Warwick’s Men Fall Short in Basketball Defeat to Coventry

Team Warwick fell to a 89-79 defeat against their Coventry University counterparts in the men’s basketball Varsity match on Friday evening at the Sports and Wellness Hub.

Coming off a big BUCS victory on Wednesday, Warwick hoped to carry over the gained momentum and make an energetic and purposeful start to the game. Coventry, however, rattled off an early 19-10 run in the first quarter, with their early half-court pressure forcing the hosts into numerous turnovers. This was coupled to a bad three-point shooting start for the Bears, who were unable to convert from the free-throw line in the opening exchanges.

The travelling side maintained their fine efforts from the first quarter and entered half-time with a 52-42 lead

Down 29-21 by the first quarter, Warwick began the second period attacking the paint with more urgency and found success early on, with forward Luca Monnami starting to impact the scoreboard. Regardless, the travelling side maintained their fine efforts from the first quarter and entered half-time with a 52-42 lead.

After the break, Coventry started the quarter with a 6-0 run, extending their lead to 19 points before Warwick rallied, with Monnami making two three-point plays to keep his side in the game. It proved, however, to be too little, too late, as the away side steadied themselves and closed out the game to take the victory.

William Nolan and Romain Bellard each also put up 13 points

Monnami led the scoring for Warwick with 18 points, in addition to his four rebounds and three assists. Jack Thomas, who added 16 points and made four three-pointers from six attempts, also put on a performance deserving of compliment. William Nolan and Romain Bellard each also put up 13 points, with the former also making four three-pointers, while the latter grabbed eight rebounds and handed out three assists. 

In the aftermath of Warwick’s disappointing start to Varsity 2020, The Boar spoke to Coventry University forward Steven:

“The game-plan was to start early and start well, because as a team we’ve got a lot of talent. As a team, we had a crowd behind us, and we wanted to feed off the crowd today. We’re the away team and we’ve got to come to [Warwick] to be dominant.

“We just wanted to show some love to Coventry Uni, our coach and to give our audience a great game to watch, because that’s what it’s for.”