On the opening day of the BUCS Men’s Basketball Championship Finals, London South Bank University impressed with a score of 104 in a close encounter with worthy opponents Northumbria University, and join Durham University, the University of Worcester and Oxford University in the semi finals.

South Bank won the day’s first basketball fixture but started slowly against Northumbria, who looked to be the better team as the opening quarter ended in a tie.

It was in the second quarter that South Bank put the game beyond Northumbria when they scored twice as many points as their opponents, with the second period ending 54-35 in their favour.

South Bank started the third period as they ended the second, scoring two three pointers in the first minute of the quarter. Northumbria’s guards were very impressive in this quarter and their hard work paid off as they continued to fight back.

The final quarter was fast flowing and high scoring but in truth, Northumbria looked like they knew they were beaten.  Durham always looked like winning their game against Middlesex which was the 3pm tip off at the EIS. Durham out-scored the opposition in every quarter in a game which they won 79-44.
The first quarter was very low-scoring, with Middlesex only scoring their first points of the game with one minute remaining in the first period.

Durham looked confident and their quick passing and accurate shooting made the difference in this game. Middlesex played well in the final quarter but their efforts came too late as they were outclassed by a strong Durham team.
Worcester were the next team to progress after their convincing win over Brunel. They defended well and showed good fitness levels to overcome Brunel in what was a dominant performance.

The first quarter was relatively close but Worcester ran away with the game in the second quarter when Brunel failed to score a single basket.  Brunel improved in the third quarter but unfortunately for them, so did Worcester, who went from strength to strength and ended the third quarter with twice as many points as Brunel.

In the final quarter, the teams were evenly matched but at this stage Worcester had already won the game, and they did so in style, defeating their opponents 70-37.The fourth and final game of the day turned out to be the most entertaining of today’s fixtures but Oxford overcame the battling Leeds Met (pictured) to book their place in tomorrow’s semi final.

The first half of the game was very close but Oxford managed to build a good lead before the half time break, as they led by a score of 42-34.

The third quarter was the closest of the four periods and both sides made the most of their opportunities but Leeds Met had a lot of work to do before they were going to catch an Oxford team on this form.

Hard work and determination from Leeds Met helped them to launch a comeback but just as they looked like catching up with them, Oxford proved their worth and sought to build on their lead by scoring several baskets in quick succession.

Leeds Met continued to attack and reduced the deficit to just two points at one stage before Oxford turned defence into attack to end the third quarter 65-57 up.

The final quarter was close but in the end, but Leeds Met looked tired and were punished by an impressive Oxford side, who won the game 85-69.

All of the teams who were in action today will play again tomorrow, with the losers facing each other in a series of play-off games to decide the order of this year’s top eight.

Written by Euan Parsons, BUCS Championships Student Media Team
For more information about BUCS volunteering visit www.bucs.org.uk/volunteering