An exciting home encounter for Westminster 1st with rivals City University 1st – a win will take them another step closer to championship glory.
Match Preview
Westminster 1st and City 1st match-ups are always a competitive game – closely fought and intense. Both teams met earlier in the season in the impressive CitySport, where the Dragons ran away in the 4th for a 31 point victory (62-93) – however, the scoreline didn’t reflect how City battled the Dragons all the way till late in the game.
City 1st are starting to get momentum (2-4), after competing for the championship last season they’ve struggled to build the same chemistry and power this year. Nonetheless, a crucial home win against LSBU 1st, a game where they were chasing for the most part, leading up to this game would give the Wolfpack confidence against the league leaders.
Westminster 1st, currently top of the table with 7-0, last game sealed a tough away win against Imperial 1st. A win against City 1st would mean Westminster would go 8-0, a massive step to promotion to Division 1. Westminster 1st would not win the championship and promotion 100%, as title challengers, Essex 2nd would have to win their remaining games and beat Westminster on point difference to overcome the Dragons – this includes an away game against Westminster.
Dragons on fire at the Den
In a packed Dragons Den, Westminster 1st exploded to a 28-11 1st Quarter lead, led by captain Afrasyab Khalil’s fast break and clean finishing at the rim. City 1st were caught off-guard and found a rhythm in the 2nd quarter before a quickfire rally from the Dragons including a buzzer-beater three and foul make from guard Mylo Mitchell saw Westminster explode to a 58-27 lead going into the half.
“It was great to see the boys having fun. That’s what the game is all about. Playing with a smile, sharing the ball, trusting each other, making plays. It was a fantastic team performance.”
Coach Clive Castillo
The second half was more of the same story; the Dragons continued to pile on the pressure and scoring finishing the game 116-58. That’s 7 out of 11 games Westminster 1st has hit 100+ points this BUCS season.
Rookie Orestas Vasiliauskas continues his exciting performances since his return from injury, flirting with a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. Westminster Elite Athlete-Guards Afrasyab Khalil (39 points, 5 assists, 3 steals) and Mylo Mitchell (23 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists) combined for over half of the Dragons points (62 points).
Dragons were also in double-figures for rebounds, Captains Arian Ahmetaj (12 rebounds, 8 points) & Tyree Blake Bailey (10 rebounds, 9 points) and 1st Team debut for Thomas Nahum (10 rebounds, 5 points)
Westminster 1st are now 8-0 in the BUCS South-Eastern Conference 2B. Tough matches away against Kings College 1st in two weeks, and potentially a title decider against Essex 2nd at home the following week is what remains for Westminster.
Thank you to Way2Work Highlights for coming down, covering and following our journey
View this post on Instagram
🐲 It’s BUCS Cup Week! The Dragons face-off with Essex 2nd today (Wednesday 12th February 2020) – in what will be an exciting match-up for a place in the BUCS Conference Cup Semi-Final. Come down and support – tip 6pm @ Harrow Sports Hall. 🔥
Picture and media content:
www.instagram.com/way2workhighlights
Dragons Results Elsewhere
🐲 Westminster 2nd (2-6) fought with Roehampton 1st all the way, losing at home 66-67 to the league leaders. Impressive performances from American semester abroad students Grant Lutzwig and Robert Eggert, and positive improvements from rookie guard Jesper Hernando. A buzzer-beater three in the fourth quarter from guard Hasme Adan was not enough as the Dragons fell short. Despite the result, a strong, positive performance all round. Westminster 2nd will look to close out the season with victories to avoid the drop.
🐲 Westminster Dragons (6-2) suffered their first home LMBL loss since 2016-17 against Middlesex Saxons, as U-18 National Champions Haringey Hawks took the 81-104 win on the 2nd February. The game counted for two competitions, LMBL Shield Quarter-Final and LMBL Division 2 as one of the games had been postponed.
In a highly competitive game, the Dragons stormed to an early 15+ point lead, led by guards Mylo Mitchell and Afrasyab Khalil’s shooting from the outside. Despite taking a 5 point lead into the half, the Dragons failed to maintain the Hawks and Deng Camp forward Ndewedo Newbury proved a handful inside especially in the 3rd quarter. Hawks, with a talented roster, closed out the game in the 4th in a good battle between both clubs.
Westminster Dragons are still in good shape for promotion to LMBL Division 1. Few tricky road games ahead against BB Smurds, Haringey Hawks and Brixton Topcats will be the challenge for the Dragons.