WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL: WARWICKSHIRE Bears fell short of reaching the national play-off finals for a third consecutive year after being defeated by London Titans at the weekend.
The Bears narrowly missed out on their ambition following a nail biting and enthralling game that went down to the final buzzer.
But it was London Titans who held out to finish in second place in the 1st Division South.
From tip-off, the Titans came out strong – breaking down Bears’ defence and making the most of the opportunities presented to them as Bears found it hard to follow through on their chances to equalise.
Titans took a strong early lead into the end of the first quarter at Bears 8-15 Titans.
In the second quarter, Bears were able to start cutting Titans’ lead with Ben Haigh and Jacob Robinson starting to find their shooting range.
Titans were able to match the Bears scoring and went into the half time with scores Bears 21 – 31 London Titans.
The third quarter was once a close game, with Bears unable to claw back any of the Titans early success and both teams went basket for basket to set up a thrilling last quarter with Titans still in a slight lead – Bears 39-47 Titans.
The final quarter was a nail biting end to the high stakes game, as Bears made once last charge to try and get in touch with the Titans and were able to get within four points before the experienced Titans team were able to shut them out once again.
Head coach Tom Masterson said: “The team are really disappointed at the moment to lose out today, but on reflection they should be proud of what they have achieved this season and how well they have done in their first year in this division.
“For them to be disappointed in not making the play-offs shows the ambition of these players and the club and we will come back next season better and stronger and hopefully make another push for the top spot and play-off.”
Bears are next in action when the Bears 2 go to the national play-offs on the weekend of 2nd/3rd June at Worcester Arena.
