Thames Valley pulled off a statement win against Hemel in what was perhaps the game of the weekend, whilst Bradford moved to 2-0 with a narrow victory in Oaklands and Derby blew out local rivals Nottingham.
There was also a commanding win for D2 side Myerscough in the L Lynch Trophy as they easily handled a rotated roster from D1 side Team Newcastle.
We have a recap of the games below, and each result is also clickable if you wish to view the live stats.
In the battle of two previously undefeated teams, it was hosts Thames Valley that came out on top against Hemel, securing a 107-97 win.
The Cavs had American Seth Hawley to thank for the result, with the guard dropping a game high 31 points on a 12-18 shooting performance that involved going 6-9 from range. The Fort Smith, Arkansas native also added eight rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals to his final stat line.
The hosts led this one for the majority, though Hemel did manage to get the difference down to a single point early in the fourth quarter. Baskets from Hawley, Freckleton (18pts, 4rbs, 7ast, 3stl, 2blk) and Hakeem Sylla (23pts, 8rbs,2blk) would make it a double digit game once again though as TVC stayed in control until the final buzzer.
The Storm's ability to keep the game close was mainly due to a massive performance from forward Greg Poleon, who will be disappointed that his 29 point, 16 rebound double-double was in vain.
Oaklands are still waiting for their first win of the new season as they fell 89-85 at home to Bradford Dragons.
A big three pointer from Bradford's Dave Walsh with 20 seconds on the clock ended Wolves hopes of a first league win as they slipped to 0-4 on the year.
Thomas Baker's side had fought back from a 17 point third period deficit before just coming up short down the stretch and - despite being obviously frustrated by the result, the Wolves play-caller had praise for his team: "This one was tough to take" he said. "I thought we had it but unfortunately it got away from us."
"We needed to show a bit more belief on the offensive end and fight a bit harder on the defensive end. Nevertheless we are heading in the right direction, we must keep pushing ourselves to get better every game."
Dragons coach Chris Mellor was impressed with the young Wolves team: "We never really got into any kind of rhythm but credit to Oaklands they played hard and we never could quite put the game out of reach" he said.
"65 fouls in the game added to the entertainment along with 86 free throws, I’m just relieved we got the win and didn’t run out of players."
Derby had no issues handling local rivals Nottingham Hoods in the remaining D1M game of the weekend, running out 96-56 winners.
Leading 49-32 at the half, Derby used an early 12-0 run to truly put the result beyond doubt as they won the third quarter 26-9.
American Jacob Conway once again impressed, finishing with 25 points on a 10-14 shooting day to go with four rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Victor Olarerin led the way for Nottingham with a team-high 25 points.
There was a similarly one sided contest in the lone L Lynch Trophy game from this weekend as D2 side Myerscough surprised top tier side Team Newcastle University 100-53.
A 26-2 run to end the half put Myerscough in control, and despite a low scoring third quarter, the hosts then padded their lead further in the final 10 minutes.
Myerscough captain Great Osobor top scored with 22 points to go with eight boards, whilst a heavily rotated Newcastle side that didn't feature standouts Ronald Blain, David Moya, Brandon Federici and a number of their other starters were paced by 25 points from John Cork.
Myerscough conclude their group games this evening with a game against Derby, which tips at 7:45pm and will be available to view on the Basketball England YouTube channel.
In the words of Ron Burgundy, "Boy that escalated quickly."@GreatOsobor sparked a 26-2 run to end the half. He's got 15 points (6-6 FG) to lead all scorers at the break. pic.twitter.com/k20IrsoKMf
— Myerscough Basketball (@My_bball) December 5, 2020
2pm - Nottingham Hoods 56-96 Derby Trailblazers - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM
5:45pm - Oaklands Wolves 58-89 Bradford Dragons - LIVE STATS
4pm - L Lynch Trophy - Team Newcastle University 53-100 Myerscough College - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM
6:30pm - Thames Valley Cavaliers 107-97 Hemel Storm - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM
Main image credit - Alex Daniel Photography
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