WEYMOUTH BANDITS 62

WINCHESTER WASPS 70

THE Bandits once again came up just short in their pursuit of a first win in Solent Men’s Division One this season.

Their opponents went into the game on the back of three straight victories while the Bandits were still looking to break their duck.

Vitoldas Balciunas opened the scoring for the Bandits with a strong finish at the basket then the Wasps hit back with six straight points due to some poor defensive rebounding from the hosts.

But that facet of the home side’s game improved, leading to fast break points for Chris Canham.

After their early lapse, Sam Brown, Craig Sorrell and Jim De Bertrand came back strongly to give the Bandits a three-point lead at the end of the first half.

The Bandits had a good start to the second half as fast breaks from Jake Kinder and Canham produced four baskets without reply.

The visitors mounted a comeback late on in the third quarter with strong inside work from Wasps’ centre Sampson.

But the hosts finished the third well and, accurate mid-range shooting from Sorrell and Carl Carter saw them go into the fourth quarter two points to the good.

The Bandits sought to put the game out of the reach but the away side came out all guns blazing, particularly Phillips who scored 10 points with only one in reply.

A two-minute period saw good rebounding from the Bandits and baskets again from Canham and Sorrell, but it was too little, too late again as the Wasps ran out 70-62 winners.

Bandits’ coach Alex Fuhrmann said: “It’s that infamous Wey-mouth lapse that let us down later in the game.

“It’s disappointing for myself and the team that we can’t seem to be able to close out games.

“We just need to tighten up on our defence and start hitting our outside shots, and if we do this I’m confident we will get some wins on the board.

“We have seen some good performances from our younger players at first-team level so far this year and this is very encouraging for the future of the club’s senior basketball.”

Bandits: Chris Canham 18, Craig Sorrell 13, Vitoldas Balciunas 10, Josh Turner 4, Jim De Bertrand 4, Sam Brown 4, Carl Carter 4, Jake Kinder 3, Max Gilmartin 2, Giles Heaman.