LSBU’s Men’s Basketball team seal BUCS Premier League South title
LSBU Men’s Basketball 1st team has secured the prestigious BUCS Premier League South title for the second consecutive year, with a thrilling overtime win against the blues of Oxford University on Wednesday 23 January.The game took place at Oxford University's famous Iffley Road Sports Complex, where Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile barrier in 1954. LSBU knew a win would seal the league title for a second year running with one game to play next week against the London School of Economics.
LSBU had a strong start to the game strongly and raced out quickly to a double digit lead, but Oxford bounced back to lead at the end of the first quarter 19-18. The second half saw LSBU leading most of the way but unable to shake a resolute Oxford team, who with the crowd's support hung in to take the last shot in regulation time to tie the game up at 71 apiece. LSBU went into another gear during overtime and scored the first five points of the extra period, finally winning 84-76 and subsequently claiming the league title.
Andy Powlesland, Director of the Academy of Sport at LSBU, said: "It was a good performance, and to win it with one game to go on the road in Oxford shows how consistent the team has been this year, with what is a very young team. There are only first and second year students on this team, so they are likely to get even better next year, and to finish on top of a league table containing the likes of Oxford, Brunel, Bath and LSE is a major achievement for the squad."
LSBU's Men's Basketball team now has to prepare for the playoffs, and focus on securing the Elite Eight tournament, set to take place in Leeds in March. The final league game takes place in the LSBU Sports Centre on Wednesday 30 January at 4pm, where the team will take on London School of Economics.
Find out more about the Academy of Sports at LSBU.