Author

Joel Osborne writes

Posted Sunday, February 25th 2018 @BristolSportJO

Kapoulas praises toughness in South West sweep

Sunday, February 25th 2018

Andreas Kapoulas praised his side’s toughness after seeing Bristol Flyers bounce back to sweep the season series against Plymouth Raiders on Sunday afternoon.

Flyers responded from Friday night’s defeat to Surrey in the best possible way by picking up a 12 point victory on the home floor of their south west rivals.

Mike Vigor and Leslee Smith both recorded double-doubles to dominate the battle in the paint by 20 points, with five players scoring in double figures for Coach K’s men.

"It was a real team win and we showed a lot of character out there,” Kapoulas told Bristol Flyers TV.

"We showed a lot of toughness in those key moments and we were able to get some key defensive plays.

"Plymouth have had a tough season and it was an important game for them, so we knew it was going to be difficult, but I thought our players responded well.

"Even though we didn’t shoot the ball very well from outside, our inside presence made a huge difference. We scored 54 points in the lane and we got to the free throw line 20 times. One of the big things for us was to win the inside game and I felt we did that.”

Panos Mayindombe finished with a season-high 16 points

An explosive final quarter saw Flyers outscore their opponents 34 points to 22, with Flyers leading by just four points with 50 seconds left on the clock.

Roy Owen and Panos Mayindombe both made big contributions from the bench, the latter finished with a season-high 16 points and took an important charge in the game’s final minute to shift the momentum in Bristol’s favour.

"Panos had some key baskets including that last play, which was typical Panos,” Kapoulas added.

"He put his body on the line and not a lot of players would have taken a charge in that situation - he really stepped up for the team. We really needed that after Friday’s game.”