Cambridge University Basketball Club (CUBBC) put in a fine performance to narrowly overcome the University of Birmingham 90–80, with the scoreline not doing justice to the Light Blues’ dominant display at the University Sports Centre on Wednesday night.

Following a disappointing narrow loss to a side from the University of Nottingham in their season opener last week, the game against Birmingham provided the perfect opportunity for the newly promoted Light Blues to record their first win of the season in the BUCS Midlands 1A League. And that they did in a sublime fashion, with a controversial refereeing decision in the final quarter leaving the scoreboard to flatter the away side, who found themselves thoroughly outclassed throughout by a team who seem to have adjusted well to life in the Midlands 1A League after promotion last season.

The first quarter was a cagey, back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading scores, while also conceding a number of unnecessary fouls. CUBBC made a strong start to leave their mark on the scoreboard early courtesy of two quick-fire scores from Sam Bedell, who was particularly lethal from his free throws. But Birmingham managed to peg the Light Blues back towards the end of the quarter with some fine attacking place, leaving the home side with a narrow 14–13 lead at the end of the first period.

While the first period was a more reserved affair from both sides, the Light Blues really began to turn on the style in the second using lightning-quick passing moves to cut through the Midlanders’ defence. Jack Clearman was particularly impressive: nailing an inch-perfect three-pointer midway through the half and hitting a buzzer-beater to extend CUBBC’s lead to 49–35, the American was playing some scintillating basketball.

Assisting Clearman in the dissection of Birmingham’s defense were Croatian Luka Skoric, Portuguese Eduardo Baptista, and Serbian Milan Krstajic, each of whom brought some European class to proceedings, stuffing the stat sheet with aplomb as the first half of the match reached its conclusion.

However, Birmingham rallied. The away side opened the third quarter on a 6–0 run to cut the Light Blues’ lead to 8, but CUBBC withstood the flurry and pushed their total up to 70 points by the end of the third period as the Midlanders continued to struggle defensively.

But it was not all good news for the Light Blues. Man of the Match Clearman was to be denied the ending to the night that befitted his play, as he was ejected in the fourth quarter following what the referee dubiously deemed to be his second technical foul of the night. Both teams were clearly outraged by what CUBBC coach, Tim Weil, would later describe as a “potentially game-changing” decision, with even the Birmingham coach vocally disagreeing with the officials.

But the protests fell upon deaf ears and Clearman was controversially sent back to the changing rooms with, ominously for the side, nearly the entire final quarter still to play.

The match became increasingly tense, with the Light Blues desperate to ensure that their misfortune did not cost them the match. And, after some dogged and determined defensive play, the Light Blues managed to hold on despite the loss of their talismanic American to record a 90–80 victory.

Speaking to Varsity after the match, CUBBC’s Patrick Lundgren was in a positive mood, praising his team’s performance: “We played well but we should’ve won by more,” he said. “We were unlucky not to beat Nottingham in our last game so it was nice to get the win tonight. There’s a few new players in the team and we are just getting used to that.”

Having spent all of their promotion-winning campaign last season undefeated, this match provided the Light Blues with a welcome and confidence-boosting return to winning ways that should be set them in good stead for their next contest, a trip to the West Midlands to face the bottom-of-the-table side from the University of Worcester.

CUBBC: Kurdi, Abolins, Clearman, Bedell, Bernov, Lundgren, Miller, Adebayo, Skoric, Walsh, Krstatic, Baptista

University of Birmingham: Kitchen, Salmon, Argyle, Ngimbi, Fong, Davfs, Olufadi, Turnbull, Thomas, Barabasi