BBL Cup
Final 2005
Brighton Bears
90 (24, 45, 65) Alleyne 27, Huntley 22
Scottish Rocks
74 (21, 39, 53) Cole 22, Windless 13
Final
The BBL Cup Final
proved a worthy contest, for one half at least. However a superb 27 point
showing from Andrew Alleyne made all the difference as Brighton Bears defeated
a short-handed Scottish Rocks 90-74 to lift the first silverware of the
domestic campaign.
The Scots were rocked
when Stateside star Bryant Feggins was ruled out before the game with a
stomach virus, forcing Swanson to promote Phil Perre into his starting
line-up.
It left the underdogs
short of muscle but they tried bravely to make up for it heart with Tony
Windless throwing himself at every available rebound.
The 35 year old turned
back the clock in the first half with an energetic display, firing 11 of
his 13 total points before the break.
But it was Bears
who were ruling the court, taking the lead in the fourth minute en route
to a 24-21 cushion at the end of the opening quarter.
It was Ryan Huntley,
the hero of the Rocks play-off success of 2003, who twisted the knife in
the second period from long range to guide Nick Nurse’s men 45-39 in front
at half-time.
With all his team-mates
firing blanks, it was left to Donald Cole to carry the load but the man
they call Smooth could roughen up the Bears on his own.
He hit consecutive
threes at the outset of the third period but was helpless to stop Barbados
international Andrew Alleyne from reeling off six straight points to open
up daylight between the rivals.
With Windless tiring,
Swanson turned to Scots star Roni Gordon to mind the middle but the Braehead
coach conceded the game was slipping away.
"Midway through the
third quarter, we were playing some decent defence and went down two or
three times but the ball bounced in and out of the rim. They then went
down the other end and scored and that's when they really got away."
The reigning league
champions began the final stanza with a 65-53 advantage and despite the
Rocks dogged pursuit, they never looked like letting it slip away.
As Alleyne piled
on the points towards his final team-best tally of 27, the Bears’ lead
had grown to 14 with six minutes left
Desperately the Scots
chased the tie but when Adrian Henning fouled out with two minutes left,
the game was up.
And Brighton piled
on the agony by reeling off the last seven points for good measure as their
skipper Yorick Williams proudly lifted up the prize before the 3,000 strong
crowd.
"That's not his usual
personality - he plays hard but he's not an animal inside," said Nurse
in praise of Alleyne. "Today Andrew just muscled up and would not be stopped
from scoring. He was awesome. He was taking the ball hard to the basket
all the way through."