A trip to the Westcountry awaits Derby Trailblazers this weekend as they travel to SGS College in
Filton to take on Bristol Flyers II. The Flyers have had a torrid start to BCB life and are still looking
for the first win, having lost their 22 league games by an average of just over 32 points, meaning
they are destined to finish bottom of the league table.
This will be the third meeting between the two sides, with the Trailblazers having delivered a
crushing 123-65 defeat in the Trophy in September, before grinding out an 88-78 league win over
the Flyers in November.
That was Derby’s first game without the services of Harland Beverly and Evan Oliver, who had
flown home for treatment following injuries but never returned. Their absence the Blazers with just
seven senior players and was the main reason for the much closer result.
Raheem May-Thompson led the scorning with thirteen points, with Mo Walker adding twelve and
Jai Pathmarajah ten.
Bristol’s ongoing search for success has seen no less than twenty players suit up for them this
season, with some playing as few as two or three games and only three of them having featured in
every match.
Of those, Nassim Ladjimi leads the Flyers with 13.9 points and 2,9 rebounds per game. Lanre
Ayinla provides 11 points 4.2 rebounds, while Ebuka Ekwegh adds 10.8 points and 3.9 rebounds
and Giuseppi Landolfi (who top-scored against Derby with 13 in the reverse league fixture)
averages 8.8 points and 1.8 rebounds.
Derby head into the game off the back of consecutive wins over Yorkshire Dragons and Milton
Keynes Breakers, which have moved them into the play-off places and Head Coach Kyle
Henderson is keen to keep that momentum rolling over the final five league games:
“We can’t afford to look at where they are in the league table and go there complacent just
because they haven’t won a game. They have the ability to compete and pushed Bristol Hurricanes
close a couple of weeks ago, I think they have improved over the course of the season.
“We can’t switch off and as far as I’m concerned, we will go into the game with the mindset that
they’re a top-four team, just like we did against Yorkshire and Milton Keynes, because that’s the
only way you can win games at this stage of the season,” he said.
Saturday’s game is a 6:30 PM tip-off at SGS College WISE Campus in Bristol and for those who
are unable to attend, a video stream should be available via CLICK ME!
alongside LiveStats via CLICK ME!
