By Mackenzie Thomas and Connor Green
A blistering Swansea University side secured a 84-49 victory over the University of South Wales in a thrilling BUCS Basketball League opener.
Swansea’s Paulius Burla was the dominant force during the win, scoring a game-high 14 points with three long shots and five lay-ups.
USW head coach David Foale tried numerous combinations against a well-organised Swansea side but his charges were unable to mount enough of a challenge and allowed star shooter Burla too many opportunities – his class providing much of the difference between the two sides at the USW Sport Park.
It was Swansea who made the better start and quickly started to mount pressure on their opponents. They raced into a 23-9 lead after the first quarter.
USW however had a better second quarter. They started the early proceedings on the front foot with some nice attacking play which paid off two-and-a-half minutes in as Nick Chan dunked his first of the game after coming on as a first quarter substitute.
But despite making a handful of changes during the break, the away side continued their dominance, reinstating their strong goal advantage to 25-49 at the half-way stage.
The standout moment from the second quarter was provided by Femi Olavolaga who, after some sublime skill, found the net brilliantly from long range.
The third quarter was vital for USW to have any chance of getting back into the game.
It didn’t start well for the hosts as Joan Real Pou converted a penalty for the visitors which was then followed up by a penalty conversion from Richy Agyemang after a foul by Nosa Irorere.
After two penalties were dispatched by Pandaphon Somchit to make it 29-53, Burba, who contributed 32 points over the course of the game, scored from long range to give three extra points to the visitors.
Olavolagla’s wonderful solo goal after driving through the middle came shortly before Pandaphon Somchit calmly finished two goals and claimed a goal with a clever finish to end the third quarter positively for the hosts.
The final quarter begun with both Pandaphon Somchit and Aleksander missing two penalty shots each, allowing Swansea University more possibilities to properly kill the game off with James Oghassalian nearly doing just that.
Additionally, Adam Armitage also missed two penalty shots for USW leaving his team to ponder on what might have been if they had been able to convert their chances.
Brilliant linkup play between Ryan Allen and Joan Real Pou killed the game off to ensure that Swansea got the deserved win.