Raiders hot shooting overcomes late surge from Owls

A dominant shooting display from Raiders’ under-18s boys has guided the side to a second win of the season, upsetting last year’s grand finalists Barking Owls by nine points on Tuesday night.

David Arthur set the tone for the young Raiders outfit hitting a three pointer within the first 15 seconds of game and he caused Owls plenty of problems throughout the evening.

Owls were able to gain control after a slow start and they led by as much as six points before the Raiders got their offence rolling.

Arthur and Ben Brown helped Raiders regain the lead and then entered the second half six points ahead of a misfiring Owls line-up.

The first five minutes of the second half was pivotal to the result as the Raiders hit top gear, skipping 16 points clear.

The margin continued to grow, reaching a game-high 24 points at one stage as Raiders hit 11 of the first 15 baskets.

Owls were stunned into action, and through veteran Justin Benson were able to claw their way back into the contest.

However, their fightback was simply too late, as the Raiders held their nerve to score an impressive 68-59 victory.

Arthur was the difference in the end, hitting four three- pointers on his way to 26 points while Corey Jerrard was another strong contributor with 15 for the winners.

Benson did his usual things, dropping 24 points and Sam Finigan added 17 but they lacked support.

Railways blew their chance to go clear on top of the ladder, throwing away a big lead against Ambassadors.

Railways led 22-5 with seven minutes to play in the opening half but Ambassadors stormed back into the contest after half-time.

In a gripping finish, Ambass-adors levelled scores and then denied Railways at the defensive end as the game ended 39-all.

Cyrus Upson (20 points) and Todd Kniuman (9) were the leading scorers for Railways and Ambassadors respectively.

Tigers recorded their second win of the season after downing Blazers by 11 points.

The new team, Blazers, are yet to win a game and trailed by 18 points at half-time before going down 37-48.

Danial Abbott and Corey Hill combined for 31 points for Tigers.