With seasons drawing to a close, every result in BUCS Basketball matters. Freshered has summarised all the action from last week, which you do not want to miss. This includes tight title deciders, and a team running the dominant force in their league right to the buzzer.
Men’s Premier North
Last week only saw one game in the Premier North. The fixture between Manchester Met and Loughborough was the 30th, and final match for this season’s league. There was nothing but pride to play for this week, as the two teams had already confirmed their league positions in the games previous to this one. Loughborough claimed third place, and will attribute losses to the top two teams as stinting their promotion challenge. Just one place below them is Manchester Met, whose fourth place finish reflects a typical mid-table finish, where neither promotion or relegation was on the table.
Loughborough travelled to Manchester Met having come out on top in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. History seemingly repeated itself, coming out 77-72 victors in a close affair. A seventh win of the season means the team from Loughborough finished six points off top. Manchester Met‘s sixth defeat of the season sees them 12 points above relegation, but nine points away from third.
Women’s Premier North
With only two game left to conclude the season, Loughborough had an opportunity to draw level on 21 points with Durham. They could potentially find themselves as the victors of the Premier North, but this seemed unlikely given Durham‘s far superior goal difference. A game against bottom side Manchester Met meant it was possible. However, a dominant 97-18 victory meant they were able to finish on 21 points, but in the end fell 30 points short of the title. As a result, Durham were crowned the champions of the Premier North. The other fixture saw a 86-70 victory for Northumbria mean they leapfrogged opponents Edinburgh into fourth place. Both teams ended on 15 points, with identical records. Northumbria finished above due to the far superior points difference.
Men’s Premier South
Three games, all carrying significance, took place in Premier South this week. Before the matches this week, the top three teams were separated by just three points. Solent were out in front with 21 points, closely followed by East London and Bournemouth, on 18. A clash between top of the table and bottom placed Brunel provided Solent with the perfect opportunity to stay in first. However, in a shock result, Solent were condemned to their third defeat of the season 82-74 by a Brunel team who were yet to win this season. With the team in pole position faltering, the teams in second and third had an opportunity to draw level on points. East London and Bournemouth did just that, defeating Essex and UWE respectively. With the season concluded, three teams finished level on points. However, Solent ended up in first, given their superior points difference.
Women’s Premier South
With the standing already decided, first placed Essex faced off against East London, who face a relegation playoff to try and save their position in the Premier South. If East London are able to play as they did against Essex, they should prevail in this playoff. Although they fell to defeat, their eighth of the season, the game couldn’t be closer, with Essex coming out 76-75 victors. In the other game, Solent confirmed their third place finish with their season’s sixth win, defeating fourth placed Hertfordshire 72-44.
Result of the Week
The title this time has to go to Essex 76-75 East London, given the result was as close as it possibly could be.