True to the form book, Teesside kept up their impressive home record, but the Crusaders gained some positives from this defeat.

The first quarter ended with the Crusaders ahead by one point, 23-22 with some great defence against one of the highest scoring teams in the Conference.

During the second quarter the Crusaders continue to play well with some good end-to-end basketball, but then they fell apart with three minutes to go before half time.

Marvin Harrison picked up two fouls during a very short time, which put him on four fouls.

Coach Dip Donaldson said:

"I had a substitute waiting to check into the game to replace Harrison but within that time and before we could get Harrison off court he had picked up two quick fouls.

“That’s the way it is for the “rookie” players.  He will have to earn the rights to play in this league - no one is going to give you any calls until you have established yourself.”

At half time the Crusaders were down by 13 points, 32-45.

At the beginning of the third quarter the Mohawks had a 7-0 run against Bupa Crusaders that extended their lead to 20 points.

Matt Collins, back from an ankle injury, had a great game with 26 points, and Derrick Pope continued to score from outside and inside and finished with 19 points.

Donaldson said:

"I’m not disappointed with the overall game because I saw us come together even more as a team.

“Road trips will do that for you. I wasn’t happy with our short mental lapse at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter, but the players are aware of that.

“Teesside are a very talented side and are always going to be hard to beat at their place, but I am still optimistic about our next encounter with them.”

The game ended with the two sides trading baskets, once again, but with Mohawks leading, the Crusaders had to try and play catch up for the last quarter.

Donaldson said:

"We have only one home game left before Christmas, so this road trip was good for us, and we will use this as a good measuring stick for how good we are at this stage in the season.

“With Dominic Davis set to return, we still have not been at full strength yet, so I am feeling good about our future games.

“Losing to top teams like Plymouth and Teesside has made us grow more together, and that is good development for us in the long run.”

The Bupa Crusaders will be at home next weekend, playing at the Coventry Sports Centre on Saturday at 7.30 pm.  Their game will be preceded by a National Division One Women’s game as Coventry Quality Cats play at 5pm.

Scorers for Crusaders: Girbal 2, Scott 2, Rhooms 4, Livingston 5, Donaldson 7, Harrison 9,  D. Pope 19, Collins 26.