Oxford lose out in Basketball thriller

As snow and ice saw outdoor sports grind to a halt this week it was left up to Blues Basketball to entertain Oxford’s sports fans, and they didn’t disappoint in a thrilling encounter with London South Bank on Wednesday night.

Waiting for tip-off

The London side headed the BUCS Premier South table coming into this match and posed a stern test for Oxford.

The game got off to a roaring start in a frantic first quarter which saw fluorescent footwear fan Alberto Gerones nail some impressive three pointers.

Lively Lithuanian Karolis Bauza also impressed, waltzing his way to the hoop on a number of occasions to give Oxford a narrow 19-18 lead at the buzzer.

The home side’s strong start continued in the opening minutes of the second quarter with guard Paul Nnaoji powering past the London defence to open up a 4 point lead.

Scramble under the board.

This seemed to awaken the league leaders and they soon took control, the Londoners securing a 31-34 lead with an impressive three pointer from long range as the second quarter drew to a close.

The third quarter was delayed by some rather embarrassing scoreboard malfunctions, though Oxford might have been better off without play resuming as London began to run riot.

Oxford weren’t helped by some dubious refereeing decisions that gifted London loads of scoring opportunities and frustrations threatened to boil over as Oxford went in trailing 46-54 with one quarter remaining.

The 11 point deficit seemed insurmountable but Oxford shot out of the blocks in the final quarter, inspired by captain Shaan Dalwadi who lead by example cutting London’s lead to five.

Going for the 3 points!

The home team showed staunch defence and attacking verve as they continued to eat into London’s lead.

Oxford still trailed by two with only 13 seconds left on the clock, you could cut the tension with a knife as the seconds ticked away before Kyle Burton tied things up with a dramatic equaliser right on the buzzer. The score was now 71-71.

This sent the game into five minutes of overtime, but sadly the home side seemed exhausted by their 4^th quarter heroics and were powerless to prevent London emerging with the victory.

The final score was Oxford 76-84 London South Bank, leaving the Blues in 4^th place in the league.

Despite the disappointing result Oxford can take plenty of positives moving forward, not least that they put on a hell of a show for the fans.