WITH only three full weeks of the Ipswich & District Basketball League season left, Bury Bulldogs' claim to the title was put on hold for at least another week when they slipped up against Colchester Veterans.

WITH only three full weeks of the Ipswich & District Basketball League season left, Bury Bulldogs' claim to the title was put on hold for at least another week when they slipped up against Colchester Veterans.

The Vets can theoretically catch the West Suffolk side but only if other results go their way as Bulldogs have the head to head results in their matches against them.

For the Vets' visit, Bury were without leading scorer Chris Dixon while Colchester gave a first outing to Alec Ward.

In an even first quarter the lead changed hands five times with the visitors just edging ahead by a single point.

The start of the second saw Colchester hit nine unanswered points with Aaron Syrett hitting five points in a couple of minutes.

Another Aaron, Caldwell, came off the Bury bench to sink six points in three minutes to keep the Bulldogs in the game.

Half time saw the visitors ahead by seven thanks to 17 in total from Alec Ward and Jules Keeling.

The Vets just kept ahead in the third but were not helped by nine misses from the free throw line and going into the final quarter their lead was still in single figures.

Within three minutes of the re-start Bulldogs tied up the game as Christian Lyne and Henry Utku ran their offence. Two baskets apiece from Keeling and Ward put Colchester back in control but another seven misses from the foul line kept their nerves jangling until the final buzzer.

BT Lasers kept their season alive with a win against Holbrook Eagles and a chance of finishing in second place.

The Eagles had a much younger look to their squad with first games for juniors Aaron Moseley and Lloyd Aldis.

Only three baskets in the first five minutes from the Eagles gave them a lot to do as Lasers by then were into a double-digit lead.

Ten points from Matt Ward ensured Lasers were still well in control by the end of the first.

Another seven from Ward in the second together with seven from Lewis Giles kept Lasers well ahead. Sixteen personal from debut boy Moseley gave Eagles some hope and they narrowed the gap to 11 midway through the third.

But that was the closest they got and despite Moseley finishing with a game-high 28, Lasers had five players in double figures by the end.

The bottom two net at Stowmarket when BT Jets were the visitors. A win for Jets would have given them some hope of avoiding finishing last but it was not to be. Jets started the better and were ahead for the first four minutes with Mitchell Turner and Ryan Farfan finding the basket. Only one basket in seven minutes in the second gave Jets a lot to do as Slammers ran in 12 unanswered points.

By half-time the gap had opened up to 13 and with Zeuss Stone and Jay Trye combining well on offence in the third, Slammers extended their lead to almost 20.

Two quick baskets from Farfan at the start of the final quarter gave Jets a slim chance but Farfan then fouled out and Slammers comfortably controlled the latter stages of the game.

The coming week could see some movement in the table with Colchester having back to back fixtures against the bottom two.

Bury could clinch the title should they beat Holbrook Eagles, while Lasers need to overcome the Cougars if they want to hang on to second spot.

Results

Bury Bulldogs 78 (Utku 21, Lyne 14, Caldwell 11) Colchester Veterans 81 (Ward 31, Keeling 23, A.Syrett 20), Stowmarket Slammers 67 (Stone 19, Harris 10, Trye 8) BT Jets 39 (Turner 14, Farfan 10), BT Lasers 97 (Giles 22, Peters 18, Ward 17) Holbrook Eagles 80 (Moseley 28, Newman 21, Daley 10).