Spirited performance ends in defeat for Bears

A SPIRITED Warwickshire Bears performance ended in a 51-45 defeat to London Titans' second string on Saturday.

The Bears were up against a team who finished runners-up in BWB First Division South last season, so they knew they were in for a tough challenge.

The game started with the Titans taking full advantage of the height advantage they possessed, and built up an early 17-12 lead by the end of the the first quarter.

The Bears came out in the start of the second quarter trying to limit the Titans' forwards Chris and Andy Weeks.

Whilst slowing down the Titans' scoring, the Bears were unable to make any inroads into the Titans' early lead and the teams went into half-time at 26-20.

The second half saw the Bears having to change their line up continually with a number of the team getting into foul trouble and this led to the Bears having to abandon their pressing game.

This allowed the Titans more opportunities at the Bears' basket, but Warwickshire stepped up their attacking play and they managed to narrow the deficit to three points, 38-35.

The final quarter saw a thrilling finish with the lead changing between a number of times. But Titans' height advantage and the Bears' foul trouble proved crucial and the home side edged it by six points.

Bears' coach, Tom Masterson, said: "Congratulations to Titans and their coaching staff, especially Andy and Chris Weeks who were awesome today.

"We did well with the team we had available and all the players gave 100 per cent, which is all I could ask of them.

"It was another learning curve to the players and myself, some of who have never played at this level before and they will learn a lot it."

The Bears return to action on Thursday, 8th December, when they take on touring team the United Arab Emirates at Henley-in-Arden. Entry is free.