Falkirk Fury fall to narrow loss over two legs in senior men's play-off final

Despite a game high 33 points personal from former Glasgow Rocks star Murray Hendry, Sony Centre sponsored Fury just fell short of glory against the top-placed league outfit over two legs, in what was a second three point margin defeat to Blaze in a row. The Edinburgh hosts sealed a domestic treble in the process by winning the play-off.

Fury, who in season 2014-15 and 16-17 achieved the treble themselves, knew that accolade would be a big incentive for their rivals and in front of packed crowd at the Crags Sports Complex, both teams once again produced a level of basketball, arguably not seen in the Scottish league system before.

Murray Hendry opened Fury's scoring at the Crags with a big dunk to pull the scoring back to 5-2 after Blaze took an early 5-0 lead.

The Falkirk side's Lithuanian guard Eddy Leginas had six points in the opening quarter with fellow back court star Bantu Burroughs,current Gladiators professional Oscar Baldwin and Hendry also getting on the scoresheet.

With Blaze putting 21 points on the board, Fury were seven behind going into the second. However a 21-18 second stanza saw the Falkirk side close the gap to four points at the half, but crucially seven points behind overall in the tie. Ten points from Hendry and six points from Baldwin were the big numbers for Fury in the second.

The third period once again saw Fury edge back into Blaze's game lead and with a 21-17 scoreline in Fury's favour, the game was tied at 56 points apiece going into the final quarter and back to three difference overall between the sides. The third saw Leginas with nine points personal as he stepped up his game, with Hendry on six points and Burroughs hitting his second three of the game.

While Blaze had pushed the overall score out to ten points at the start of the second, Fury themselves had taken an overall lead of five points when they went eight points clear overall.

With the game finely poised in the final quarter, it was a real blow to the Falkirk club's hopes when their star guard Leginas had to leave the court after an ankle injury not long into the period.

Hendry continued his strong performance down the stretch with 11 points personal in the fourth period but time ran out to save Fury’s chances as Blaze saw the match out to win the tie, and the trophy.

Murray Hendry top scored for Fury on a 33 point tally, just edging an equally fine display by Blaze's Mathew McCclain who finished on 32 points. Eddy Leginas racked up 17 points before going out injured at the start of the fourth quarter, with Bantu Burroughs finishing on 13 points and Oscar Baldwin on 10 points.

Fury head coach John Bunyan said of the result: “Full credit to Alan and his team for winning the treble and for taking the play-offs. Both teams can take great credit for putting on two first class games of basketball and I would also like to thank the Fury and Blaze fans for making the games extra special in terms of noise and atmosphere.

“The second leg saw us again match Blaze in transition, with fine margins between the teams in terms of controlling the game on the floor and on the boards. Each leg was played with each team looking for an edge in tactics on offence in defence. Both games saw both teams making runs, only to see them countered. It was unfortunate we lost Eddy early on in the 4th and that we lost out in a couple key rebounding situations in the final minutes. That takes nothing away from Blaze, but I want to give full credit to my team who have been a fantastic group of players not just on the court but off. They are truly a talented group of players and I know we are already looking forward to getting back to the top spot again."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​