Ipswich Basketball 100-59 Cardiff Met Archers
NBL Division II
Copleston Sports Centre
Ipswich Basketball sealed a thumping victory over visitors Cardiff Met Archers as they never trailed in what would turn out to be the team’s biggest win in three years on Sunday evening.
Leading scorers Jake Eynon and Luke Mascall-Wright contributed 21 points apiece but it was Ipswich Basketball Academy star Ethan Price who stole the show with 26 points, showing off an array of post moves and attacks from the perimeter.
Cardiff, having seen their Under-18 colleagues lose to Ipswich earlier in the afternoon, had the game tied three times in the first quarter but never managed to establish a lead, and the hosts went in up five after the first quarter.
It was the second period which saw Ipswich blow the game open. Price, Mascall-Wright and Eynon each had at least nine points in the quarter as they put the Archers to the sword with high-pressure defence and repeated scores on the break and in the half-court.
The highlight of the second half was another Academy starter, Jacob Morgan, finding his touch from long-range to finish with 14 points in just seven minutes of action, including connecting on his first four three-pointers.
His teammates kept up the scoring pace, with Ipswich, who had led 54-28 at the half after James Seeley hit a late three for Cardiff, registering a further 46 points after half-time.
Cardiff showed signs of a revival in the third quarter, hitting four threes of their own in the period, but were still out scored 25-17 in the quarter.
Inevitably, some of the game’s intensity was lost by the fourth quarter, but Ipswich made sure of the result and margin of victory behind a number of visits to the free throw line.
Price finished as the game’s top scorer, while Eynon put together an impressive triple-double of 21 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds. Ipswich’s 23 points from the bench were the team’s best effort this season.
“What was particularly pleasing today was our defensive effort,” said Ipswich coach Adam Robinson.
“We’ve scored 100 today when, ironically, we actually shot pretty poorly. But holding them to 59, when they scored 92 in our last game, was really satisfying.”