Brown: Win cannot be false dawn (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Brown: Win cannot be false dawn

5:12pm Tuesday 11th January 2011 in Sport By Stuart Amos

New CIA Basketball coach Gene Brown says Saturday’s last-gasp 63-61 win over the Knights in the London Metropolitan Basketball League Cup cannot prove to be a false dawn.

The Westcroft Leisure Centre outfit had levelled the scores at 61-61 before a foul on Luke Bowler - who netted 18 points in the game - allowed them to steal a quarter-final berth with 0.7 seconds left on the clock to the delight of home fans.

CIA, who train in Mitcham, had won just one of their previous five games and Brown paid tribute to the fighting spirit of his men after a thrilling first game in charge.

“They say offense sells tickets and defence wins games, well I had a happy helping of both on Saturday,” he said.

“The team showed fight, spirit and our shout of ‘Together’ was testimony to how we played.

“A win on the buzzer with 0.7 secs on the clock, plus the foul, doesn't get more dramatic for your first game, but this needs to be a kick start to our season, not a false dawn.

“Our third quarter play made the difference. Usually in games we lose it in the third, but Saturday we executed what we've been working on in training.”