Leeds Carnegie win nail biter against Westminster Warriors

An injury hit Carnegie side worked hard throughout the game with progression in the competition on their minds. Both teams’ came out with offense being the early focus, this led to an open and exciting game for the crowd to enjoy. Leeds managed to edge the opening exchanges holding a 3 point lead after the first period.

Both teams then started to tighten up their defense and the second period saw Carnegie and Westminster exchange baskets as neither was able to take control of the game. This enabled Carnegie to head to the locker room for the half time break with a slender 3 point lead.

Leeds came out and stepped out their defensive effort another gear as they limited Westminster to just 14 points in the third period. With a 6 point lead to take into the final quarter Carnegie looked to limit the Warriors offensive threats further. Westminster however continued to work hard on both ends and the victory for Carnegie wasn’t secured until the closing moments with Jack Stannard at the free throw line.

Leeds’ scoring was led by Rowell Graham-Bell with 16 points supported by 15 points from Branimir Mikulic. Westminster was led by a game high 18 points from Olabiyi Odumosu.

Leeds Carnegie Head Coach Matt Newby was pleased with his team’s determination saying “In a tough encounter we showed a great deal of resolve when early foul trouble saw our rotation shortened further and the opposition at the line frequently. We showed a more aggressive nature defensively but allowed the Warriors to break into the paint frequently which caused us problems at times. I thought Westminster were great on the glass and we had to fight for every possession whether that was on the boards or on the floor and the physical nature of their game taught us a few lessons”

Carnegie needed to wait on the result of Sunday’s game between Newham Neptunes and Team Northumbria before their home quarter-final tie would be confirmed. With Nehwam beating Northumbria 63-54 Carnegie can look forward to a home quarter-final match up in January against either Tees Valley Mohawks or Worthing Thunder.

In a bizarre twist of fate Carnegie will get an early look at the Mohawks this weekend as both teams open up their League campaigns. The Mohawks will visit the Leeds Metropolitan University Sports Arena this Sunday as Leeds look to get their league challenge off on the right foot. The game tips off at 4:00pm and tickets are available through the club’s website.

Story – Leeds Carnegie