WEYMOUTH MISSION FITNESS BANDITS 65

EXETER NOMADS 59

THE Bandits made their way through to the next round of the Exeter & District Cup with a narrow win over the Nomads.

Having beaten the Nomads in their first game of the season, confidence was high in the Bandits’ ranks, but the Exeter side were out for revenge themselves.

Some big three-pointers got the Nomads off to a good start before Vitoldas Balciunas and Jake Kinder, inset, took over and settled early nerves to put the home team 18-15 up.

The second quarter started at a high tempo and both Kinder and Craig Sorrell kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Bandits.

Exeter were rattled and didn’t like the home team’s intense defence, leaving the Bandits to increase their advantage to 34-25.

Entering the third quarter, Weymouth looked to exploit their opponents’ weaknesses, but the Nomads weren’t giving up just yet.

Weymouth had to work hard at both ends of the floor to keep their lead at 51-40.

The Nomads really came out fighting for the last quarter, forcing the Bandits into several mistakes that resulted in them giving away points.

All the intensity in the Bandits’ play had gone but they did enough to hold out for the win.

Bandits’ coach Alex Fuhrman said: “Vitoldas Balciunas and Jake Kinder had big games, scoring points and getting rebounds, but it was a dogged win against a rattled Nomads team.

“All credit to my team for keeping cool and getting a good win.”

Bandits: Vitoldas Balciunas 17, Jake Kinder 16, Craig Sorrell 11, Chris Canham 8, Carl Carter 4, Joel Franks 4, Brett Dunster 2, Jim DeBertrand 2, Andy Steel 1, Richard Camp.

MVP: Jake Kinder