Bristol Flyers resoundingly took the bragging rights in the British Basketball League’s (BBL) South West derby as they blew away Plymouth City Patriots 99-60.
Bristol completed a 4-0 season sweep against their regional rivals in front of a fervent Flyers faithful at SGS College Arena on Friday night.
In what was their third game in six days, the Flyers showed no sign of fatigue as they bounced back impressively from a high-scoring mid-week defeat on the road against Manchester Giants (110-99).
Bristol bounded out of the gates, taking control of the game from the tip, and building an unassailable lead in the first quarter.
The team went on an 18-point run which quickly silenced the Plymouth fans, who judging from the strong contingent of Pats jerseys in the stands, had travelled in impressive numbers.
The Flyers lockdown defence did not give their opponents a sniff in the opening frame, as the Patriots missed their opening 13 shots from the field.
Guards Tevin Olison and Jelani Watson-Gayle provided early Mother’s Day presents for their mums who were watching in the stands, with both players putting on impressive individual performances.
Recent Team GB call-up Watson-Gayle finished with 11 points, nine assists and five rebounds off the bench, while game MVP Olison dropped 23 points, including an efficient four from six from three-point range.
The Flyers were without starting centre Malcolm Delpeche, who was ruled out with a hip injury in a game-time decision. Back-up big Leslee Smith more than filled in, producing a brilliant performance on both ends of the floor in a great display of ‘next man up’ mentality.
In one of the plays of the night Smith, who is in his second stint in Bristol, channelled NBA MVP candidate Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. The veteran showed laser-like vision with a brilliant bounce pass that found Thomas Bell III under the rim for a two-handed dunk.
The move prompted jubilant celebrations both in the stands and on the court, as Smith's teammates surrounded him and made spectacle shaped salutes to his playmaking.
The hosts looked as though they were really enjoying themselves throughout, and trooped off to the locker room with a 34-point lead at the half to a deserved standing ovation.
The second-half lacked a little of the intensity of the first, perhaps owing to the commanding advantage the Flyers had given themselves from the first two quarters.
Plymouth managed a bit of a response in the third, winning the period 17-20 courtesy of back-to-back threes from Ralph Bissainthe and Otas Iyekekpolor. They only made one more from distance in the whole game. In comparison, the Flyers hit 12 from beyond the arc on 31 per cent shooting, with hot hand Brandon Mahan draining five of those.
It was a disappointing night for play-off chasing Plymouth, who came perilously close to conceding three digits in consecutive games after league leaders London Lions had dropped 102 on them in a 50-point mauling.
The Flyers sensed their advantage and mercilessly pressed it home, with some fluid ball-movement on offence producing 29 assists, in contrast to the a total of nine dimes for the Patriots.
There was even room for a bit of showboating, with Watson-Gayle producing a memorable behind-the-back turn, and he even inbounded the ball off the back of a Patriots defender on one play.
A thunderous alley-oop slam from the ever-impressive VJ King in the fourth provided the exclamation mark on a great victory.
Flyers head coach Andreas Kapoulas, who was at his combative best with the officials on the sideline despite his team’s dominance, said he was “very proud” of his team’s performance after a “gruelling” schedule.
“It’s certainly great to get the wins against Plymouth, but you can get caught up in the South West rivalry. The most imprint thing is getting w’s at this point of the season," Kapoulas said. “We are 21-9, we have a realistic chance at finishing second, and we want to keep pushing on. Last year we had our highest-ever finish at fourth place. We want to see where we are going to be at the end of the regular season, that’s our focus.”
Olison told BristolLive the win was made extra “special” after he produced a man-of-the-match performance in front of his mother, who had travelled over from the US to watch him play
“When my mum is here I always try to play my hardest. Of course I play with a lot of energy every game, but when my mum is here it brings another thing out of me. I just wanted to give her a show, and that’s what I did," he said. “Whenever I play well and she comes to the game, I dedicate that game to her, because she is the reason I am here. She’s always there for me, so I’ve got to show out for her.”
The Flyers have next week off to recuperate, before they return to action the following weekend with a double header, first away to third-placed Leicester Riders, before welcoming in league leaders London Lions back to SGS.
The Leicester game could be a pivotal clash in the race to tie-up second place in the BBL standings, and a strong seeding in the play-offs. The Flyers currently lead the four-game series over the Riders 2-1, but the defending champions narrowly edge Bristol by five on points difference, owing to a blowout win on their own floor back in October.
