Round 4 results: Men U14 extend their winning run, Men 1 bounce back

A weekend of two halves for United. Men U14 extended their winning run with a big win, Men 1 bounced back after their first loss and Women 1 beat Den Helder Suns. Men U16, U19-1, U19-2 and Women U21 came away empty-handed — Men U16 lost by four points for the second week running. Here are all of round 4’s results.

Men U14 extend their winning run with 105-36 against Almere Pioneers

Fourth game, fourth win for Men U14 — and what a win. Against Almere Pioneers the foundation was laid straight away: 27-4 after the first quarter and 50-10 at halftime, after which the team comfortably saw the game out in the second half. Jack Roelse top-scored with 32 points, followed by Boas Botschuijver with 24. Jelani Bizimana and James Kovtoen added 15 each and Thijs Naalden 12; eight of the ten players scored.

It’s United’s biggest win of the season so far. After the earlier wins (87-61, 72-64 in overtime and 82-75 away), the record now stands at four from four, with a combined 110-point margin over four games.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Men U16 lose by four points again, this time at Celeritas-Donar

Men U16 went down 67-63 at Celeritas-Donar in Groningen on Sunday, who picked up their first win of the season. It was the second defeat in a row by exactly four points: a week earlier they lost 86-90 at home to Heroes Den Bosch.

Celeritas-Donar took control early (20-12 after the first quarter, 35-25 at halftime) and stretched it to 53-39 in the third. In the fourth quarter United fought back strongly, winning it 24-14 and trimming a fourteen-point deficit to four. It was just not enough. Niek Reumer top-scored with 13 points (five for five from the free-throw line), followed by Ravi-Jah Kevelham (11) and Mika Bakker (9). Eleven of the twelve players scored.

That leaves the record after four games at 2-2. The team opened the season with a comfortable win over Almere Pioneers (70-50) and an away win in Rotterdam (106-98), but coming up just short twice shows how small the margins are. Saturday’s home game against MBCA A’veen is a chance to pick things back up.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Men U19-2 can’t keep up with leaders High Five

Men U19-2 hosted still-unbeaten High Five at De Kooi on Saturday and had to give best, 62-99. The visitors won all four quarters (17-27, 13-24, 18-28 and 14-20), taking a 21-point lead into halftime.

All ten players who got minutes scored, with Stef Bouwman top scorer on 12 points. Parker van der Holst (9) and Ravi-Jah Kevelham (6, with two three-pointers) were among the others to score. It’s the team’s third defeat in three games played (the game against BV Groningen has been postponed to April). Saturday brings an away game at Hot Pepper Heat, who, like United, are still looking for their first win.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Men U19-1 lose in Amsterdam to BC APOLLO

Men U19-1 couldn’t take any points from BC APOLLO Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon either: 103-60. After the win in Rotterdam in the season opener (92-75), it’s a third straight defeat, following Landslake Lions (60-90) and Lokomotief (56-122).

APOLLO took the lead straight away (25-14 after the first quarter) and stretched it to 47-24 by halftime. The third quarter was almost even (24-23 to APOLLO); in the fourth the home side widened the gap with a 32-13 quarter. Levi Pierik’s 23 points made up more than a third of all of United’s points; Tobias Molenaar added 12, and Stef Bouwman and Parker van der Holst scored 7 each — Parker picking up five fouls along the way. Nine of the ten players scored.

The 43-point margin was down on the 66 against Lokomotief a week earlier. The team plays with a small fixed core that is topped up every week with players from U19-2 and U16. Saturday brings a home game against Donar Groningen.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Women U21 stay with Trajanum for a half

Women U21 started well against Trajanum at De Kooi on Saturday: United led 13-9 after the first quarter and trailed by just five at halftime (21-26). In the third quarter Trajanum pulled away to 37-52, which settled the game: 43-65.

Fiene Modderman (18) and Ka Rosmalen (17), each with two three-pointers, accounted for 35 of United’s 43 points. After three games the team is still waiting for its first win; Sunday brings an away game at Jolly Jumpers 2.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Men 1 bounce back in Veghel with a win over Attacus

Saturday nights suit Men 1. The away game in Veghel against Attacus tipped off at 19:30 — against a team that was still unbeaten and has an old acquaintance in Wietze Nossek. United came into it fresh off their first defeat of the season at De Groene Uilen and wanted to put things right. Or, as coach Kaas put it beforehand: “A good team never loses twice in a row.” His men took that to heart.

The focus was there from the start. Keime Helfrich shot with confidence right away, and led by guard Diego Rueda Alvarez, with support from Marijn Morsch and Gijs van de Kamp, it quickly became clear there wasn’t much to be had for Attacus. The home side took the lead just once, and that lasted less than a minute. After an even first quarter (29-31), United won the second 13-24 to go into halftime at 42-55. Coach Kaas used his entire bench and all eleven players showed what they could do: everyone got on the scoresheet.

The foundation of the win (79-89) was the defense, although Keime Helfrich’s five three-pointers — he finished with 24 points in total — certainly helped. Olaf Janssen acted as a proper closer in the final minutes: ice-cold and scoring where it mattered, for 14 points. The remaining points came from Diego Rueda Alvarez (12), Marijn Morsch (8), Robin Simonis (7, his fighting spirit costing him five fouls), Niels van Hout, Samuel Karel and Gijs van de Kamp (5 each), Raienne Dorbeck (3) and Floris van Dee (2, alongside rock-solid defense). The communication between the players is starting to pay off too: the whole thing looked very solid.

At 3-1, Men 1 are second in the Promotiedivisie after four games, behind De Groene Uilen, who are still unbeaten. Attacus lost for the first time. Saturday brings the home game against Utrecht Basketball: according to Wieger Kamies both the squad and the fans are looking forward to it, and his tip is to keep an eye on the bench — eager and full of energy.

Report: team manager Wieger Kamies.

Women 1 hold off Den Helder Suns and stay unbeaten

Women 1 beat Den Helder Suns 80-76 at De Kooi on Saturday night — a team that head coach Gregory Tjin-A-Koeng himself called a title contender earlier this season. That makes it a third league win in three games in the Women’s Basketball League for United.

United started strongly (14-8 after five minutes, 22-17 after the first quarter) and led 42-35 at halftime. In the third quarter the lead grew to 13 points (51-38), but Den Helder fought back and got within two (59-57) in the fourth. That was as close as they got: according to the game sheet, Den Helder Suns never led at any point.

Natalie Pasco top-scored with 27 points (including five three-pointers) and seven rebounds. Kaylee Borden added 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists in just over 38 minutes, Yfke Hoek scored 11 and Cassie Joli-Coeur 10 points with six rebounds and two steals. Catie Joosten grabbed seven rebounds in under twelve minutes, four of them offensive. Worth noting: the five starters scored 74 of the team’s 80 points.

As a team, United won the battle of the boards (46-36, with 16 offensive rebounds), had 19 assists (against 13) and shot 10 of 26 from three (38.5%). At the other end, Den Helder was stronger in the paint (36-22 points).

In the WBL, Women 1 are now, together with GBI van Dijk Grasshoppers — the team beaten in the Supercup — one of just two teams without a defeat. Sunday brings an away game at Orange Lions Academy.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Fixtures next week

Saturday 10 October

• 11:15 — High Five vs. Men U14
• 14:00 — Men U16 vs. MBCA A’veen
• 16:30 — Men U19-1 vs. Donar Groningen
• 18:00 — Hot Pepper Heat vs. Men U19-2
• 19:30 — Men 1 vs. Utrecht Basketball

Sunday 11 October

• 14:00 — Jolly Jumpers 2 vs. Women U21
• 17:00 — Orange Lions Academy vs. Women 1

The team photo on this page was taken by Maarten Groot.