Sun 15th Apr: Gallant LU scare double-winners Guildford in Play-offs..

Sun 15th April, 2007

BBL CHAMPIONSHIP

Guildford Heat 71-68 London United   

QUARTERSCORES:

15-20, 31-44, 54-59, 71-68

GAME TOP SCORERS:

Guildford Heat (Dan Wardrope 20, Brian Dux 16, Mike Martin 15)

London United (Tarick Johnson 17, LaTaryl Williams 15, Marlin Capers 12)

The BBL regular season champions, the Poujoulat Heat Guildford, successfully progressed to their second consecutive Basketball Finals Weekend after scraping through their BBL Championship Playoff quarter-final, 71-68 against London United.

United looked on the verge of one of the biggest upsets in BBL Championship Playoff history as they led for three-and-a-half quarters of the game. Dean Williams and Brian Dux held their nerve from the free-throw line in the latter stages and it was they who led the Heat's scoring with 20 and 16 points respectively. Tarick Johnson led United with 17 points in their first jaunt into the BBL post-season.

United, who finished eighth in the BBL Championship, meant business from the outset as they opened with the first 7 points of the game. LaTaryl Williams scored 5 in a further 9 unanswered points shortly afterwards as the Londoners held an early 16-5 lead. The Heat managed to narrow the gap as Dux and Williams scored 4 points each to make it 15-20 at the first break.

The side from the capital really broke the game open mid-way through the second stanza as Marlin Capers sank a pair of three-pointers and Bryant Feggins added 6 points of his own in a 14-2 push that made the score 22-38. The Heat rallied and a triple from Dux with 1:27 remaining in the half helped them to close it to 31-44 going into the locker rooms.

Dux (4) and Williams (3) then combined for a further 7 points to start the third frame but United bounced back as Feggins made 5 points in a 7-2 response that kept the lead at 40-51. Two sharp 6-0 bursts got the Heat right back in the game at 52-54, with 3:00 to play in the third, before Tarick Johnson scored five late points to send the teams into the final period at 54-59.

The Heat took over immediately at the start of the decisive stanza. They took their first lead with 5:14 remaining at 63-61 in the midst of a 13-4 surge that culminated in a score of 67-63. Chris Brown, Mike Martin, and Dan Wardrope had 4 points each in that period. United were held scoreless up until the final few seconds when Marcus Knight made a trey with 4 seconds left and Johnson stole the inbounds to net the final basket. However, it was too late as Dux had previously made 2/2 from the line and Williams 2/4 in the last 1:10 of the game.

The season comes to a head at the Basketball Finals Weekend, being staged at the MetroRadio Arena on Saturday 28/Sunday 29 April, the Heat await their opponents for the semi-final that Saturday.

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