Flyers extend their streak with win over Arrows

Bristol Academy Flyers kept up their push for home court advantage in the playoffs with a victory over the weekend. The National Cup holders made the trip to Sheffield Arrows for a repeat of last season's playoff quarter-final and gained revenge for that loss with an 83-53 victory.

Sheffield only briefly led at 8-6 as the visitors rushed into a 21-13 first period lead and that grew to 42-27 at half-time. The teams shared 34 points in a tight third quarter, but Andrea Kapoulas' team wrapped things up with a 24-9 final stanza.

US import Doug McLaughlin-Williams led all scorers with 23 points, 14 rebounds and four steals for Flyers, with Captain Greg Streete adding 22 and Davis Bowne finishing with a 13 point, 11 rebound double-double.

Flyers Coach Andreas Kapoulas was pleased with his team’s attitude towards the game: ‘Sheffield have not had a good season this year but they are always a dangerous side especially at their home court. I thought we were very professional in the way we approached the game. We did not underestimate the opposition. We played well at both ends of the court and managed to give some valuable playing time to some of our younger players.’

Speaking about the Flyers winning form since the National Cup final victory, the Greek Coach added: ‘It’s not a secret that we are playing well at the moment. However it’s important to maintain our form going into the last month of the league season. There is always a danger for complacency so we need to make sure we avoid this by working hard and constantly improving our team play.’