THE BEARS extended their winning start to four games after coming away from a scrappy game against London Sparrows at Henley-in-Arden with a 45-21 victory.
After their mid-week appearance on Central News, the Bears battled their way to take a hard fought win on Saturday.
The game started on a high note for the Bears with them taking an early lead with constant fast break baskets by J Tiwana, whilst playing a strong zone defence, which limited the Sparrows to only four points whilst scoring 12 points in the first quarter.
The hosts began giving over the ball in turnovers and forced errors, which gave the visitors some heart to try and claw back some of the points.
With sloppy play and wrong shot selection, the Bears were unable to extend their lead and went into the mid-way point with a small 21-14 lead.
Changes were made by the Bears in the second half with Anna Turney, Richard Daffern and Ben Haigh being introduced in an attempt to take the impetus back.
And they made an immediate impact by opening up a dominating points difference to finish 37-18 ahead going into the final quarter.
With the luxury of the points difference, it gave the Bears the opportunity to give some more much needed court time to the newer squad players and the Bears extended their lead further to win 45-21.
Head coach Tom Masterson said: “Although glad of the win, we played slightly scrappy and anxious.
“I was pleased with the reaction in the second half and how the team code up their work rate at both ends of the court.
“We still have things we need to improve on with practice, but we are improving with each game.”
Bears are next in action this Sunday when they hosts Hereward Heat at Warwickshire College.
