Thomson & Warriner Inspire Remarkable Win!

The Middlesbrough Lions entertained Team Northumbria at Eston Sports Academy on Sunday and with only two regular seniors in Damian Warriner and captain James Thomson a number of younger players were called up for their chance to perform on the big stage. The event began with a special guest in local celebrity radio presenter; Graham Mack who greeted fans as part of his world record bid to shale 100,000 hands and also featured in the team intro routine at centre court.

The game begun well for Lions who scored first through a nice shot from James Thomson. David Lisai was quick to respond with a powerful play inside the Middlesbrough defence, but once again Thomson found the net with a weaving drive to the basket. In the third minute Warriner entered the scoring fold with an athletic drive to give Lions a 4pt cushion, 6-2. The game was going well for the home side until the fourth minute when Gary Coad instigated a 9-0 run. Middlesbrough could do little about the sweet spin move in the low post by Northumbria powerhouse; Dickon Morrison but sloppy defence led to Ben Maliszewski earning a nice And 1 play, converting the bonus free throw to stretch the visitors lead to 6-11.

Lions had opportunities to close the gap, but poor shooting from the foul line; Warriner missing all four attempts meant Lions were 1 of 6, James Burton making 1 of 2. An energetic lay up from Warriner in the seventh minute restored some confidence into Lions but in the ninth minute, Middlesbrough were again on the back foot as Northumbria produced a 7-0 lead including a nice 3 from Shawn Wang. With Northumbria now doubling the score of Lions it was with some good fortune that Burton lined up a last gasp 3 to allow Lions to leave the quarter 12-18 and with some positives to build on.

The second quarter found an early shot drop from the baseline when Warriner found the open Thomson. Northumbria’s Morrison was proving a problem in the post and in the second minute the 6’8” centre got the better of Lions Dean Hanson, although Lions 7’1” centre can take satisfaction in limiting Morrison to 4pts so far. The ring leader for Northumbria was the impressive Paul Campbell who organised his offence very well and displayed some great passing as well as scoring. At the mid way point of the quarter Piers Hammond knocked down a 3 from the top of the perimeter to hold a 7pt lead, 16-23. The game though was far from one sided as both teams showed periods of excellence to keep the crowd on the edge of their seats. Stuart Meek took a big hit shortly after and was sent to the line to make both attempts. Dijon Fisher produced a nice move in response drawing the foul on Hanson and leading to Coach Sid Nicholls replacing the big man with young Matthew Norman. Fisher missed both attempts but produced another 4pts in the following minute. A 3 pointer from Burton reduced the Lions deficit to 8pts and with one minute remaining in the first half, Stuart Davison was well composed to sink a long range 2pts followed by a clever drive from Thomson. Fisher rounded off a good personal quarter with a 3 pointer and when Norman and Burton both converted 1 of 2 attempts the half time score was set at 29-36 in favour of Northumbria.

At half time, there was entertainment as two young fans took part in the kit dash and one lucky spectator had his number picked to throw a half court shot for £50, although Mr Wardle's shot would just miss to gasps from the audience.

The poor free throw conversion of the first half would continue into the third quarter as Maliszewski of Northumbria and Warriner of Lions hit 1 of 2 attempts each. By the end of the third, Lions would be just 7 of 18 attempts, while Northumbria were marginally better at 4 of 9. Good shooting from Burton and Thomson and a tenacious approach on defence from Meek would ensure Lions took the quarter 10-9 but the 11pts missed free throws by Lions would have provided a 15pt lead at the end of the third rather than the 6pt deficit, 39-45.

In the final quarter, Warriner received a great pass from Thomson to convert a reverse lay up and this was followed by a nice shot from 18 year old Matthew Brown. Lions were showing signs of a momentum switch but were still unable to take a lead that Northumbria had held since the fourth minute of the game and the visitors were not going to make it easy for the Lions as the Fisher instigated a 12-2 run to produce Northumbria’s biggest lead of 13pts, 47-60. With four minute left in the game, most teams would have crumbled, but Thomson and Warriner inspired a remarkable comeback aided by the enthusiastic crowd. In the sixth minute, James Thomson produced one of the plays of the game as he lost his defender with a nice crossover and continued to drive the lane for a strong And 1 play after being hit by Maliszewski. The cool hand of Thomson converted the bonus and would finish the last three minutes with 7 of 10 free throws, one of which was a purpose miss to bring the Lions back into the game. In the ninth minute Warriner delicately placed the ball into the hoop but with just over a minute left, Lions were still down 6pts. With 16 seconds remaining Northumbria scored their final basket through Maliszewski to take the score to 68-62 for what had to be a game winning margin, only for Lions’ Brown to be fouled on a 3 point shot sending the young guard to the line. Brown missed his first attempt but hit the following two. Warriner fouled Moussa Koyate with 7 second remaining and with Lions on team fouls Koyate would have an opportunity to further seal the game at the foul line but under a rapture of noise from the home fans, Koyate missed both attempts; Warriner pulling down the rebound and finding James Thomson who brought the ball up the court, faked a 3 point shot and when Morrison jumped, Thomson rose for the shot with 4 seconds ticking away to be fouled by the Northumbria big man.

The game now provided a tiny fraction of an opportunity for Lions and the excitement was far from over as a fairytale ending was inspired by Thomson. The captain went to the line for three attempts and had to make the first two and miss the third, hoping the Lions would take the rebound. The cool captain converted his first and then his second and then quickly changed the plan, indicating to Warriner to go behind the much taller Moussa Koyate rather than fight for position, knowing the taller Koyate would spring forward. Thomson aimed his missed shot for the left side of the rim and the crowd held their breath as the ball bounced over the reaching hands of Koyate and into Warriners who then passed to Brown to fire a 3 pointer on the buzzer to incredibly win the game.

Thomson and Warriner were impressive throughout the game, leading to the pair both being awarded MVP. Coach Nicholls was ecstatic after the game “We couldn’t have written a better script, especially with such a young side, James and Damo were excellent to win an almost un-winnable game.”

For Northumbria, Dijon Fisher and the impressive Paul Campbell were solid throughout and had great support from Maliszewski and Morrison.

Middlesbrough will next be in action in two weeks at Eston Sports Academy when they host American side; Menwith Hill on Sunday 19th April. Spectators are asked to arrive before 3.30pm to be seated for the team intros. The club are also providing an opportunity for one lucky fan to win a bonus £100 half court shot instead of the usual £50.