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Cougars beat Harlow
The first team finally bounced back to winning ways, with a convincing 67-43 win over Harlow Hawks on 19 February in the Herts Premier League. Cougars began the game well, jumping out to a 22-7 first quarter lead behind the scoring of Eimantis Remeikis and Leigh Browne who between them scored 17 points in the quarter. Although the scoring eased up a little in the second quarter Cougars defensive effort remained strong, holding Harlow again to only seven points resulting in a 35-14 lead at the half. While Harlow's scoring picked up in the second half Cougars continued to keep pace, and coasted to one of their better victories of the season. The scoring was led by Leigh Browne with 22 points, Eimantis Remeikis with 20, Cameron Fehr 9, Ash Hunter 6, Simon Croxon 4, Dan Read 3, Haluk Acar 2 and Dean Murden 1. While offensively Cougars did a great job, with Leigh and Eimantis being too much for Harlow to cope with, the heart of the victory was a fine team defensive display, which stifled Harlow's efforts, and allowed Cougars to pretty much control their defensive boards. Haluk Acar in particular stood out with an outstanding effort in both neutralising his man and collecting at least double figures in rebounds. In that regard he was ably supported by Cameron Fehr in the starting line up, and Ash Hunter in another hustling performance off the bench. Congratulations all round for a great win.
Cougars lose to Luton
The first team dropped another game in the Herts Premier League to competition leaders Luton Fliers on 29 January. It was a poor start by Cougars who struggled mightily against Luton's zone defence, unable to get the ball inside, or shoot from the perimeter. After a scoreless first quarter, Cougars were down 0-13, and while things improved a little in the second quarter, as Cougars managed to score 10, they were down 10-27 at the half. The third quarter was much improved as Cougar's defence became more intense, and better ball movement on offence opened up more scoring opportunities. Eimantis Remeikis in particular, took advantage, scoring both from the outside, and attacking the hoop, scoring 12 of Cougar's 17 points in the quarter. Continued intensity at both ends of the court brought Cougars back to within 10 at 37-47, but some turnovers and sloppy defensive play in the last couple of minutes allowed Luton some easy baskets to extend their lead back out to 20, with the game ending 57-37 to Luton. Cougars scoring was lead by Eimantis Remeikis with 19 points, followed by Leigh Browne with 6, Ben Dowling 5, Dean Murden 3, Simon Croxon 2 and Raf Kleszko 2. Special mention also to Haluk Acar and Ash Hunter, who both came off the bench to contribute rebounding and hustle plays, and help spur Cougars back into the game.
First team falls to Cats
The first team dropped another game to Cats 87-65 on 15 January 2012 in the Herts Premier League. The first half was a mixed bag. Initially Cougars struggled defensively, unable to contain Cats' guards and allowing them to attack the hoop with relative ease. A switch to zone defence helped matters, but meant Cougars were never able to impose themselves defensively on the game. Offensively however Cougars managed to keep the score ticking over nicely, especially when Cats themselves went to a zone defence. If not for a significant number of turnovers, and a half dozen missed lay ups, Cougars would have been leading at halftime, instead of being down by 2. However following halftime, Cougars failed to step out ready to play. Cats' half court trap took its toll against some sloppy guard play, and the lead was quickly pushed out to double figures. Cougars were unable to make any inroads to close the gap, as a result of both continued turnovers, and a continued shooting slump. As a result Cats were able to pad out the score comfortably. In terms of scoring, Leigh Browne led the way with 19 points followed by Emanitis Remeikis with 16, Ben Dowling 11, Simon Croxon 6, Dan Read 6, Ash Hunter 4 and Sarunas Sipaila with 3.
Cougars sneak by Saffron Walden in Cambs league
Cougars managed to hold on in overtime to defeat Saffron Walden in a Cambs league game on 11 December. Cougars started well behind some fine shooting from Dean Murden, who scored 14 points (including 4 three pointers) in the first quarter. The lead was 22-6 after the first period, and Cougars followed that with 13 straight points to start the second quarter, putting them up by 35-6 with 2 minutes left in the half. It was then that the wheels came off Cougars effort in dramatic fashion, with Saffron Walden going on a 27-1 run over the next 10 minutes. Cougars struggled to cope with Saffron Walden's match up zone, and were unable to get the ball inside, settling instead for pressured outside shots. Two baskets to end the third quarter, and two more at the beginning of the fourth put Cougars up 44-33 with eight minutes left in the game, but they were to be Cougars last points in regulation time. Saffron Walden kept chipping away at Cougars lead and were down 44-43 going into the last minute. A succession of Saffron Walden fouls eventually put Haluk Acar on the line with two and half seconds left and the game seemingly in the bag for Cougars. However after both free throws missed Ben Dowling decided to try and snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory by fouling Saffron Walden's rebounder while he was still 85 feet from the hoop. Given Cougars were in the bonus that meant two Saffron Walden free throws. Luckily for Cougars the first shot missed, but the second dropped to force overtime. A stunned Cougars team dropped behind in the overtime period before Clemont Erhard came to Cougars rescue with two straight baskets in the final minute to put Cougars up 52-50, which is where it ended. Deam Murden led the scoring with 16 points, followed by Ollie Unwin with 13, Cameron Fehr with 9, Ben Dowling 8, Clemont Erhard 4, and Raf Kleszko with 2.
Cougars thrashed by Cats
Cougars suffered a humiliating loss to Cambridge Cats going down 43-70 in the Cambs League on 4 November. Although nominally a second team game, Cougars line-up feature nine players who have turned out for the first team in the HPL this year but they were still comprehensively beaten by a Cats team with six players, only two of whom feature with any regularity in the HPL. Cougars started ok against a Cats zone, leading 19-16 at the end of the first quarter, after some good ball movement and outside shooting. Despite a switch by Cats to a man to man defence, the game continued fairly evenly through the first half of the second quarter until Cats went on a 14-2 run to end the half leading 39-31. Cougars were unable to make any inroads in the third quarter, leaving the score at 52-43 in favour of Cats at three quarter time. Thereafter came a fourth quarter Cougars will want to forget in a hurry. Outscored 18-0, Cougars committed countless turnovers, ceased playing effective defense, complained incessantly, and were unable and/or unwilling to generate any effective team offence. It was a very dissappointing display overall, and one that couldn't end fast enough. Still much for everyone to work on......
Cougars 51 vs Luton 59
The first team went down in a closely fought match to the current HPL league leading Luton Fliers on 2 December. Cougars started well leading 16-11 at the end of the first quarter, only to allow Luton to score 12 unanswered points at the beginning of the second quarter. Cougars clawed back to be down only 25-29 at the half, and then took the lead again in the third quarter, but then gave up another 10 point Luton run mid way through the half. Cougars managed to cut Luton's lead to 5 with a minute left in thegame, but weren't able to make any further inroads, and had to resort to putting Luton on the line in the final minute in an effort to regain possession, which padded Luton's score. Notwithstanding the loss Cougars generally played well defensively against a bigger Luton team. Some unnecessary turnovers, and missed lay ups, hurt Cougars offensively, as did an inability to feed the ball inside, resulting in most of Cougars points coming either on the perimeter, or via fast breaks. That made for a tough and often thankless night inside for the Cougars front line. Offensively Eimantas Remeikis led the way with 19 points (16 in an impressive first half), followed by Leigh Browne 10, Ben Dowling 9, Sarunas Sipaila 6, Cameron Fehr 4 and Dan Read 3.