Remembrance Sunday brought a thick, eerie fog rolling off the Mersey that looked straight out of the 2007 film The Mist. Between the weather outside and spending my recent downtime playing The Witcher 3, the waterfront felt like it was bracing for a hunt. Just 24 hours after Scottish comedian Susan Calman packed out the M&S Bank Arena, another contingent of Scots arrived for a clash billed as “Scousers versus Scots”. Facing the Caledonia Gladiators felt like a full-circle moment, given they were the very first opponent this franchise ever played.
Before tip-off, Caledonia were out on the court running full drills, which seemed bizarrely late in the day and raised the question of whether burning energy like that right before the start of the game is actually useful, or would it come back to bite them. On our side, Nick Stampley was missing from the lineup, and Coach Roy Rogers made a surprising change to the starting five. Pat Robinson (recently crowned Player of the Month), James Okonkwo, and Tevin Olison, arguably our three best players, all started on the bench. Whatever the plan was with the lineup, it worked, and the bench ended up scoring a massive 62 points across the afternoon compared to Caledonia’s 33.
The Best Start Yet
Damiri Lindo started on the ball and controlled the tempo well from the opening tip-off, finishing with 5 points and 6 rebounds in 17 minutes of work. We started strongly, forcing an early Caledonia timeout as our defence crowded the paint. A giant block from Okonkwo (one of our 8 team blocks to Caledonia’s 1) started a fast break that ended with Lindo hitting a three-pointer.
When Tevin Olison entered the game, he lulled the Gladiators to sleep before pulling up for a deep three-pointer, quickly followed by a couple more as our outside shots kept falling. Caledonia looked stunned and even stopped contesting rebounds on free throws. By the time the first quarter ended, we were up 38-21, easily the best opening ten minutes I have seen from this team.
High Screens and Hard Collisions
After that electric first quarter, we started the second period slowly. It took us nearly three minutes to score, forcing an early timeout of our own as Caledonia chipped away at the lead, eventually taking the quarter 28-23. Once we settled down, the ball movement looked much sharper than in previous weeks, leading to 23 team assists on the night.
Haydn Ling was instrumental in creating that space, setting solid high screens and working tirelessly in the paint to collect a team-high 9 rebounds, alongside 8 points and 3 assists. Pat Robinson took a heavy collision mid-quarter, but showed great determination to get straight back up and secure the rebound. He spent the rest of the half aggressively driving the lane and drawing fouls, helping us head into the locker room with a healthy 61-49 lead despite a few uneven stretches.
Dunks and Robbers
We were occasionally a bit loose with the ball in the third quarter, and we still have a frustrating habit of losing concentration on baseline restarts. Robinson also forced a few tough, contested shots that did not always fall, going 3-8 from 2-point range, though he still finished with an impressive stat line of 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Fortunately, our three-point shooting more than made up for any defensive lapses. We shot an incredible 50% from beyond the arc across the game, making 17 of our 34 attempts.
Tomiwa Sulaiman led the way, catching fire to lead all scorers with 23 points in just 18 minutes, and keeping a cool head throughout being the only player without a Personal Foul. Halfway through the third, foul trouble began to creep in, with some soft whistles going against Olison. He responded by immediately hitting back to back three-pointers over the Caledonia defenders. The M&S Bank Arena then erupted during an exciting sequence of back-to-back breakaway dunks: first from Okonkwo (10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), followed immediately by Olison passing to Xavier Williams Jr (13 points, 8 rebounds) for a powerful slam, and finished off by a huge Okonkwo chase-down block on a Caledonia dunk attempt. We took the third quarter 27-21 to stretch the lead to 18 points.
Technicals, Alley-Oops, and a 119-Point Statement
We started the fourth quarter quickly, moving the ball well to set up a few big three-pointers and another dunk from Williams Jr. Just as we threatened to turn it into a complete rout, a string of strange, soft fouls stalled the momentum midway through the period. Sulaiman’s accurate shooting kept our offence moving, while Tajinder Lall put together his best performance in a Liverpool shirt, scoring 14 points with 4 rebounds in 24 minutes, including the final three-pointer in the closing seconds.
The final five minutes grew tense as frustrations boiled over. Caledonia’s Kyle Jimenez fouled out, and shortly after, Olison and Sulaiman got into a heated exchange with the Caledonia bench. The referees handed out double technicals (one to each side, going to Olison and Christian Keeling), and another Caledonia player (Isiah Small) picked up a separate technical foul as their discipline fell apart. Olison eventually fouled out as well after scoring 15 points in 23 minutes, but the game was already decided. Brandon Tchouya (7 points, 3 assists) provided the final highlight with a great alley-oop pass to Williams Jr, and we closed out a dominant 31-23 fourth quarter to secure a massive 119-93 victory.
My Player of the Match: Tomiwa Sulaiman (23 PTS, 4 REB, 1 BLK)
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