Carnegie Make BBL Debut And More

The result didn’t go to plan as Carnegie were comfortably beaten 48-84 by an experienced Rocks roster. This didn’t however dampen the carnival atmosphere of the record crowd at the Leeds Metropolitan University Sports Arena.

Branimir Mikulic led Carnegie’s scoring with 12 points whilst Russell Permenter contributed an impressive double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds on his debut. Glasgow’s scoring was led by GB International Gareth Murray with 17 points.

This game provided a good benchmark for Carnegie as they will join the BBL fully next season and they will spend the coming months looking to build and develop the club both on and off the court.

Carnegie looked to regroup overnight before their critical Division One clash with top of the table Hemel Storm on Saturday.

Carnegie opened the game strongly on the back of 5 points from Jack Stannard in the opening quarter but Hemel were able to secure a narrow two point lead by the end of the period with some impressive interior offense.

Leeds quickly countered this in the second quarter and another Stannard basket gave them a 5 point lead with just 3 minutes of the second period gone. However Hemel continued to battle and regained the lead with a basket from Bode Adeluola with 3:55 left in the half. They continued to open up their lead but a Rafi Saipe score with 14 seconds left in the half cut the Storm’s lead to just 5 points at the half time break.

Hemel dominated the majority of the third quarter and a free throw from Tom Adorian gave them their biggest lead of the game, 9 points, with just 4:43 of the period left.

Carnegie however then went on a 14-7 run to finish the quarter and brought Hemel to within just 2 points.

The final quarter turned into a back and forth battle as both teams traded baskets as they looked to secure the victory.

Carnegie’s hopes of victory were high when a Josh McGinn three pointer gave them a two point lead with just 3:36 to go.

Hemel however stuck to their game plan and an impressive 7 points from Bode Adeluola in the last 3:38 secured them the 64-67 win.

Carnegie’s scoring was led by Jack Stannard with 20 points supported by Branimir Mikulic with 15 points. Bode Adeluola led all scorers with 36 points for Hemel Storm.

This result has left Carnegie in 7th place in the league with a 7 win and 7 loss record. They will now prepare for this Saturday’s National Trophy quarter-final against Worthing Thunder. The game tips off at 4:30pm and tickets are available through the club’s website.

Story – Leeds Carnegie