Nottingham Trent’s basketball team cruised to victory over Uni of Nottingham in the Varsity clash at David Ross Sports Village.
NTU silenced a loud crowd at Uni of Nottingham’s David Ross Sports Village to run out 103-81 winners.
Cheers from the Trent side of the crowd greeted the final buzzer which confirmed a result that had been clear from the middle of the third quarter.
NTU brought up their ton with a three-pointer from Hesro Johnson III which rubbed salt into the already sore UoN wounds.
Trent won the tip-off courtesy of Toto Fagbenle, who was also responsible for first bucket of the contest after intercepting a wayward UoN pass, he ran the length of the floor to lay it in.
Trent started with some lockdown defence and it wasn’t until UoN’s fourth trip down the floor that they got on the scoreboard – thanks to a three-pointer from their point-guard and captain Ben Holland.
UoN’s Theo Riley was responsible for the game’s first dunk which put them 11-9 up after four minutes.
Andrew Vickers was a shining light for Trent throughout – he was automatic from three in the first quarter and was more than comfortable in the mid range. He was crowned finals MVP just eight days ago as NTU won the BUCS Trophy final over Hertfordshire 89-76.
Vickers was assisted throughout by his co-stars Logan Bailey and Victor Olarerin – all three play for the Nottingham Hoods.
Trent led 49-42 at the end of the first half thanks to a brilliant solo three-pointer from Olarerin.
The game was fairly even through the first two quarters but Trent’s quality from three gave them a decisive advantage.
The game entered the third quarter and the quality of a Trent side – who finished top of the Midlands league with a 10-0 record – began to tell and they opened up a comfortable gap which was as wide as 17 points at one stage.
Trent’s dominance was shown by a statement dunk from Olarerin which sent the travelling fans wild.
The tempo of the game was breathless from the start and it was only a couple of minutes before the bench was called on and the rotations were frequent with a lot of guys getting a lot of minutes for both sides.
UoN didn’t help themselves, they had plenty of opportunities from the free-throw line, but the conversion rate left a lot to be desired.
At the end of the third quarter Trent led a comfortable 77-63.
As the fourth quarter progressed Vickers and Olarerin were making it rain from three, as Trent pulled clear.
With four minutes to go Vickers took his seat on the bench and was soon joined by both Bailey and Olarerin – their work was done.