Marlins smash Warriors in JHB clash

In front of a large crowd, the men from Durban started brightly, despite an early break in play as the arena lights went out due to load shedding, and as soon as the generator kicked in and the lights were back on, the Marlins soon had a 12 point lead before the Warriors had managed to open their account.

The Warriors eventually clawed their way back into the game and narrowed the deficit to 4 points by the time the buzzer sounded for the end of the 1st quarter, the Score 16-12 in favour of the Marlins.

The Marlins dominated the second quarter, with some aggressive defence and composed offensive plays, and with 4mins25 to play in the second quarter, held a 19 point lead 32 -13 over the side from Bloemfontein.

Some complacency seemed to set in to the Marlins side as the Warriors fought back to narrow the deficit by the end of the quarter to 13 points with the Marlins taking a 36-23 lead into half time.

Warrior Coach, Clemen Kock, seemed to rally his chargers somewhat at the half time interval, as his team came out aggressively in the 3rd quarter, and applied a full court defensive strategy. 

This seemed to rattle the younger less experienced Marlins players on court, as they were forced into numerous turnovers , which saw the Warriors narrow the lead to 4 points at one stage.

Marlins coach Craig Gilchrist was visibly unimpressed with what was going on, and called a time out. Having read the riot act to his players during the time out, the team settled somewhat and played their own game to better effect. 

The 3rd quarter ended with the score on 58-43 with the Marlins holding onto their lead.

The Warriors side would not let up though and out scored the KZN team in the 4th quarter, but found themselves stuggling towards the end of the 4th quarter, with 4 of their players having fouled out of the game, having accumulated 5 personal fouls each. 

This seemed to stunt their momentum and the Marlins saw the final stages out to secure a 80 - 66 win. 

Gilchrist was relieved with the result, which sees the Marlins secure only their second win of the 2015 campaign, after a really tough opening fixtures run, against the current top four sides.

Key Stats:

Game MVP:    
11 Benjamin Constable  -   16 points, 14 Rebounds and 1 Assist
21 Sibusiso Cele           -    20 points, 9 Rebounds
13 Ryan McFie              -   12 Points, 13 Rebounds, 4 Assists
9   Bandile Nsele           -   11 Points, 3 Rebounds

(Photo: Facebook/KwazuluMarlinsBasketballClub)

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