WEYMOUTH BANDITS 54 WINCHESTER KNIGHTS 63

WEYMOUTH Bandits are still looking for their first win of the season after falling to the Knights.

Going into their third Solent League Division One game of the campaign after consecutive defeats to two of the top sides, the Bandits were hopeful of registering their first victory against Winchester.

Weymouth started the first quarter aggressively with Chris Canham driving to the basket and drawing fouls from the Winchester side as Giles Heaman and Jim de Bertrand got early scores.

Despite finding early success with composed offence and suffocating defence, the Weymouth side momentarily lost their intensity.

Winchester’s 11-point run in the final two minutes of the period was only answered by Josh Turner’s three-point shot to leave the hosts trailing 15-12.

Weymouth regained their composure during the second quarter and scored through Canham, Sam Brown and Max Gilmartin.

The Bandits’ defence forced the Knights into making turnovers which resulted in more Weymouth points in transition.

This included a fast break lay up from Jay Willson, who was making his debut for the Bandits.

Brown also made his rebounding presence felt at both ends of the court.

Weymouth’s defence stifled the Knights into scoring only three points in the quarter with the Bandits taking a 24-18 lead into half-time.

The third period started with the two sides exchanging baskets tit-for-tat.

Weymouth’s Carl Carter stepped up, scoring six points with strong moves to the basket in a four-minute stretch.

The hosts combined this with periods of more stagnant attacking and sloppy fouls which allowed Winchester to get into an offensive rhythm and earn second chance baskets by dominating rebounding.

Weymouth’s Scott White, another up-and-coming player making his Bandits’ debut, made his athleticism count on the offence boards, landing a strong put back basket despite drawing contact from the Winchester defender.

Going into the fourth and final quarter with the scores at 43-39, the game was there for the team that wanted it most.

However, Winchester went on a timely run of 14 points to just one from Weymouth as the hosts’ defence struggled to contain their two best players.

This was answered only by Carter and Canham getting to the foul line.

Weymouth could not regain the deficit lost at the start of the quarter and the Winchester side finished with a nine-point victory.

Coach Alex Fuhrmann summed up the mood of the Weymouth players.

He said: “This is a disappointing loss. We were the better side for three quarters of that game, with very good spells on offence and defence.

“Unfortunately, in the short spells that this lapsed we were unable to do enough to keep the advantage that we had earned.

“We have to learn to raise our game in these slumps in order to earn victories in these kind of games.”

Bandits: Chris Canham 15, Carl Carter 8, Sam Brown 6, Giles Heaman 5, Jim de Bertrand 5, Josh Turner 5, Max Gilmartin 4, Jay Willson 4, Scott White 2.

Weymouth MVP: Chris Canham