After a couple of weeks break the regular season of the RGBL continued with “Dragons” and “Meru” teams fighting on the court.

Having started the game a bit better, the representatives of Ipswich came forward and gained a slight lead. However, after making the changes, the “Dragons” immediately tied up the result and thanks to fast break attacks began to increase the lead. The first quarter ended with a 25:14 lead for “Dragons”. In the second quarter, the view on the court did not change too much. “Meru” had a hard time stopping the opponents’ fast break attacks, the difference gradually grew and only thanks to a few three-point shots at the end of the quarter, “Meru” kept some intrigue. The teams went into the long break with “Dragons” leading 53:35.

In the third quarter the game was even, “Dragons” were able to respond to every “Meru” attempt to catch up with the score. “Meru” won the quarter with a score of 20:19, but the total score of 72:55 still showed a strong lead of the “Dragons”. In the last quarter, Ipswich representatives made several steals and reduced the difference, but there was neither strength nor time to seriously fight for the victory. The “Dragons” team celebrated the victory with a final score of 87:78.

“Dragons”: M.Milius 19 points, P.Adomaitis and D.Jakštaitis 15 points each.
“Meru”: Ž.Klevinskis 29 points, A.Maziliauskas 22 points.

The regular season of the RGBL picked up momentum with two more games played over the weekend. The playoffs are not far away, where teams will compete for the top prize worth £500! But until that happens we still have the most important battles ahead which will decide the pairs of the playoffs.

The weekend started with the game between Peterborough “Tauras” and King’s Lynn “Wolfs”. When these two teams met on the court two months ago, there was not much intrigue, but this time “Tauras” had some players missing and “Wolfs” have been improving with each game, so the game was expected to be more rival. The first quarter wasn’t about scoring, the teams often exchanged turnovers and missed shots, but Peterborough representatives gained a fragile advantage of 5 points. In the second quarter thanks to 3 point shots “Tauras” team extended their lead and the result was 38:23 before the long break. The situation on the court did not change too much in the second half of the game, the teams exchanged effective attacks and after slightly increasing their lead, “Tauras” celebrated the victory with the final score of 84:62.

The top scorers for “Tauras”: T. Myrovas 24 pts, A. Dovydas 14 pts and A. Račickas 13 pts”Wolfs”: D. Narkevič 18 pts and L. Petraška 17 pts.

The second game of the weekend between Ipswich “Meru” and South Lincs “Dragons” promised plenty of action, with both teams doing well in other leagues this season and losing very rarely. The “Meru” team celebrated in the Suffolk Cup final just a couple of weeks ago, and the “Dragons” have yet to experience the bitterness of defeat in the Cambridge League, where they won all 14 games they played. However, the trend that “Meru” has shown throughout the season by delegating only 6-7 players to the game has not changed this time either. Six players of the Ipswich team had enough strength to fight the “Dragons” for just two quarters, after which the score was still tied at 33:33. In the second half of the game, the “Dragons” switched to a higher gear, attacked more accurately and made less turnovers, this increased their lead with every minute and they celebrated the victory with the result of 76:58.

D. Jakštaitis with 21 scored points was the top scorer for “Dragons”, D. Višinskis and P. Adomaitis scored 16 and 15 points respectively.E. Kriūnas scored 17 points for “Meru”.

Two more regular season games were played over the weekend. The playoffs are just behind the corner, so the teams are fighting for better positions, which will lead to a more favourable opponent in the playoffs.

The players of King’s Lynn “Wolfs” and Ipswich “Meru” were the first to step onto the court. Ipswich team looked far more prepared for the game and took an early 12 points lead at the end of the first quarter. During the second quarter the game evened out as both teams struggled to score, but before the long break “Meru” had a solid lead – the result was 39:25. The “Wolfs” players did not intend to give up the victory so easily and after focusing on the defense they began to chase the opponents in the third quarter. The intensity on the court was amplifying, players of both teams were penalized with technical fouls and the difference between the teams shrunk to 8 points. However, “Meru” team having more experience stabilized the situation, managed to find an answer to every attempt of “Wolfs” trying to catch up and won the game with a score of 71:59.

“Meru”: E.Kriūnas 16 pts, V.Girdžius and M.Kandrotas 13 pts each.
“Wolfs”: D.Jevsejevas 21 pts, D.Narkėvič 13 pts, L.Petraška 11 pts.

In the second game Peterborough “Tauras” faced South Lincs “Dragons”. Although “Tauras” started the game more successfully, having organized several successful attacks in a row, “Dragons” did not take long to give their response and won the first quarter with a score of 29:18. In the second quarter the game became even, both teams often made turnovers and committed fouls. The difference in points between the teams remained the same as they went for a long break, with “Dragons” leading 41:30. During the third quarter “Tauras” tried to chase the opponents but could not break through the zone defense of the “Dragons”, who in turn hit several three point shots and increased their lead to 14 points before the last quarter of the game. When it seemed that the last quarter would be just a formality, suddenly the players of “Tauras” woke up and began to decrease the advantage of the opponents. After a few three point shots from “Tauras” the difference was just 4 points but time was running out. In the last minute of the game the emotions were high, “Tauras” had several opportunities to tie up the score but missed the shots and the “Dragons” celebrated the victory with the result of 74:70.

“Dragons”: E.Jurčiukonis 16 pts, T.Zobiela, D. Višinskis and M.Milius 12 pts each.

“Tauras”: E.Revuckas 25 pts, T.Myrovas and A.Račickas 12 pts each.

After more than a month off, the regular season of the RGBL resumed over the weekend. The second round was opened with a game between Peterborough “Tauras” and Ipswich “Meru”. In the first round of the league, “Tauras” took victory after a hard fight, so no less fierce battle was expected this time as well.

The game started without much scouting, the teams were easily scoring points. Only when the first quarter was coming to an end, thanks to several 3 point shots, “Tauras” managed to gain a fragile 7 point advantage – the result was 27:20. For the majority time of the second quarter, the difference between the teams was close, to every attempt of “Meru” to catch up with the opponents, “Tauras” team was able to respond with their successful attacks. However, within the last minutes of the quarter, “Tauras” managed to stop their opponent’s attacks and accumulated a considerable advantage. Halfway through the match, the score was 59:42 in favour of “Tauras”.

Just when it seemed that the second half of the game will be an easy win for “Tauras”, everything turned upside down. The third quarter began with a series of 3 point shots by the “Meru” team, while “Tauras” was unable to score any points for 4 minutes. Only 4 points separated the teams and the battle started again. After a time out break, “Tauras” managed to stabilize the situation and were 11 points ahead before the last quarter. The best was yet to come in the last quarter as the teams kept scoring points, one successful attack followed another, and the tension kept growing. Just 2 minutes before the end of the game “Meru” finally took the lead by one point, but then “Tauras” responded and regained the advantage of 3 points. In the last minute of the game, the team’s were mainly scoring from the free throw line. “Meru” players showed cooler nerves and led with the result 101:100 with just 9 seconds left. The last attack belonged to “Tauras”, however the 3 point shot that could have snatched the victory was off target and the “Meru” team celebrated on the court – the final score of the game 101:100.

Both teams hit 14 three point shots, “Tauras” won rebounds 58:39 but “Meru” had 37 free throws.

G. Pakalniškis (34 points), R. Wilson (25) and A. Maziliauskas (22) were the top scorers for “Meru”.E. Revuckas (25), V. Obrikas (24) and A. Šarkanas (19) scored the most for “Tauras”.

The Wolfs team, which has lost both games so far, added an important component to the teams roster as M. Chlynin became the team’s coach.According to the coach, even though the team only had a couple of training sessions together, they managed to adjust their game a little and this should show during the match.

However, the tactics chosen by Wolfs to actively pressure the opponents from the beginning of the match did not work. Players picked up personal fouls faster than points, and Meru easily opened the gap by scoring easy points from the free throw line to take a 27-14 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter Wolfs players managed to move the ball better and score easier, but they had no success defending against the fast and accurate attacks of Meru. As a result, Ipswich representatives had a confident lead of 53:36 at halftime. 

In the second half of the game, Wolfs still tried to catch up with the score but with only five players remaining, Meru was able to respond to the effective attacks of their opponents and celebrated a victory with the result of 101:79.

Interviewed after the match, Wolfs player D. Jevsejevas said that the team will not give up and will continue to work hard during practices and improve the game. Meanwhile, Meru’s representative M. Eidrigevičius said that injuries and illnesses keep preventing the team from gathering a full lineup, but he promised a stronger team lineup for the next match against the Dragons.

E. Kriūnas scored 31 points for the winners, M. Kandrotas and A. Maziliauskas added 29 and 25 points respectively. H. Petrauskas scored 19 points and D. Jevsejevas added 18 points for Wolfs.

The long-awaited RG Recruitment basketball league finally started on Saturday. In the late afternoon, a large group of spectators longing for basketball gathered at the Hampton Gardens school, which was quite unexpected even for the organisers of the league.

In the first season, four teams will compete in the league: Ipswich Meru, South Lincs “Dragons”, Wolfs Kings Lynn and Peterborough BC Tauras.

We are also very grateful to the sponsors who believed in our vision and contributed to the creation and development of the league: Kaimas Lithuanian Restaurant, the companies Cardinalis Concrete, M&V Solutions LTD, ConcretePumping, Spot Of Nature UK and RGrecruitment.co.uk.

The league commenced with Peterborough “Tauras” and Ipswich “Meru” teams fighting hard on the court. Although for various reasons the “Meru” team came to the match missing a few important players, there was a persistent and tough fight throughout the game. The winner of the match only became clear in the second half of the last quarter, when the “Tauras” team managed to execute several quick attacks in a row and hit several long shots. Meanwhile, “Meru” lost two players due to the personal foul limit. The final result on the scoreboard showed the victory of the Peterborough team with the result 67:56 (17:15, 21:15, 15:16, 14:10). Valdas Obrikas was the most productive among the winners, scoring 20 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Giedrius Pakalniškis with 18 points, 5 assists and 5 turnovers stood out the most in the ranks of the “Meru” team.