TWO FROM TWO ON DOUBLE HEADER WEEKEND FOR KESTRELS
- Team Solent Kestrels
- Nov 4
- 3 min read
Kestrels took home a pair of victories from the SSC this pay weekend as they handed London Lions II a 102-46 defeat in NBL Division 1. Before dispatching Brent Bulls in the Men’s National Cup Round of 16, 100-49, to set up a quarter final clash with Saturdays opponents London Lions II on Sunday 30th November 2025. Saturdays triumph means Kestrels now love to 4-1 in the league ahead of a tough set of November fixtures.
Saturday was a true team effort with no less than 5 players in double figures, led by Andre Arissol’s 15 points and followed up 14 and 11 points for Jakub Ofman and Ethan Round. Sundays cup win saw Greg Durand back at his best with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, whilst Ash Briggs added 14 points and 10 boards.
Kestrels jumped out to a 12-2 lead early on Saturday evening as they wasted no time in establishing control, through a balanced scoring effort with all 5 starters getting on the board, forcing a Lions timeout. The visitors cut the gap to 6 out of the timeout but that was short lived as Solent closed the period on a 6-0 run behind some powerful Wayne Kitenge moves inside, 26-12 after one. Ethan Round and Greg Durand got the second quarter started with 5 quick points to push the arrears to 19 and by the half way point of the quarter, Durand extended the deficit into the 20s. The one two punch of Andre Arissol and Luke Busumbru closed the half for the hosts, giving them a 49-26 advantage at the half time interval.
The word clinical perhaps best sums up the third quarter for Solent as they poured in 31 points whilst halting any London momentum, limiting them to just 7 points. Ash Briggs scored 4 unanswered to open the half before Arissol and Durand followed suit extended the gap to 31. A 25-3 run through just 6 minutes of the third effectively ended this one as a contest as the Kestrels bench caught fire from beyond the arc, 74-29 to the good. Jakub Ofman closed the quarter with a pair of free throws, that gave Kestrels an 80-33 lead with ten minutes left. Dawid Cimochowski and Ben Cope pushed the lead out to 50 plus as Lions showed no reply. Later in the quarter Cimochowski went baseline and soared for the dunk which further increased the gap to 60 at 99-39, Kestrels eventually winning 102-46.
It was a back and forth start to Sunday’s cup game with Brent Bulls, as the visitors edged ahead at 4-6 before an 8-0 run for Solent forced Brent into an early timeout, 12-6 to the home side. There would be a further exchange of scores post timeout as the lead stayed out at 5, before Andre Arissol beat the first quarter buzzer to give his side a 22-15 advantage after one. Kestrels put on a defensive clinic in the second period as they held the visiting side to just 5 points, holding them scoreless from minute 8 to minute 3 in the quarter. Ash Briggs and Greg Durand did the scoring the for the home team in the early parts of the quarter extending the lead to 21 eventually. Jakub Ofman came off the bench to stroke a triple followed by a Busumbru lay up and an Ash Briggs tip in to take the gap to 26 at the half, 46-20.
Briggs and Durand picked up where they left off in the first half as they scored the first 5 points of the second half for Solent, before Ethan Round and Andre Arissol went back to back on a pair of triples. With no signs of slowing the down the Kestrels lead was out to 37 points when Luke Busumbru went coast to coast to wow the home crowd with a difficult finish and the foul. Kestrels took a 75-38 lead into the final quarter. Kestrels second unit continue to pour on the offensive output in the fourth as Thomas Blower and Cimochowski ticked the scoreboard over, with Ben Cope and Elijah Lotriet providing the scoring late on, Kestrels running out 100-49 winners.
Kestrels continue their home stand this weekend coming where they’ll host Richmond Knights in NBL Division 1 action at the Solent Sports Complex. You can secure tickets for that game and upcoming home games here;
Box Score vs. Lions II
Watch the Game Back
Box Score vs. Brent Bulls
Watch the Game Back
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