They hosted Gloucester Saxons at Richard Huish College with another large crowd in attendance. Tigers got to work early with 3 consecutive drives to the hoop by their captain for 6 points. Coach Richard Anderson rotated his bench and was rewarded with 10 of 11 players getting on the scoreboard in the first quarter. Saxons answered with 4 three pointers in the period but weren’t able to handle the height advantage of Taunton and found themselves trailing 27 — 14.

In the second quarter Tigers continued to get easy looks inside from Robin Boult and Mark Schroeder. A slight lapse defensively saw them committing fouls which led to Saxon’s scoring 7 of their 14 points from the free throw line. Taunton remained in control though, scoring 21 in the quarter and ending the half with a twenty point cushion 48 – 28.

After the half time break Saxons stepped up their defence. Their increased pressure led to more turnovers for Tigers, frustrating them in the half court. Despite this and their good shooting throughout the game, Gloucester had no answer for Taunton’s size advantage and Tigers continued to dominate inside.

A 27 point lead going into the final quarter allowed Taunton to continue rotating their bench and see the game out with rested players. The young Saxons team played hard to the end and showed promising spells throughout the match.

The game finished Taunton Tigers 81 – 51 Gloucester Saxons with Taunton advancing to the next round of the National Shield on 22nd October, with a home draw against Bristol Flyers II.

Following the game, Coach Anderson said,

The win was a great confidence booster. Every player played good minutes and scored points. We are improving with every training session and game. I'm looking forward to seeing how we perform on the road next Saturday.

Tigers National League Division 4 South West competition begins this Saturday (30th September) with an away trip to Oxford Stealers. Their next home fixture is Saturday 7th October against Oxford City Hoops at Richard Huish College, 6pm.