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Britball.com Front
BBL Cup Final 2005
Bears drink from Cup of cheer



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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." 
 
 
 


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