CG2018: Falkirk's Fury four heavily involved for Scotland

Scotland Senior Men went two from two in their warm up games before the Commonwealth Games begin for them on Thursday with a match against England.
Fury trained players called up to the Games in the Gold Coast -  Fraser Malcolm (top) Ali Fraser (bottom) Jonny Bunyan (right)  Kieron Achara (left)Fury trained players called up to the Games in the Gold Coast -  Fraser Malcolm (top) Ali Fraser (bottom) Jonny Bunyan (right)  Kieron Achara (left)
Fury trained players called up to the Games in the Gold Coast - Fraser Malcolm (top) Ali Fraser (bottom) Jonny Bunyan (right) Kieron Achara (left)

They won 80-77 over the SunCoast Clippers at the weekend.

Four former Fury players started for the Scots along with former Tayside Musketeer –Gareth Murray.

Jonny Bunyan, Kieran Achara, Fraser Malcolm and Ali Fraser who had recovered from an ankle injury he picked up in training made up the starting side.

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This was a much stronger team than Phoenix in game one and with the Scots ahead

51-48 it was clear the game would go to the wire.

The Fury four had solid performances with Jonny Bunyan nailing a big three in the final minute to take the Scots ahead and an eventual three-point win.

Scotland continued to look at their rotations and have produced two good performances Down Under .

The heat and humidity was a problem for teams with the ball being particularly slippery and the conditions on the floor causing issues when players landed.

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Jonny Bunyan was pitched against a quality Aussie guard who plays in the top Aussie league and did a great job in pushing the ball up court – hitting 11 points (three threes) and playing great defence.

6ft 10 Kieran Achara was at times up against a 7ft centre, but the starting five for

the Clippers were all very good players , for the most part matching the Scots.

The Scots were ahead for most of the game with Ali Fraser’s return to action solid, not just with good plays inside, but some very good outside shooting.

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Fraser Malcolm continued to be a strong component of the Scotland side with former Blaze player Sean Nealon Lino coming off the bench along with Bristol Flyers Mike Vigor to good effect. Nealon Lino having a much stronger game than in Game One at both ends of the floor and in particular in the trapping Scots defence.

Big shout to Shane Truscott – Director of the SunCoast Basketball organization who staged two great games – game one was attended by Scots Games athletes and team family members. In game two – a capacity crowd cheered on both teams. The Scots now fly to Townsville where they will play their first CG Pool game against England on April 5 after a final preparatory game.

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