Sun 25th Mar: Chester Jets put daggers into LU's play-off hopes..

Sunday 25th March, 2007

BBL CHAMPIONSHIP

Chester Jets 110-98 London United  

QUARTERSCORES:

28-17, 62-41, 84-64, 110-98

GAME TOP SCORERS:

Chester Jets (Louis McCullough 33, Alto Virgil 29, John Simpson 19)

London United (Tarick Johnson 27, Marlin Capers 21, LaTaryl Williams 16)

After facing a home defeat at Plymouth, United regrouped for the journey north and a critical match with Chester Jets. Once again, United managed to dig themselves a huge hole going into the final stanza down by 20pts but nearly pulled off yet another astonishing come-back before eventually going down 110-98 in a high-scoring encounter at the Northgate Arena as the Jets took revenge for the overtime loss at SPACe back in February.

A tight start to the game saw both teams tied at 11 and still close at 19-17 before Chester rattled off the last 9pts of the opening stanza, inspired by 7 from Alto Virgil as Jets took at 28/17 first quarter advantage. Chester continued the momentum in the second period, killing United in transition as Louis McCullogh hit 7 early points as Jets stretched the lead to 20 (47/27). John Simpson added a further 7pts of his own as Chester took a healthy 62/41 lead into the locker room.

United responded immediately after the break as a 14-4 push narrowed the deficit to 75-60. Chester managed to keep Utd at arms-length with a trio of triples including one on the buzzer from James Hamilton. This kept the lead at 20pts (84/64) going into the final quarter.

The last stanza was all- London as Utd put in an inspired display. A 9pt run thanks to baskets from LaTaryl Williams, Marcus Knight and Farid Haif, iced by a triple from Tarick Johnson was only stopped by a trey from Simpson. However, excellent defence led by Junior Williams translated into 10pts from Johnson (including back-to-back 3's) and 4pts from Marlin Capers as the Chester advantage was reduced to just 7pts. Once again, Simpson responded with 5pts before Capers added a further 5 of his own. Another basket from LaTaryl put Utd within 5pts (99/94). But with the clock running down, that was as close as United could get as a missed attempt by Junior Williams from beyond the arc meant London were forced to foul and send Chester to the line to regain possession. Jets sunk 6 from 9 free-throw to hold United off and record a vital 12pt win.

Despite 5 United players contributing double-points scores, McCullough and Virgil hit match highs of 33 and 29 for Chester. Alto Virgil also capped an excellent match with 9 assists, whilst John Simpson was the final-quarter hero for Jets hitting 10pts (14 total) to hold off the London surge. For London, Tarick Johnson hit 27pts and came up with 8 rebounds and 6 assists, helped by 21pts and 9 rebounds from Capers, 16pts from Lataryl and 12pts from Marcus Knight. Junior Williams lead the defence with 5 steals combined with 11pts and 4 assists. However, once again United only really started playing in the final quarter by which time a 20pt lead proved just too great to turn over.

With Leicester beating Newcastle, United have the daunting task of needing one victory in their last 3 matches to stand a realistic chance of making the play-offs with 2nd place Sheffield visiting SPACe on Saturday and United away to Championship leaders Guildford on Easter Sunday. With one game in hand, Chester have an almost identical run in facing Guildford (twice) and Sheffield. Crucially, both teams also take on Milton Keynes. United travel to MK Lions on Friday, while Jets entertain Milton Keynes on Saturday night. Both United and Jets will see Milton Keynes as their best chance of securing the win needed to reach the play-offs. Looks like another nail-biting weekend ahead.

Chris Morris 27/3/07

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