WEYMOUTH TANDOORI BANDITS 76

PORTSMOUTH SMUGGLERS 64

THE Bandits claimed a third win on the spin with their best performance of the season so far against the Smugglers.

The hosts started the match with a great first quarter to put the visiting team on the back foot.

It was the Bandits’ forwards that did most of the damage with Ian Manley and Dzintars Kalkis combining for eight points to put Weymouth 24-15 ahead.

Portsmouth started to defend the basket much better in the second quarter, giving a chance for the Bandits’ guards to get going.

Player-coach Alex Fuhrmann hit two big three-pointers back-to-back and Julien Lawes sunk one of his own to give the home team a much-needed boost and a 42-32 lead.

In the second half the game started to slow down with the referees getting more involved as the visitors began to show their frustration.

The Weymouth side tried to take advantage of the Smugglers’ mental meltdown but unfortunately the Bandits got into a bit of foul trouble themselves.

Going into the fourth quarter the game quickly got back up to speed with the larger Smugglers’ side on full attack to try and cut the Bandits’ lead.

Fortunately for the hosts, the whole team played great defence with Manley, Kalkis and Fuhrmann making shots to close the match out against one of the strongest sides in division one.

Bandits: Dzintars Kalkis 19, Ian Manley 16, Julien Lawes 14, Alex Fuhrmann 13, Chris Canham 6, Rich Camp 4, Carl Carter 2, Jake Kinder, Jim DeBertrand.