In the opening game of the new 2018/19 Division Two season, two newly promoted teams battled it out at the FBC Centre in Wokingham as last year’s Division Three South West Champions, the Thames Valley Kings hosted last year’s Division Three South East Champions, the Sussex Bears.
It was the Kings that made the better start in the opening two minutes of the game, as they took a small 6-2 lead before a minor fight-back from the Bears to level it. Kings took back control for the rest of the quarter will a strong display to give them the lead 17-10 at the buzzer, With Chris Nash, Reece and Liam Barker all picking up the points. Kings continued their domination early in the second, with the Barker brothers continuing to apply the pressure to Bears, before another fightback started with Bears picking up nine points in an unanswered streak to leave the quarter rather evenly matched – Kings still leading by seven at halftime, 32-25.
The 3rd quarter saw another even-contested quarter, points bouncing between the teams, with Joe Humphreys and PJ O’Donovan both adding themselves to the scoreboard alongside the Barker Brothers, the score leading into the final quarter, 44-39 to the Kings. The 4th quarter saw a change in unanswered tactics as they were able to break down the Bears defence at times in a very high scoring quarter for both teams which saw Kings pick up 24 points to Bears 16.
The Final score ending Kings 68 Bears 55 in a very competitive match, which will surely set the stage for the rest of this league competition – The Division Two team will be action again on Sunday against Aces.
