Author

Joel Osborne writes

Posted Monday, October 22nd 2018 @BristolSportJO

Kapoulas on ‘gritty’ derby victory

Monday, October 22nd 2018

Bristol Flyers boss Andreas Kapoulas praised his side’s resilience after their ten point win against Plymouth Raiders in the south west derby.

The Flyers matched their best-ever BBL Championship start to remain second in the league after the opening month of the season (4-1).

After holding just a three point lead at the half, Coach K’s men responded with a 10-0 run in the third, including a pair of back-to-back threes from Justin Gray to ultimately put the game out of reach

"It was a gritty performance,” Kapoulas told Bristol Flyers TV.

"Sometimes you’ve got to win in that way. We're not always going to play well, but we stepped up when we had to and we did it as a team.

"We didn’t start very well in the first, but as the game went on we locked in on the defensive end and had a very good second quarter holding them to just nine points.

Justin Gray led the way with a season-high 24 points

"We built a double digit lead in the third and we made big shots on the offensive end.

"It’s all about doing the basics well, we talked about being solid on the defensive end in terms of our positioning and communication - when we execute on the defensive end it helps our offence.

“It was a mentality game for us. We found a way to win and we’ll have to do that again through the course of the season.”

Gray led the way for Bristol with a season-high 24 points and was ably supported by the Flyers frontcout duo of Daniel Edozie and Marcus Delpeche, who both finished the game with double-doubles.

The south west rivalry resumes this weekend, when Coach K’s men travel down the M5 to face the Raiders in the opening round of the BBL Cup (Sunday October 28th 3pm).

"We have the phycological advantage going into that game,” added Kapoulas.

"Plymouth will feel good about themselves because both of their wins have come at home, but I think for us we need to use this week to get better.

“We want to go further in the Cup than we’ve done in recent years, so it’s another big game for us.”

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