The University of Chester men’s basketball team have made it through to the Basketball England Men’s National Basketball Development League Quarter Final after winning the first play-off game in their history.
Having won the NBDL North West Division, the University side defeated a hugely talented City of Birmingham side 70-66 at Ellesmere Port Sports Village to book a home clash with Southwark Pride in the next round on April 2 (12pm).
Birmingham boasted a talented roster that included former BBL players Daniel Belgrave and Martyn Gayle, who played for Cheshire Phoenix this season, but Chester had too much for the Midlanders.
The past 12 months has seen the men’s basketball programme at Chester take huge steps in its development.
After winning Division 2A British Universities & College Sport (BUCS) League, their first team gained promotion into promotion into Division One for the first team in the clubs history.
As a result the University and Chester Students’ Union backed the club to enter a team of current students and alumni into the Basketball England National League, to ensure that the club were able compete at a high level in both BUCS and NBDL level.
This enabled Chester to form an extremely strong squad containing several players with former BBL experiece including the likes of former Cheshire Jets players Phil Brandreth and Niel Gillard.
Despite this, as a new team to the National Basketball League, the University of Chester were entered into the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) North West Division, formerly NBL Division 4.
Their opposition this season has included the likes of Blackburn College Spinners, Carlisle Panthers, Calderdale Explorers, Kendal Warriors, Liverpool II, Manchester Magic II, Preston College Titans and Tameside.
Chester finished the season winners of the North West Development League, recording 12 wins and two losses, the third best record across all five regions.
