Isle of Wight (IOW) travelled over with just 6 players, but put up a great show against a lacklustre Bears side, and stayed with them for much of the game.

Bears got out of the blocks very poorly indeed allowing the visitors a 7-0 run at the start which was extended to 11-3 with 5 minutes gone. It was only the deadly 3 point shooting of Mark Sanderson that kept the scoreline close as he opened Bears scoring with 3 consecutive treys. The introduction of Volkan Dik steadied the ship as Bears finished the quarter with an 8-1 run.

Large spells with poor offense, poor defense and too many turnovers were symptomatic of Bears' second quarter. They went scoreless for nearly 6 minutes as the plucky visitors hustled and harried to take the lead back. Once again, it was left to Mark to provide the offensive spark and he duly obliged with 9 points in the last in the last 3 minutes, including a big 3 just before the buzzer.

Despite leading by just 1 point at the half, Bears maintained their composure and went out fighting hard in the 2nd half. Phil Bechmann came on and led by example picking up 5 unanswered points to extend the lead to 6. Bears slumped again as they struggled to find any rhythm in a cold gym, but Mark Sanderson again came to the rescue with 3 more threes including yet another one as the clock wound down for the end of the quarter.

The final quarter proved to be a bit of a stroll in the park. IOW were now visibly tired and could no longer muster the effort that they had put in during the first 3 quarters. Bears still managed to look disjointed, despite rapidly pulling away from the visitors on the way to a 26 point victory.

All in all, a very disappointing performance from the Bears. They were not a patch on the side that beat Smugglers or Southampton Institute. But at the end of the day, a win is a win!! Somehow I think there will be a lot of work being put into the next few training sessions to get everyone working together again.

On the plus side, a stellar performance from Mark Sanderson who hit 7 for 7 from three point range, and only missed 1 shot all night long for a game and Bears career high 27 points. Volkan also looked class as he eased to 14 points, along with several great assists.