Bristol Flyers ended 2022 in style with a blowout victory in the South-West Derby, claiming a 96-70 victory over Plymouth City Patriots.
Tevin Olison and Thomas Bell led the scoring for Flyers with 17-apiece, with VJ King and Jelani Watson-Gayle also ending up with double-digits in points. Antonio Williams notched 31-personal for the hosts, but their second-half struggles allowed Bristol to take the West Country bragging rights.
Flyers’ head coach, Andreas Kapoulas described the outcome as a "very positive performance", adding: “It was a real team win, all the guys contributing offensively; we shared the ball well - had 22-assists; kept our turnovers low and that’s really great to see.
“I thought defensively we had a strong third quarter to create the separation, and we never looked back from there - so a very good team win on the road.”
Highlighting a strong night from Olison, he added: “I though Tevin was great on offence, finished with 17 [points]; 4-assists; 5-rebounds. I thought he did a lot of great things on both ends of the court.”
Kapoulas made one change to his starters from the seven-point win over Surrey Scorchers, as Watson-Gayle joined Mike Miller in the backcourt whilst Thomas Bell started on the bench. Watson-Gayle’s scoring impact was felt instantly as he knocked down a triple to give Bristol an early three-point lead after the sides traded baskets.
As expected, it was a physical and low-scoring start to proceedings. The home crowd rallied their side to take the lead through Elvis Dusha and Rashad Hassan, before Flyers brought on Leslee Smith whose physical post-play helped re-establish the advantage.
The first period ended with the visitors up by four, which early in the second quarter was extended to seven-points thanks to a three-ball from Corey Samuels. The gap was widened once more with back-to-back dunks from Malcolm Delpeche and Olison which silenced the home support.
The Patriots grew back into the game, with good work from Markedric Bell in the paint helping slash the deficit, before Williams gave them a 32-31 lead. Flyers finished the half on a high and ended the quarter with a five point lead, as Plymouth gave away a cheap foul on Watson-Gayle who strung both free-throws with less than a second on the clock.
It was a hard-won first half for Bristol, but the second could not have been more contrasting.
The third quarter saw the away side establish a firm grip on the game as Miller extended the lead to double-digits from behind the arc - his first points in the game - following another highlight-reel throwdown from Delpeche. This gave the Flyers a 49-38 lead, with every shot seemingly dropping in their favour.
Frustration crept in for Plymouth who couldn’t find the bottom of the basket and simultaneously got themselves into foul trouble, allowing Bristol into the bonus with over four minutes left in the period.
Successful trips to the line fleshed out the lead, which coupled with success from downtown saw the Flyers outscore the Patriots 28-14 in those 10 minutes. With only the fourth remaining, Bristol led 67-48.
There was no let up in the home stretch as Bristol continued to outscore the home side. Williams tried his best to pile on the points, but was visibly agitated by the lack of help from his team-mates.
More points at the charity stripe from Olison pushed the lead up to 22 as Delpeche continued his dominance in the paint with a sky-hook from the low block. Troy Simons had a late surge of points after replacing Williams for Plymouth, but the game was sealed with his three free-throws, in response to Nassim Ladjimi’s triple in the dying seconds.
With the majority of Flyers games having been played at home this season, questions have been raised of the team’s ability to translate their home form to away games. On the back of two consecutive road wins, Tevin Olison expressed: “We can be a problem on the road. I think that when we’re locked in and play together I think we can play with anybody. We’re going to continue doing that and continue to get better.”
This win means Bristol leap-frog London Lions in the BBL table, moving into second behind Leicester Riders who they will face at home on January 6. Before that Flyers have one more game away from home, facing Surrey Scorchers in a New Year's Day clash.
