Derby Trailblazers 88 (24, 50, 61) } BCB League
Bristol Flyers II 78 (22, 50, 64) }

An understrength Derby Trailblazers side needed a strong fourth quarter to put away a much-
improved Bristol Flyers side who were clearly hungry for their first win. The absence of both Evan
Oliver and Harlond Beverly Jnr through injury meant it was a battle between two all-British rosters,
but the Trailblazers experience eventually helped them over the line with an 88-78 home win.

Jai Pathmarajah relished the opportunity of getting his first start of the season, leading Derby’s
attack with an impressive 27 points, five rebounds, eight assists, one steal and one block, while Mo
Walker just missed out on a double-double, finishing with 24 points, nine rebounds, three assists
and two blocks.

Raheem May-Thompson continued his solid start to the season, with 17 points, seven rebounds,
two assists, two steals and three blocks, while captain Rob Marsden finished with ten points,
twelve rebounds and four assists.

Credit should also go to Charlie Brown, who racked up over 37 minutes of court time, running the
point efficiently in the absence of Oliver, finishing with two points, four rebounds and six assists.
Guiseppi Landolfi led the Flyers with 18 points, three rebounds and four assists, while Lanre Ayilna
and Nassim Ladjimi each added 13 points and Reggie Eigbe finished with ten points and seven
rebounds.

It was the visitors who opened the scoring, as Yusef Hafid stole the ball and sprinted down court
for a driving lay-up before the two sides then traded baskets over the next couple of minutes. An 8-
nil run in which Pathmarajah and Marsden shared all the points broke the game open, but after
another tight exchange, Bristol closed the gap with a 6-nil run of their own.

Walker snapped their run with a pair of free-throws before Landolfi converted from outside to make
it a one-point game. Academy star Casey Burr then netted his first senior point as he split a pair of
free-throws to make it 24-22 at the first break.

Ashton Dyer opened the second quarter with a three-pointer for the Flyers and after a response
from Walker, a basket from Landolfi was followed by a steal and a dunk by Eigbe to make it 29-26
with 8’36” on the clock.

Walker responded with a lay-up but then missed a pair of free-throw which could have restored the
lead. Instead, Ladjimi struck from outside the arc, only to be matched by Burr as he sank a long
range shot from the corner off an assist from Marsden.

A lay-up from Landolfi along with a second triple from Ladjimi had Derby needing to take a time-out
at 37-31 with 6’57” on the clock. They got the response they were looking for in the form of eight
straight points to restore their lead, before a quick-fire exchange of baskets saw the two sides tied
at 50-all at the end of a high-scoring first half.

Both sides stepped up defensively after the break, with Conner Washington eventually putting
Derby 57-56 ahead with his only three-pointer of the game. However, the Flyers struck back with
an 8-nil run, prompting a time-out from the Blazers, as they trailed 64-57 with 2’55” left in the third.
The response came with a basket from Pathmarajah and a dunk from May-Thompson to trim the
gap to three points, before Walker put Derby back in front with back-to-back scores at the start of
the fourth quarter.

After a response from Eigbe, Pathmarajah and Walker combined for seven straight points to open
up a six-point advantage, but the Flyers were far from done. They produced a 9-3 run which was
capped off by a triple from Eigbe to tie the scores at 75-all with 3’07” left.

Once again, it was Pathmarajah and Walker to the rescue. The pair combined for nine straight
points and with both Nikos Sagkovits and Eigbe fouling out, Bristol’s quest for a first win was not
going to be completed on this occasion.

In the closing seconds, Ayinla and Walker exchanged scores, before one of the highlights of the
game saw Pathmarajah steal the ball and charge down court for an emphatic dunk to give Derby
their biggest lead of the game at 88-77. Ladjimi then split a pair of free-throws, as the Trailblazers
sealed their third win of the league season.

Trailblazers Head Coach Kyle Henderson was relieved to have got the job done in difficult
circumstances: “Full credit to Bristol. They’re hungry for their first win and with us being short-handed, I’m sure they sensed this could have been their opportunity. They’ve added a few names to their roster to help support that and they showed up, particularly in the first half, when they dropped fifty points and we had a hard time taking care of our defensive end.
“We always knew it was going to be a battle because they play at a fast pace and without Evan
and HB, it was time for people to step up and credit to Jai, Mo, Raheem in particular, but all of the
guys stepped up.

I thought Mo and Rob contributed points and rebounds, Charlie distributed the ball well and Jai
was sensational. We needed a scorer because we were missing Evan who’s one of the best
scorers in the league and Jai took that on his shoulders and stepped up to that challenge.

“I think the key to getting across the line was not letting the first half or the third quarter get to us,
because we had a terrible third quarter offensively and then we just needed to make sure we were
resilient when it mattered in the fourth. We made the right plays on both end of the court, making
stops and getting scores,” he said.

Derby: Pathmarajah 27, Walker 24, May-Thompson 17, Marsden 10, Burr 4, Washington 4, Brown 2, Lawrence DNP, Lemon DNP, Norman DNP.

Bristol: Landolfi 18, Ayinla 13, Ladjimi 13, Eigbe 10, Craggs 8, Hafid 7, Sagkovits 6, Dyer 3, Bhebhe 0,
Matthews 0, Simba 0, Brown 0.

The Trailblazers are back in action next Saturday, as they welcome Hemel Storm to the Clarence
Wiggins Sports Centre for a 7:30 tip off.