Titans defeat Warriors in Division 2 clash

Division 3 champions Greenwich Titans kicked off life in a higher tier with a 79-77 win over Westminster Warriors in their NBL Division 2 league opener.

Titans got off to a fantastic start as shooting guard Jack Green hit a deep three-pointer. Newly-signed point guard Moncreiffe-Meade led the team to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

The game plan seemed to be working as Westminster were undone by the pressure defence, intensity and decision making on offence.

Titans’ inside combo of Ray Akpofure and Jake Murphy picked up a couple of fouls and were substituted by the coach. Warriors seized their opportunity against the smaller Titans line-up and finished the quarter strong, scoring nine points in the final two minutes.

Titans relied too heavily on the three-point shot as they tried to re-establish the lead and went away from what was working, resulting in too many attempts and a low percentage of made shots in the second quarter.

But the halfway stage the Titans trailed by 10 points.

Titans’ Jack Green and Arturo Noha-Pascual hit two big shots, cutting Warriors’ lead three points at the end of the third quarter.

After early foul trouble, inside players Ray Akpofure and Jake Murphy once again started dominating both the defensive and offensive boards, a beautiful three-point shot from Akpofure in the corner and a turnaround jumper from Jake put Titans up in the fourth.

Greenwich’s top scorers were Akpofure (23), Murphy (21) and Brandon Moncrieffe-Meade (11).

Titans head coach Ashley Thomas said: “The team is only going to get better, we are still figuring out our identity. Several key players are missing from the line-up, so we will take each game at a time and continue to develop.”