NBL Division Two Derbyshire Arrows 60 Ipswich 75 Cameron Hawes and Colin Dockrell combined for 41 points as Ipswich blew Derbyshire Arrows away in the second half to seal a first win in the league this season, writes Rob Schatten.
With both sides missing members of their senior squad, the hosts edged a slow first quarter 17-15, before Ipswich promptly went on a 15-3 scoring run in the early minutes of the second quarter.
Ipswich’s outside shooting was well below par in the first half, but their defensive energy was enough to make up for a low-scoring half of basketball and the Suffolk side went in ahead at the break, leading Arrows 33-31.
Head coach John Ellis reinforced his message of hard-working defence and a commitment to rebounding at half time, and his team responded with a stellar third quarter.
Hawes poured in ten of his game-high 22 points in the period, and Eivydas Aleksa shrugged off a rough first half to contribute seven more as the visitors took a 61-46 lead into the final ten minutes.
Both sides began to tire in the final minutes and Derbyshire were never able to get the gap back down to single digits, Ipswich’s stifling defence keeping them in a comfortable position.
Hawes, Dockrell and Blake Read were central to this effort, disrupting the Arrows’ offensive flow continuously and combining for 15 steals.
Dockrell finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds after playing the full 40 minutes. Ethan Price also had a double-double, racking up 12 points and an impressive 17 rebounds – eight of those coming on the offensive end – and also produced some key blocks during Ipswich’s third quarter run.
The hosts were powered as usual by forward Joseph Baugh, who put up 21 points in the losing effort. Sheu Matewe added 14.
“Today was an exception all-around effort from a short-handed group,” said Ellis. “I was particularly pleased with how we played defence today. “If you told me at the start of the campaign I’d be having to play guys 38, 40 minutes a game, I wouldn’t have believed you - but we have reinforcements coming back over the next couple of weeks as some of the other players approach full fitness.”
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