ARISSOL & OFMAN CONNECT-4 A MONSTER 50 POINTS TO OVERCOME THRASH THE STARS

Image Courtesy of Dan Crowther

Andre Arissol and Jakub Ofman combined for 50 to ease past the London Stars with a 96-59 win on the Kestrels’ return to the Solent Sports Complex on Saturday evening. However, both had a somewhat slow start to the game, with the first bucket coming in an unusual manor as Ashley Briggs nailed a right wing three just 10 seconds into the game, to the delight of his teammates who shot up out of their seats on the bench.

Elijah Lotriet was brought into the home side’s starting five and was rewarded from an early inbounds play that gave the Kestrels an early 5-0 lead. Briggs kept up his quick start, utilising a switch inside on the smaller Brandon Moncrieffe to spin and finish off the window. The Stars maintained pace against the Kestrels, the first bucket coming from their leading scorer across the season in Ryan Martin and the second from the three-point sniper Nojus Zajankauskas with a deep shot from downtown over Lotriet’s outstretched arm. The Kestrels’ response? Another Briggs three, making it 17-8.

A scoreless few minutes, until Ofman found his shooting form from last weekend, hitting an open three at the top of the key with two minutes left in the first quarter. Solent were controlling the pace and flow of the game, but an energy infused Martin drove into the collapsed defence, finishing with contact and halted their hold on the game. Zajankauskas poked the ball away from Ethan Round the next defensive possession and his lay-up attempt was goal-tended by Ofman, and just like that the teams were back to a 4-point game at 17-13. A late Kestrels run to close out the first quarter extended the lead back to a comfortable margin, handing them the offensive momentum going in the second period.

Round fielded that momentum in his shot making, with a nifty left-handed finish over the 6’9 Martin and a tight cross to create space against Zajankauskas opened him up for a three-point shot, that he comfortably drained. The younger lineup of the Kestrels utilised by Matt Guymon and Jack O’Keeffe throughout the second quarter, continued where the starting unit kicked off, using the spring in their steps to disrupt the Stars offence. Rotation back to the starting unit, with Wayne Kitenge filling in for the foul-plagued Briggs, allowed Arissol to find his range from downtown and hitting a three in front of the Kestrels as the London Stars were delayed on the switch.

Arissol’s leadership triggered effective half court sets, with the Kestrels family in the stands bringing a wave of noise after each bucket. The added noise put wind behind the sails of the Kestrels offense, that man again Arissol pushing the pace in transition to finish past two Stars defenders, not once, not twice but three times. The AA burst of battery gave the home side a 43-29 lead at the break.

Arissol didn’t run out of charge to start the second half, a trademark three-point celebration to the crowd after getting his defender in the air and hitting right in front of the Kestrels family. The away side needing to bridge the gap, began to build some pressure on their shoulders, and anger starting to seep through the cracks with Jay Jarrett receiving a technical foul after he thought he was fouled on a close-range jump shot. The lead building and building, the defence of the Kestrels not giving the away side any room, and the quick transition offence gifting Dawid Cimochowski a dunk, with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

Javen Osei-Owusu tasked with marking Martin in the second half, but the 17-year-old certainly did not shy away from the challenge, forcing the centre into a travel violation and invigorating the Itchen College players making up the five on the floor to end the 3^rdquarter. The final possession of the period, the clock winding down and Ofman calling bank with a deep three and sinking the heads of the London Stars players.

Despite their extensive 83-52 lead, the Kestrels kept pushing, with Arissol and Durand remaining on the floor until the closing two minutes, and the latter adding to his points total for the evening. Shared buckets in transition closed out the game, Chimo being the standout around the rim and complete another dominant win, totalling an impressive 12 points off the bench.

Box score - FIBA LiveStats

Watch the game back - https://www.youtube.com/live/oMTR_TNUf9g?si=rqrKHIJqcgjxw9RG

The Kestrels keep the win streak alive and have 12 wins across the season and with four games left to play, they are making a strong case for the NBL Division One Pool B title. They now have a two-game road trip, this coming weekend at Cobham on Sunday and the following week against title rivals Barnet Bulldogs.

They won’t return back to the Solent Sports Complex until the 7^th of March against CoLA Pride, who beat the Kestrels in the reverse fixture. Tickets for that game can be purchased here - D1 Men vs. City of London Academy Southwark Pride - NBL Division 1 Men | Team Solent Kestrels