Weekend Reports 18th - 20th November 2016

LEGINUS – BUNYAN LEAD FURY TO SEMI-FINALS SONY CENTRE FURY 73 ST.MIRREN 62 Scottish Senior Men Scottish Cup Quarter-Final

21 pts from Lithuanian Eddy Leginus and 18 (6 threes) from Captain Keith Bunyan were the big numbers that took Fury to the Semi-Finals stage of the Scottish Cup. But it was Greek forward Greg Foussas (10 pts) that sparked Fury and broke Saints in the final quarter. The teams had entered the final stanza tied at 51 apiece after three very close opening periods. But it was Foussas plays that took Fury clear. Leginus also hitting two big threes in that spell. It was Captain Keith Bunyan who had kept Fury in the match scoring almost half their points in the first two quarters with 5 threes, but overall it was once again a great team effort starting with guards Bryan Munnoch and Eddy Leginus who worked tirelessly throughout. Ross Gibson (11 pts) and Walter Lubeigt also produced solid performances and while “14 threes” Adam Hammerschmidt could not replicate his form of the previous week, he contributed throughout. Fury Headcoach John Bunyan told Heraldsport – “We knew we would not be able to come and win by 31 as we did in the League , but we have confidence in our system and we played as a team which saw us through to the semi-finals. Saints fought hard and made us dig deep for the win. Greg Foussas was key down the stretch with several crucial plays that come off our team offence. Our attitude was good in the closing minutes and that was key, with players believing in each other and working hard on the boards, taking 13 to Saints 7 was big. We shot 75% from the line which again was key to Saints 58%. Our field goal % of 40 to Saints 31 and 3pt % of 30 to 20 again showed our execution to be better on the night.”

FURY CADET BOYS LOSE IN DYING SECONDS SONY CENTRE FURY 70 WEST LOTHIAN WOLVES 73 Scottish Cup U16 Boys – Quarter Final

Fury U16 Boys blew a 16 point lead to go out of the Scottish Cup – the Falkirk side had built a well deserved 13 point lead going into the final stanza and were in control with 6 minutes to play when visitors WLW made a push that saw them take the match in the closing seconds of the game. This was only the second loss of the season for the Fury side who played great basketball for three periods, then contrived to make crucial errors down the stretch that stopped them joining the clubs Senior Men, Woman, Cadette Girls and Junior Men in the Scottish Cup semi-finals. Fury had recovered from a poor start to lead the opening stanza 23-20 and increased the lead to 12 at the half with an impressive second period of 26-17 on the back of outstanding shooting from the perimeter from Scotland guard Sam Owens. Fury controlled the boards with Jack Davidson and Louis Smith and continued to stay ahead with an 18-17 third quarter. Scott Lothian was another Fury player who during the opening three periods had shown great skill and it looked as though the Fury Cadets would join their fellow Fury teams in the Final 4 stage as they entered the 4th quarter, 13 points up. A key 3 point shot from Kieran Allan late in the final period restored a 10 point lead for Fury but this was still not enough to stop Wolves momentum as they came through for a 3pt win from the line. Top scorers for Fury were Sam Owens on 19 (6 threes) , Kieran Allan 15 with Scott Lothian and Jack Davidson sharing 24. A special mention also to the hard working Jake Cavannagh, like Davidson an U15 player who stood out in his efforts throughout the match.

FURY SW TOPPLE TAYSIDE WITH BIG 24PT WIN!! SONY CENTRE FURY 82 TAYSIDE MUSKETEERS 58 Scottish Senior Woman Division 1 Championship

Fury Woman brushed aside their future Scottish Cup Semi-Final opponents with one of their biggest wins of the season, achieved on the back of a sensational 52pt first half tally that took them a staggering 22 pts clear at half time. Fury ran their bench throughout the rest of the game, which saw five of their players reach double figure scoring. Leading the Falkirk side was Scotland International forward Laura Nimmo with 22 points. Fury’s guards were again in superb form with Alicia McFadden, Shannon Flippard and Jenna Beattie hitting 16, 14 and 10 respectively. Fury’s former WBBL star Rebecca Lonsdale had 14 points in what was a great team performance. Fury Headcoach John Bunyan praised his side for their performance, in particular their first half points tally, commenting “Going into our match with Tayside they had conceded 52 points per game – we scored that amount in the first half alone, a testimony to our offensive performance, the focus and ability of our side. We stand at 5 and 1 and look forward to our game against the only team in the Championship with a better record than us – by one game – Edinburgh Kool Kats”.

FURY CADETTES COMPLETE 5 – 0 OVER TAYSIDE!! SONY CENTRE FURY 74 TAYSIDE MUSKETEERS 45 Scottish Basketball Championship – CW Division 1

Fury CW continued their winning run with a 29pt win over Tayside. The win also gave the Falkirk side a clean sweep over the Muskies in all 5 Championship Division 1 leagues the clubs contest. Despite a poor start, the Sony sponsored side recovered from being behind 16-14 at the end of the first to take the second stanza 24-6 and a 16 point half time lead. Fury took the third and fourth quarters comfortably and recorded a win that takes them to 3rd in the U16 Girls Division 1 Championship. Leading the Falkirk side was Rosie Wallace with 26 points. Wallace again playing a key role on the boards and on the end of Fury’s breaking offensive play. Starting guard Rachael Penman had a solid game with 22 points and centre Mairi McGill had another solid performance with 14. Off the bench Eabha Kerr had a big game, playing strong defence and contributing strongly in the guard spot. The Cadette League is now at its half-way point and for the Falkirk side to be sitting in 3rd spot and in the Scottish Cup Semi-finals it has proven to be a successful first half!