Titans got 2013 off to a winning start with a comfortable 89-70 victory over Fr. Matthews from Cork. The win sees Titans keeping pace with Castleisland at the top of the southern conference.
Newcomers to the league Fr. Matthews went up against a Titans starting 5 of Peldzius, Barile, Tongo, Fabriciuss and Taofik. Titans full court defence gave the visitors some trouble early on and baskets from Fabriciuss and Peldzius helped Titans jumped to an early lead. Titans had trouble early getting to grips with the size of Fr. Matthews front line Brusevic scored off an offensive rebound before stepping out to hit a three. Titans finished the quarter strongly with a three from Barile helping push the lead out to 10 at the end of the quarter. All was not going well for Titans though with Glen Hines picking up 2 quick fouls in the quarter.
The second quarter saw both teams struggle offensively. Fr. Matthews struggled to score against the zone defense of Titans, although the strength of their inside players was causing problems for Peldzius. However Titans failed to increase their lead as the ball movement which was on display in the first quarter wasn’t as evident. However scores from Tongo, Gintaras, Taofiik and a three from Garrity allowed Titans to stretch their lead to 14 points at half time.
Titans increased their intensity in the 3rd quarter. Early ball pressure and steals allowed Titans to get out on the break with Taofik scoring 4 quick points. Barile hit again from deep, and when Titans did miss Peldzius cleaned up the offensive glass to increase the lead further. Fr. Matthews were unable to get anything going on offense and Titans got out on the run for easy layups with MacMichael and Fabriciuss adding to the lead. By the end of the quarter the lead had been increased to over 30 effectively ending the game as a contest.
Titans started the fourth quarter sluggishly and failed to score in the opening minutes. Scores from Brusevics and O’Driscoll reduced Fr. Matthews lead slightly but the reintroduction of the Titans starters ensured the lead always remained manageable. The closing minutes saw Titans reverves Robert Kniuras and the veteran Derek Mulveen contribute and Gintaras add further scores. Brusevics made some more 3s before fouling out to get the final score under 20 points but Titans closed out the game comfortable.
Best performances from Titans were Peldzius who led the team in offensive rebounding as well as scoring, Taofik whose defense in the 3rd quarter was one of the main factors in Titans extending their lead and Tongo who had a solid all round game. Next up for Titans is a game away to Northern conference leading UUJ on the 3rd Februsry. UUJ defeated Titans in the National Cup earlier in the season so it will be good test of how the team has progressed since that defeat. Titans will be hoping Chris McNairney makes a fast recovery from an eye injury picked up near the end of the Fr. Matthews Gerald Echefu recovers from an injury picked up in training. Jack Considine is also close to a return from a long term injury so they will be able to travel to Belfast with a full strength squad.