Falkirk Fury senior men win joust with Stirling Knights in season starter

Action from Falkirk Fury's opener (Photo: Alex Johnson)

Falkirk Fury’s senior men opened their league season with a 87-69 victory over Stirling Knights.

A 22-9 opening quarter saw the Sony Centre sponsored get off to a great start in front of a packed 300 crowd at Grangemouth Sports Complex.

John Bunyan’s side lined-up with an almost identical team to last season’s with the likes of centre Murray Hendry - BBL Dunk champion - bringing the fans to their feet with a series of spectacular plays, with the star finishing as the game's top scorer on 28 points personal.

A 28-18 second stanza gave Fury a 23 point lead at the break but the visitors responded by taking the third quarter 21-14 to reduce the gap to 16 points going into the final period.

Fury continued to struggle until American guard Javon Daniels hit some big threes to pull Fury clear in the closing minutes. Daniels, returning to Fury for a second season, hit five threes in a excellent 15 points tally.

Guards Bantu Burroughs and Eddy Leginas shared 20 points with 12 and 8 respectively. Forward Adnan Jalil also had a strong game with nine points and off the bench teenager Harvey Berry and Lithuanian centre Evaldis Burksaitis had six points apiece.

Fury hit ten threes from behind the arc with coach Bunyan left delighted at how the side played after having limited pre-season time to work with the group.

Now for Fury’s senior men, they travel to Renfrew Rocks this weekend on the road.

Fury’s second string were defeated by Boroughmuir Blaze in a Lothian League outing with Connor Martin, Taras Kmetiuk and David Black leading the scores for the Falkirk side.

Meanwhile, Fury’s under-16 cadet men faced a strong North Lanarkshire Chiefs side. Fury took the win in a low scoring affair by 56-46.

Adama Hainey showed his class with a strong game and top scored for the Falkirk side with 17 points. Fury got off to a great start with a 23-12 first quarter but never recaptured that opening form as they struggled to build on that double digit lead.

Oliver Coffey continued his great form with 16 points personal. Coach Ewan Carlow's side move to 2-2 for the season and now face Glasgow Rens on the road.