Martin Edwards continued his positive return to competitive action with 29 points and a double-double in Italy, while GB internationals continue to be at the centre of Spain’s Division de Honor title race.
After a delay to the start of the season in Italy alongside COVID-19 travel restrictions, Edwards only made his Special Bergamo Sport Montello debut last month, but his game-high points total of 29 points against Dinamo Lab Banco di Sardegna has taken his points tally to 76 across three games (25.33 average).
The 2018 World Champion recorded 14 rebounds and six assists as Bergamo won 69:71 in the first of the games to decide the 5th to 8th placings in Italy.
Last weekend saw the end of the regular season in Germany with Thomas Smith in action twice in two days for Baskets 96 Rahden. Smith scored 17 points to help Rahden claim an important 70:58 victory in the battle for third spot over Hannover United, before posting 13 points and a game-leading nine rebounds in a 62:56 win against BG Baskets Hamburg on Sunday.
Rahden will play Helen Freeman’s RSB Thuringia Bulls in the play-off semi-finals; Thuringia Bulls didn’t play last week after finishing their league campaign the previous weekend. Simon Brown’s and Ian Sagar’s RSV Lahn-Dill will take on Hannover United in the other semi-final.
Brown and Sagar ended the regular season with an 88:73 victory at home to BG Baskets Hamburg. Lahn-Dill had already secured top spot in the table with Brown scoring 12 points and Sagar four points to ensure they head into the end of season play-offs on a high.
In Spain, the battle for the top spot intensified over the weekend with GB athletes at the centre of the title race. Six GB internationals were in action as BSR ACE Gran Canaria beat BSR Amiab Albacete 76:75, thanks to their match-winning basket with just 15 seconds left on the clock.
James MacSorley scored six points for Gran Canaria as they moved one point above Albacete in the table, while, on the other side of the court, Gaz Choudhry scored 23 points for Albacete and posted a game-high 11 assists for his fifth consecutive double-double (also includes a triple-double).
Lee Manning scored 20 points and Kyle Marsh 11 points, with Harry Brown scoring two points and Ben Fox also in action for Albacete.
MacSorley’s Gran Canaria are now only one point behind league leaders Bidaideak Bilbao BSR after Bilbao lost 66:63 to Servigest Burgos, who include Lee Fryer and Will Bonner.
Fryer scored 15 points – his six successive double-digit points haul – while Bonner collected 10 rebounds as Burgos claimed a memorable victory.
George Bates, Billy Bridge and Phil Pratt’s Mideba Extremadura are three points behind Bilbao, but Mideba have played a game less than the three teams above them in the table. Mideba’s latest victory came against Iberconsa Amfiv on Saturday with Bates scoring nine points and Pratt eight points, along with 13 rebounds and five assists, in Mideba’s 50:69 triumph.
Lewis Edwards and Sam Mack both featured for Amfiv, with Edwards scoring two points.
Most Points (GB Players)
29 – Martin Edwards (Italy; Bergamo)
23 – Gaz Choudhry (Spain; Albacete)
20 – Lee Manning (Spain; Albacete)
Most Assists (GB Players)
11 – Gaz Choudhry (Spain; Albacete)
6 – Martin Edwards (Italy; Bergamo); Kyle Marsh (Spain; Albacete)
5 – Phil Pratt (Spain; Mideba)
Most Rebounds (GB Players)
14 – Martin Edwards (Italy; Bergamo)
13 – Phil Pratt (Spain; Mideba)
10 – Will Bonner (Spain; Burgos)
