21.10.2017: Edinburgh University - Sony Centre Fury 73:77
VETERAN BUNYAN SENDS STUDENTS BACK TO CLASS!
SONY CENTRE FURY 77 EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY 73
Scottish Senior Men’s Division 1 Basketball Championship
A win, that Headcoach John Bunyan described as -
‘one of our greatest ever wins in 26 seasons’ saw Champions Fury come from 17 down with 6 minutes to play to win by 4 on the back of a game winning 4 point play from former pro Rocks player – Keith Bunyan, keeps the Sony sponsored side at the top of the title race. An amazing 20-0 run in the final 6 minutes, saw Fury catapult themselves from 70-53 down against the much vaunted Edinburgh University basketball program to lead 73-70 in the final minute. The Falkirk side, whose only option was to press in the final minutes, came out a timeout, did exactly that, and what the Fury fans witnessed was a bit of history as their opponents folded like a deck of cards. Not only did 40yr old Captain Keith Bunyan finish the students off, but he started the amazing run with a three to get his team to within 14. Austrian Adam Hammerschmidt then hit 7 personal in a row and the Fury run was well and truly in charge mode and only a 7 figure deficit. Two free throws for Greek forward Greg Foussas and then a three and two from Lithuanian point guard Eddie Leginas to tie the game, set up Bunyan’s final 7 point finish and a win that surely no one saw coming.
Fury Headcoach John Bunyan commented to Heraldsport-
“The reason this was such a huge win for us was, that this is a very good, if not the best balanced and talented Edinburgh Uni Men’s team there has ever been. Their team is packed with talent from their centre Juffer, their NCAA US College player Jackson, to their trio of Euro guards and we were playing with 4 key players missing. Zygi Dauksas stepped up to the starting 5 for the first time ever and our former Scotland Junior point guard – Daniel Tran had the most minutes he has ever played, both did outstanding jobs, particularly Tran who was on the court with Greg, Keith, Adam and Eddie during that surreal comeback. The players just embraced what I wanted them to do in the final minutes – it was not just the trapping but their defence in the half court and then finding the baskets they way we did, I just cannot praise their efforts enough. This was/is a big win, if we had gone to two losses, that would have been a difficult situation for us, but having now a 6 – 1 record , I like where we are. This University team will beat our title contenders and that was a big loss for them, as it makes a title challenge for them very tough.”
Fury had started the game trading baskets with Hammerschmidt and Bryan Munnoch hitting the opening points – two threes in a game that saw the Falkirk side hit 10 from the perimeter. Two more threes in the first from Bunyan and Leginus was not enough however to stop a surging home side take a 30-19 lead after the first period.
In a low scoring second quarter the Uni took their lead out to 12 at the half with a 14-13 scoreline, that saw only Foussas find the basket regularly with 8pts.
The third saw both teams struggle offensively with Fury continuing to make and miss chances at the basket. However a 17-14 period saw Fury bring the gap back to 9 and a game scoreline of 58-49 going into the 4th and final quarter. However it was the home side who started strongly taking their lead out to 70-53 with 6 to play.
The rest is history as Fury turned the game on its head and took the win.
Fury will reflect on a poor free throw shooting situation with only 11 from 24 at the charity stripe, but will once again take great store from another outstanding display that showed that experience and youth make a great combination !
Adam Hammerschmidt was Fury’s top scorer on 22 points, Leginus had 15 with experienced campaigners Bunyan and Foussas sharing 26 and hardworking guard Munnoch on 9.