Worthing Thunder Basketball Club

Welcome to the web site for the Worthing Thunder Basketball Club. The Thunder Senior Men's Team play in the British Basketball League, the premier division of basketball in the UK.

Thunder announce season ticket deals

Worthing Thunder are pleased to announce details of the seaosn ticket pricing for 2010. Full details here.

Road-weary Thunder crash out of playoffs

BBL Championship Play-off Quarter Final
Newcastle Eagles 102 (28,54,79) (Smith 29, Stewart/Sullivan 14)
Worthing Thunder 74 (12,30,55) (Bratton 19, Cricelli 16, Zabas 11)

The BBL League champions secured their place in the semi-finals of the BBL Championship Play-offs after a comfortable 102-74 quarter-final victory over the Worthing Thunder at the Newcastle Arena on Friday night.

It was the Eagles who started the game at a blistering pace as they opened up an early 22-6 lead off the back of an 16-2 run, including eight points a- piece from Andrew Sullivan and Charles Smith and the home side maintained their advantage at the end of the first period leading 28-12 heading into the second quarter.

In the second period the Eagles continued to pull away from the Thunder thanks to some impressive outside shooting from Andrew Bridge and Joe Chapman whose back-to-back three-pointers at the end of the second period gave the Eagles a 24-point advantage at 54-30 heading into the locker rooms at the half.

In the second half the Eagles started with an 8-0 to take the score out to 62-30 and an 11-4 burst from the home side again extended the Eagles lead to their biggest lead of the game of 35 points at 77-42, but three-pointers from Sherrod Prezzie-Blue and James Brame helped the visitors end the third period with a 13-2 tear to trim the deficit slightly to 24 points at 79-55 heading into the final stanza.

In the final quarter the visitors tried valiantly to get themselves back into the game but they could get no closer than 27 points at 99-72 with two minutes remaining as the Eagles secured their semi-final berth.

Smith led all scorers in the game with an impressive 29 points for the Eagles, while Reggie Bratton led the Thunder scorers with 19 points personal.

Thunder beat Raiders to seal playoff place

Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 99 (21,39,69) (Lasker 30, Valencia 23, Martin 20)
Worthing Thunder 108 (27,39,65) (Bratton 41, Prezzie-Blue 17, Richard 16)

The Worthing Thunder confirmed their BBL Championship Playoff spot with an amazing last ditch revival and overtime win, 99-108, on the road at the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders. In confirming their playoff party, they spoilt the second party of the weekend for an opposition team as the game brought an end to Gary Stronach's 24 years at the Raiders; on Saturday night, the Thunder defeated the Sheffield Sharks to cost them the BBL Championship title.

Worthing had to win the game to make the playoffs after Worcester beat Guildford earlier in the day, and they will fancy their chances of an upset against the Newcastle Eagles as the only team to have beaten them in 2010.

It was Reggie Bratton's heroics late on that made the difference, and he made 41 points in the game. Drew Lasker led the Raiders with 30 points of his own.

The game was close in the first half, with the biggest lead coming at 21-27 to the visitors after the first period. The Raiders got back into the game in the second and, restricting their visitors to just 12 points, they tied the game up at 39 in a low scoring quarter.

The game remained tight in the third period, as neither team could establish a lead despite it taking a completely different form to the second stanza as the teams shared 56 points. They were never separated by more than one possession as there were eight lead changes and five ties up to the final minute of the period. But Lasker and Valencia scored consecutive baskets to make the score 69-65 in favour of the hosts as they headed into the decisive period with a slight edge.

The Raiders built on that momentum with what appeared to be the decisive push early in the fourth quarter as Rowe scored twice in an 8-3 opening to take a 77-68 lead. The lead reached double digits at 83-73 on Anthony Martin's basket with a little over five minutes remaining. The Thunder narrowed the deficit, but when Lasker made a three-pointer with 2.40 remaining it looked as though the game was over at 90-81. But Bratton inspired the late fightback that secured their playoff place. He made consecutive triples in little over 20 seconds and made the score 90-87 heading into the last two minutes, before two Prezzie-Blue free-throws and one from Ivanovskis tied the game at 90 with 58 seconds left.

The Thunder took charge in overtime as they opened with an 11-1 run, with five different scorers, to push themselves through the century mark at 91-101. Bratton went through the 40-point mark with a three-pointer late on, and he was 6/7 from beyond the arc in the game.

Thunder finish at home on a high

Worthing Thunder 97 (27,53,75) (Bratton 26, Makalainen 19, Prezzie-Blue 18)
Sheffield Sharks 95 (21,43,67) (Cook 27, Tuck 23, Toney 19)

Thunder proved title-deciders with an epic 97-95 victory over Sheffield Sharks at home on Saturday.

The defeat means Sharks will finish second behind Newcastle Eagles with just six losses. Their latest and most crucial was only made final on Evaldas Zabas's bucket with just four seconds remaining.

Leading scorer Mike Cook tried to nail a three in the final moments but his shot rattled the rim to break Sheffield hearts.

Earlier Sharks had fought their way back from a 20 point deficit midway through the second quarter. Thunder had taken a 27-21 first quarter lead and bolted out to 46-26 before Sheffield closed to 53-43 at half time.

Thunder's lead was back to three (55-52) until they put together a 15-4 burst to move out to 70-56. Sharks wouldn't be denied though and cut the gap to 75-67 heading into the final stanza.

And the comeback was complete when Perry Lawson's three capped a 16-7 start to the fourth quarter. Worthing held the upper hand after that though as Zabas, Sherrad Prezzie-Blue and Ville Makalianen all scored vital points.

Cook tied the match at 95-95 with a three but Zabas had the last word to keep his team in the play-off hunt and end Sharks aspirations for another year.

Thunder tame the Lions

Worthing Thunder 95 (26,44,68) (Zabas 23, Bratton 22, Cricelli 17)
Marshall MK Lions 88 (24,49,73) (Williams 20, Harrison 18, Naughton 17)

The Worthing Thunder scored an important 95-88 win over the Marshall MK Lions on the South Coast in the jostle for playoff positioning. The win puts the Thunder just two points behind the Lions in seventh place in the BBL Championship.

Evaldas Zabas led all scorers with 23 points, including some crucial scores in the Thunder's last-gasp fight back. The Thunder trailed 83-88 heading into the last two minutes, but Zabas scored four in a 6-0 run for the Thunder to make it 89-88 with 34 seconds left. He scored twice more from the free-throw line with 12 seconds remaining to settle the game, as Harrison turned the ball over with 5 seconds left to end the Lions' hopes.

Previously, the pendulum was swinging in this game as both teams had periods in charge. It was a 9-4 start to the game for the Lions as they didn't miss a shot in the first three minutes with Yorick Williams hitting a three-pointer and Justen Naughton scoring twice. But the Thunder came back to tie the game at 11 on a Prezzie-Blue triple, and the teams were tied at 13 and 16 before two Harrison scores and one for Williams made it 16-22 in favour of the visitors. But Thunder came back once more with 10 straight points, including two three-pointers for Zabas to take the lead.

The Thunder continued to connect from long-range as they pushed ahead in the second stanza, taking a 34-26 lead after triples from Bratton and Prezzie-Blue. Consecutive scores from Harrison and Mike New brought the Lions back to within one possession at 36-33, and they remained within striking distance as another Williams triple narrowed it to 40-39, before the Lions took the lead back, at 44-49, within the final minute of the first half as Williams scored back-to-back baskets.

Thunder came back early in the third as a 7-0 run made it 51-52, before another Williams triple put the Lions clear again. But the Thunder would eventually regain the lead at 66-61, only for Williams to make his fourth triple of the night to snap their run, and Harrison did likewise as the Lions led again at 66-67. They pushed home that advantage to lead 68-73 entering the decisive quarter.

Once in the fourth, Prezzie-Blue's three-pointer sparked a 7-2 burst that tied the game once more at 75. But Frank Holmes kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Lions, as he scored their first 6 points of the quarter to keep them in front. However, Prezzie-Blue was there again with a three-pointer to tie the game back up at 81 with five minutes remaining. It was a triple from Dru Spinks and a Naughton basket that put the Lions up 83-88 before the exciting finish to the game.

Thunder overcome Raiders

Worthing Thunder 104 (24,51,83) (Zabas 25, Bratton 24, Prezzie-Blue 20)
Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 101 (26,49,82) (Lasker 35, Valencia 29, Rowe 16)

Worthing Thunder maintained their grip on the final play-off position with a hard-fought 104-101 home win over Airwaves Plymouth Raiders.

Evaldas Zabas and Sherrad Prezzie-Blue both made crucial free throws down the stretch as Thunder managed to hold off Raiders in a match where the biggest lead for either team was just six points.

Plymouth began the match brightly with a 10-4 run and they still led by six (15-21) before Thunder cut the deficit to 24-26 at the end of the first quarter.

A tight second quarter saw the match tied on six occasions before Worthing broke the deadlock to take a 51-49 lead into the second half on Zabas's free throw.

Reggie Bratton gave Thunder their biggest lead of the night at 59-53 and Sam Cricelli equalled it to make it 83-77 but a 5-0 end to the third quarter brought Raiders back to 83-82.

Andrew Lasker gave Plymouth their last lead of the match at 91-92 before a 6-0 Thunder burst put the home side on top for good. Lasker's three made it 102-101 but Prezzie-Blue made the game safe from the line.

Tigers edge past Thunder

Everton Tigers 81 (9,34,68) (Babalola 18, Moore 15, Jones 13)
Worthing Thunder 75 (16,32,46) (Bratton 26, Cricelli 15, Prezzie-Blue 12)

The Everton Tigers beat the Worthing Thunder by 81-75 on Merseyside to maintain the pressure on their North West rivals, the Cheshire Jets, in fifth place in the BBL Championship.

Everton spread the scoring as Olu Babalola netted 18, Trey Moore 15 and James Jones 13. Reggie Bratton, for Thunder, led all scorers with 26 points.

The Thunder looked strong early on as they held their hosts to just 9 points in the first period, twice holding them scoreless for three minutes or more. After an early exchange of baskets, Bratton scored twice to spark a 9-0 burst that made the score 4-12. Consecutive scores from Jones halted the run, before the teams shared only 5 points in the last 4.10 of the first, making the score 9-16.

Everton found their scoring touch immediately in the second with 7 points, including 5 for Andrew Thomson, inside the first 1.18, before Moore scored 6 in a 9-0 push that saw them holding a 25-20 lead after four minutes. The lead reached a first half peak at 32-24 on Moore's three-pointer, before Sam Cricelli scored 4 late points in a 6-0 recovery as the Thunder got it back to 34-32 going into the locker rooms.

Everton really pushed ahead as they matched their first half score in the third quarter alone. It was still a one possession game when Thomson sparked a 10-0 surge and, after Bratton scored for Thunder, they followed that with another 10 unanswered, including 8 and two triples for James Jones, to lead 60-38. The home side led 68-46 heading into the final ten minutes.

But that nearly wasn't enough as the Thunder came charging back in the fourth quarter. Everton scored just 4 points in six minutes, all from Adam Williams, while the visitors scored a rapid 20 of their own, started by James Brame's triple and including 6 more for Bratton, to narrow the gap to 72-66. home side found their feet with Jones's three-pointer and saw the game out as they held the Thunder to only 4 points in the crucial last 3 minutes.

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