Crackers 94
Other 88
The Crackers Basketball side inspired by a team talk behind closed doors before the game and Ward deciding to play through the pain of a toe injury of which he is going to have surgery on pulled out a remarkable victory with only 1 substitution 94-88 in the IBL.
We do not know what was said behind the closed doors but obviosuly coach Petrovic managed to gel the side together for the big occasion. Ward was quoted as saying he was going to shoot the lights out and did just that in the opening minutes. The Crackers playing against the best side in the league according to ref 'Nowitzki' staying close in the early moments as Ward came out shooting and hit his first 3-4 shots to rally the troops. Nenad Petrovic had the marking matchup on 'tall guy' (who dunked all over him last year). The Crackers kept the score close until the arrival of Roxburgh. Roxbrugh then unleashed a huge performance worthy of player of the day had it not been for Jeremy King's quadruple double. King seemed to be in a zone late in the first half and carried it on in the second half to lead the side to a history making win.
The Crackers led at half time 38-34. However they looked to be quikly tiring. It is worth pointing out that the starting side was Petrovic,Ward,King and Anna. Roxburgh came off the bench. Immediately after half time the Crackers found themselves behind and the game appeared to be slipping away. This is when Roxbrugh stepped up. He was just a demon on the boards, leading all players on boards. King and Ward consistently got the ball into him and he easily scored over 20 points. King and Ward also easily racked up over 20 points with Nenad not far behind. The second half was close all the way. The Crackers would keep edging out a small lead only for the other side to come back and take the lead. The side seemed to lift once more when King drove bloody nose lane drew the two giants in and dished an around the back pass to Ward who gobbled up another two points on his way to a career 1st double double, and nearly a triple double. Nenad Petrovic dazzled the crowd when he went around the opposing players back then drove the lane before dishing to Ward who scored.
There is no doubt that the side could not have won without Roxburgh's amazing performance today. He led the side in scoring and rebounding and and seemed to come up with the big shots when the side needed them. A career game for the big man. Petrovic was fantastic on defense always putting his body on the line and dishing great long passes to open players on the fastbreaks. Jeremy King stepped up and played a monster game. He scored over 20 points, grabbed over 10 rebounds, assists and steals. His ability to control the tempo of the game was crucial for the outcome. You could see how badly he wanted to win today. Ward who was replacing Smith in the Shooting Guard role played a blinder. Easily his best game ever he put away the temptation to shoot long 3's and consistently scored driving the lane. He was able to draw fouls on the big men too. His highlight was a fast break where he faked with the right and went reverse left hand to put the Crackers in front again. Anna had a memorable game also. She scored her share of the points and got a couple of blocks.
We salute the Crackers for a fine win. Player of the day was Jeremy King with Roxburgh not far behind. The side was spent at the end and now look to recover over the 3 week holiday period.
Over 20 pts.
Over 10 Rebs.
Over 10 Assists.
Over 10 Steals.