'Bench Step It Up For Flyers Win'

That was certainly the case for Flyers this weekend as they bounced back from Saturday's 58-67 loss at home to Glasgow Rocks with a win away at Surrey Scorchers on Sunday afternoon, 80-72, thanks to strong performances from players yet to see much game time this season.

The stats suggest the Glasgow game could have been closer. Despite some promising offensive timing and execution for much of the game, Flyers struggled to shoot the ball with any consistency and missed too many layups down the stretch.

Experienced GB forward Keiron Achara managed to stifle Tyrone Lee’s offensive efficiency, his length and experience bothering shots and taking away face up drives to the basket. Even though Lee showed visible frustration, he didn’t give up and finished with an impressive double-double (15pts & 13 rbs).

Flyers show their depth

An unfortunate injury to Cardell McFarland in the second quarter resulted in some excellent animated Flyers coaching. Coach Kapoulas furiously rotated the entire bench after half time in an attempt to build defensive momentum. It worked. Tom Tinsley did a great job filling the point guard role and Flyers managed to contain Glasgow and get some much needed stops. Unfortunately Flyers ran out of steam early in the fourth quarter and foul trouble sealed their fate.

Sunday afternoon saw Flyers turn their fortunes around with yet another away win. Although not a great shooting outing (combined 36%), it was a significant improvement on Saturday’s struggles. Flyers wins are coinciding with shared contribution and Sunday was no exception; five players finishing in double digit scoring.

The bench is starting to warm up now after a slow start to the season, contributing 14 points on Saturday and 22 on Sunday. No doubt this has pleased coaches Kapoulas and Burns who are now relying on Tinsley, Roy Owen and Chris Bourne to step up in McFarland’s absence.

Doug McLaughlin-Williams bounced back from a poor shooting night on Saturday to connect with four threes on his way to 15 points and Captain Greg Streete showed his versatile leadership, managing to contribute to all the stats columns. Mathias Seilund continues to play with uniform consistency, scoring in double digits and knocking down free throws.

Big weekend from Edozie

My player of the weekend award goes to Daniel Edozie who posted two consecutive double figure rebounding performances in limited minutes and managed to score the basketball with improved consistency.

So, an altogether mixed weekend for Flyers but a great display of toughness on Sunday to get the much needed away win which leaves Flyers just outside the playoff positions.

Flyers are next in action at home to London Lions on Friday, November 20th at 7.30pm - click here to buy tickets online. 

Written by Tom Hutchinson - Tom played for Bristol Flyers from its inception in National League division three and was part of the roster that won promotions to divisions two and one before injury forced his early retirement.

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