Cowboys caught cold at College (From Dorset Echo)

Cowboys caught cold at College

8:50am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Other sport By Echo Reporter

WEYMOUTH COWBOYS 63 HYTHE BUCKS 72

WEYMOUTH Cowboys were left frustrated after being shot down by Hythe Bucks at Weymouth College.

The Cowboys seemed to come out slowly against their opponents and were 4-0 down after three minutes before three-pointers from Sam Dodge and Dan Campbell opened the home team’s account.

Coach Alex Fuhrmann called a time-out midway through the first quarter to rally the troops and with a change in personnel and defence, the Cowboys finished the quarter strongly with hard work inside from Rob Legg and strong driving from Giles Heaman resulting in points.

At the start of the second quarter, Weymouth were again slow out of the blocks and allowed Hythe to open up an 11-point lead.

With emphasis placed on the zone press and an injection of intensity in the form of Steve Howlett, the home side were then able to cause turnovers and bring the deficit back to five (32-27) by the halfway stage as the game remained tight.

The third quarter was much better for the Cowboys as they used their intensity from defence to generate their offence. Andy Steel started to dominate in the key and with excellent defence and passing from Sam Dodge, the hosts finally drew level, setting up an enthralling final period.

Unfortunately though, as has been the case for most of this season, the Cowboys were unable to maintain their good play as Hythe repeatedly broke down the press defence to score easy baskets on their way to a 72-63 success.

Fuhrmann said: “It seemed to me like there were only a few players out there giving 100 per cent. I’m thankful to those guys that stepped up as we would have got hammered without them.

“If the other guys are willing to put in the same effort then we will definitely beat them in our next encounter.”

Cowboys: Andy Steel 16, Dan Campbell 13, Sam Dodge 10, Giles Heaman 9, Jack Speary 7, Rob Legg 4, Steve Howlett 2, Fillipo Romano 2, Eric Olson.

Game MVP: Sam Dodge