Oxford University Basketball Club

Site Updates

21/10/2006

2006-07 College League Fixtures added.

23/09/2006

2006-07 Fixtures added for Men's Blues, Women's Blues, Men's Twos and, new this year, Women's Twos.

04/01/2006

2005-06 College League Round 2 Fixtures added

22/10/2005

2005-06 College League Fixtures and first results added.

18/10/2005

2005-06 Rosters added for Blues, Women's Blues and Twos

OUBBC News
Date	News		Posted By
02/03/2007 09:22:30	Oxford win annual basketball Varsity match Oxford brought back a hard-fought victory from the annual basketball competition after a memorable trip to Cambridge. The Oxford University Men's Second team got the basketball Varsity day off to the best possible start with a dominant 90-65 victory over the Cambridge Lions. In a defence dominated first half, spectacular drives to the basket by Charles Ellis and strong inside play by Duncan England gave the Twos a narrow lead, but it was in the second half where Oxford's offence, marshalled by co-captain Tommy Duncan, really kicked in. Precision outside shooting from Tim Hoffman and co-captain Tom Parker, who scored a game-high 40 points, gave the Twos an unassailable lead and allowed them to retain their varsity crown. The Blues ladies were next on court. Although Cambridge started strongly with the support of a loud crowd, women's blues found a great rhythm and played one of their best matches of the season. Solid defense and sharp offensive ball movement tied the scores the final quarters. Katherine Donovan captained the team through a tough and close game, excessively interrupted by referees’ whistle. Stefania Batistelli got some awesome steals in and Tal Ofek's offensive moves silenced the home crowd on more than a couple of occasion. Unfortunately shots just did not seem to want to go in! In the end, the Oxford efforts were not enough to overcome Cambridge's early lead, resulting in a score of 54-43. The Women’s blues will take the last quarters’ momentum into next year revenge. The day was marked by a controversy Oxford and Cambridge will look to resolve in future years. Dena Trugman and Meghan Sullivan, two women’s blues outstanding players, did not take part in the match abiding by the rules preventing visiting students to take part in Varsity competitions. Cambridge had a different stand on the issue coming the men’s blues game, however. Light blues exploited an apparent loophole in the regulations to field Hamidou Soumare, a matriculated visiting student from MIT. Although 6’8’’ Soumare almost single-handedly kept his team afloat on both ends of the court, Oxford Men's Blues won the deciding rubber and their second consecutive Varsity Match in a spectacular hard-fought varsity classic. Leading by a score of 17-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Blues looked to extend their lead in the second. However, a strong Cambridge side had other plans and clawed back to within one point at the half. After some inspirational words from coach Phil Kelly at the break, the Blues stormed the court to start the third quarter. Excellent perimeter play by Andy Johnson, Michael Causey, Dan Woodbridge, and Patrick Premand allowed the Blues to open up a lead of nine points midway through the quarter. A physical game ensued for the remainder of regulation time as Cambridge struggled to regain their lost momentum. Co-captain Mike Rivers-Bowerman converted a three-point play with just over a minute to go and the Blues won by a narrow 68-65 margin. Standout players for the Blues were forwards Chris McCallum, Peter Anderson, and Richard Harvey. Returning guards Jeff Miller and Maher Bitar look to solidify the back-court for next year's squad. Co-captain Jonny Wright from St. Peter's had this to say about the match: "We've trained hard all year for Varsity and we knew that if we came in and played our game, we'd have a good chance of winning.” Oxford Blues have now won 9 of the last 11 varsity matches. OUBbC teams now look forward to the season-defining BUSA final competitions. In the shield knockouts, Men’s twos play Bolton University 1st team, while Women’s blues host Leeds Metropolitan University. Men’s blues head to Northumbria for the Final-16 of the national championship.		OUBbC committee