Stephens settles ‘best ever’ game

By Aaron Scoones

Andy Stewart’s final throw of the game secured victory for Collins Stewart just as the buzzer sounded.

Collins Stewart 57, Le Mont Saint Subaru 55
IT IS being called the ‘lay-up that was heard around the world’.

With only 3.2 seconds left on the clock and the scores level at 55 points apiece, Collins Stewart’s Andy Stephens was given the ball on the halfway line. What followed will go down in local basketball folklore as the island guard drove to the basket to lay up for two points.

Before his feet touched the ground the final buzzer echoed around Beau Sejour and Collins Stewart, delirious in celebration, had won having been 13 points adrift at one point. It was undoubtedly one of the best basketball games in the Guernsey Basketball Association’s history.

‘When I caught the ball I thought I’d find the open man or a three-point shot, but the lane opened up and I just went for it,’ said 26-year-old Stephens.

For three quarters of the match, the game belonged to Subaru.

Mike Beausire, their big centre, was notching up points with ease in capitalising on the absence of Collins Stewart’s own big man, Guernsey captain Nigel Govett.

Going into the last quarter, Subaru were 46-34 up, but whether it was good Collins Stewart defence or bad play by the whites, they could no longer get the ball to Beausire.

Collins Stewart took advantage of this and they put themselves back into contention to reduce the deficit to two points at 55-53 with 45.5 seconds left.

Then Scott Rowe, who was having a storming game, threw the ball up for a two-point shot and the ball bounced up into the air to splash down through the net to level the scores.

Subaru wasted their next attack and when Collins called a timeout to give the mid-court re-start, Stephens produced his moment of magic.

‘We knew we weren’t playing well but we concentrated on getting one basket at a time and thank God for Andy Stephens,’ said Collins’ player-coach Jeff Stuart.

The match had been billed as the title decider but it looks like that it will now come down to when the pair meet on the last day of the season, although Collins Stewart Inferno and the Island under-21s may have something to say about that.