The Bury St Edmunds first team continued their winning start to the season with a 94-55 Suffolk Cup win over Ipswich Saxons at Skyliner Sports Centre, with the fixture sponsored by Gascoynes Accountants.
The Bulldogs came into the game full of confidence after a comfortable win two days before and two 3 pointers from Lewis Tebbit helped them to an early 8-2 lead. Saxons battled back though and took the lead before Jimmy Steedman hit a long 3 at the buzzer to level the score 20-20 at the end of the first quarter.
The game remained close and at times fractious throughout the second quarter with neither team giving an inch. Again Bulldogs started better with fast break layups from Patrick Laycock helping Bury to an 8 point lead before Saxons pulled it back to just one point with a minute to go. The half closed with Matt Spurling taking the ball coast to coast for a layup and Jonathan Bourne hitting two free throws to give Bury a 37-32 lead.
Saxons quickly levelled the score at the beginning of the third quarter before a 9-0 run gave Bury a lead they would not let slip again. Captain Billy Smith led the charge with 10 points in the quarter, which finished 61-46.
Bury started the fourth quarter with their tails up and quickly took the game out of reach. Spurling scored 17 points in the quarter and Jason Sykes added 6 as Bury out scored their opponents 33-9 in the final period to give the final score a flattering feel.
Matt Spurling led the scoring for Bury with 20, closely followed by Lewis Tebbit (18) and Smith (17).
“We can play much better than that and the final score certainly doesn’t reflect how tough this game was for three quarters. I’m certainly pleased we got the win.” said Coach Glenn Collins after the game. At times we showed what we can do with good defensive effort and aggressive offence, but too often that turned into scrappiness, rushing and carelessness with the ball.”
Captain Billy Smith echoed these thoughts, “It was a scrappy game at times, but when we played our game, we were great. Defensively we got a little complacent at times and let our guard down, but we can improve on this. It was another good team effort, every player did their job.”
Meanwhile, Player of the Game Matt Spurling was more succinct in his summary, "That final quarter showed, even in scrappy games, if we keep our heads, we believe we can beat anyone."
The first team are next in action on Sunday 21st October, welcoming newly-promoted Leopards to Skyliner for their Suffolk Senior League bow, whilst the Cambridge & Suffolk Reserve Sides are on their travels this week, with away games at Huntingdon & Clacton.
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