Bury St. Edmunds Bulldogs Senior Men's National League side tipped-off the 2021/22 season with a home game against UEA Panthers.
In the opening minutes, the visitors struggled to contain Nick Fearon, who not only got his name on the scoresheet, but created a number of opportunities for team-mates, with Billy Smith also registering as the Bulldogs built an early 8-2 lead. Early foul trouble for Mike Coumas was exacerbated by Gvidas Bytautas and Eivydas Kriunas also garnering the attention of the referees, as UEA began to settle into their game, with an 8-0 run to close out the first quarter.
It looked like it could be a blowout early on in the second quarter, as UEA built a 23 point lead in the second quarter, before the Bulldogs were sparked into life by the veteran play of Greg Richards and the energy of Sam Chapman. Edga Lomsargis led the charge to open the third quarter, as the hosts cut the lead to four points, but poor shot selection from the Bulldogs sparked a UEA run, and whilst the sides traded baskets through into the fourth quarter, another Bulldogs scoring drought and UEA run to close the game saw the Bulldogs drop their season opener, 73-93.
Here's what Coach Arron MacDonald had to say after the game:
"Firstly, I have to thank the Bulldogs Family for their support - that was genuinely the best atmosphere I've been involved in - and I know how much the players appreciated it... just know we're going to work to get this right for you."
"In terms of the game? I can't fault the effort of the guys today - but the execution wasn't there. There was too much 'my turn' basketball on offence, and maybe some of that's down to how recently we've pulled this team together - and that we're not 'together' enough, and don't trust one another enough yet. Our shot selection was poor, and at times the lane became a black hole for us - the ball never came out. "
"That created added pressure for us, and led to too many missed layups - and meant that when we finally got into our game and the ball was moving inside-out, we weren't getting the kind of looks we wanted... it was all a bit impatient. But we'll get to work this week, and nothing's going to change how I feel about this team right now - I believe we've got a good collection of players to compete in this division, it's on us to put it all together now."
Leading scorers for the Bulldogs were Fearon (19 points, 4 rebounds), Smith (16 points, 8 rebounds) and Kriunas (12 points, 4 assists, 3 steals). Next up for the National League Men is the cross-town trip to Skyliner Sports Centre to face West Suffolk Wolves on Saturday 16th October at 2pm. The side's next divisional home game is against Anglia Ruskin University on Saturday 27th November.
Comments