Great Britain’s Lee Manning finished the season top of the rebounds standings in División de Honor at the end of a league season where GB internationals have starred in Spain.
It’s been a successful season for the 16 GB athletes playing for clubs in Spain’s top division, and, while no British player may have been part of the title winning side of Bidaideak Bilbao BSR, GB internationals have continued to impress with standout performances throughout the season.
With all 22 league games now complete, Harry Brown, Gaz Choudhry, Ben Fox, Lee Manning and Kyle Marsh ended the 2020/21 season as the highest placed British players in the league table. All five athletes were influential in BSR Amiab Albacete’s second-placed finish, level on points with BSR ACE Gran Canaria and Mideba Extremadura.
Albacete and Mideba met on the final day of the season and, despite George Bates scoring 23 points for Mideba, Albacete secured a 61:77 victory over their opponents to clinch second-spot.
Albacete’s Lee Manning scored eight points against Mideba and collected a game-high 15 rebounds as he ended the season top of the league’s overall standings for total rebounds – 249 rebounds at an average of 12.5 per game.
Gaz Choudhry recorded his 10th double-double of the season, posting 17 points and a game-leading 10 assists for Albacete, ending the season in the league’s top-five for both points and assists. Kyle Marsh also scored 17 points in Badajoz, along with seven assists to place in this season’s top-10 for assists.
Harry Brown and Ben Fox have also both been regulars in the Albacete team, playing key roles on court, with Fox’s two-point conversion rate the best in the league, closely followed by Manning.
George Bates has been Mideba’s top points scorer and he ended the 2020/21 campaign with a team-high 23 points against Albacete, placing him in the league’s top-five for points scored this season.
Phil Pratt finished the season with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, along with four assists taking his season assists tally to 186 (8.9 average), the third-highest in the league.
Billy Bridge scored eight points versus Albacete to end his first season back in Spain by helping Mideba to a top-four finish.
James MacSorley’s BSR ACE Gran Canaria separated Albacete and Mideba in the table in third. MacSorley has featured in every game for Gran Canaria this season, scoring six points in their final game win against Servigest Burgos, 67:80.
Will Bonner and Lee Fryer scored six and 10 points, respectively, as their debut seasons in Spain came to an end for Burgos.
The league season ended with a double header for Terry Bywater and Gregg Warburton as CD Ilunion claimed two wins on the final weekend. Bywater scored 14 points and Warburton eight in Ilunion’s 49:69 win away at Fundacion FDI Las Rozas on Saturday.
On Sunday, Bywater recorded 25 points, a game-high 11 assists and nine rebounds as Ilunion ended their league campaign with a 106:44 victory against Fundacion Vital Zuzenak. Warburton scored four points as Ilunion’s attentions now turn to winning a 11th consecutive Copa del Rey title at the beginning of next month (5-6 June).
Bywater’s total of 25 points on Sunday included five three-pointers taking his total of maximums scored this season to 30, a total scored with the second-best three-point conversion percentage in the league.
It’s been a mixed season for Abdi Jama’s Amivel, who lost 74:80 in overtime to Iberconsa Amfiv in their final game. Jama has been virtually ever-present for Amivel this season, totalling over 740 minutes on court, scoring 239 points, including 12 against Amfiv on Saturday.
Lewis Edwards is also a player that has been virtually ever-present, playing the full game for Amfiv in 16 of their league games this season, including during Saturday’s overtime win, a game Edwards scored 12 points in.
Sam Mack has also featured in every game for Amfiv, scoring two points in their final game against Amivel.
The season isn’t quite over yet for the athletes playing for Amivel, BSR ACE Gran Canaria, BSR Amiab Albacete, CD Ilunion, Mideba Extremadura and Iberconsa Amfiv with those clubs in action in the Copa del Rey during the weekend of 5-6 June.
