punctuated the first half with a timely cut and lay-up to make it 52-39 at the half.
The teams traded baskets early in the third, including Tevin Olison and Williams exchanging threepointers. In the third quarter, Giants point guard Rahmon Fletcher completed an improbable four-point play. He was fouled on a drive to the basket but sank his shot anyway. He then missed his free throw, grabbed the rebound and swished the reload shot to cut Flyers lead to 10 points. Coach Kapoulas sensed the momentum shifting and used a timeout to get his team going. Flyers came out recharged and running the floor to restore the lead with fast break scoring. Olison, Watson-Gayle and King all contributed to the resulting 7-0 run.
Flyers held on to their lead despite a run from the visitors. Late in the quarter they were able to extend further behind transition scoring. A Williams lay-up at the buzzer closed the third quarter at 76-60.
Fouls continued to plague the visitors. An Olison three extended the lead beyond 20 points for the first time. Rahmon Fletcher was quick to answer with another driving score. Olison responded with a pull-up three. With the clock against them, Giants could not find the run they needed. Delpeche finished a great performance by following a drive and dropping in the put back.
» This report first appeared on www.bristolfyers.co.uk.