Basketball: Falkirk Fury's junior men make it eight SBC national titles after play-off victory

Fury U18 men won 82-73 against Boroughmuir Blaze in the semi-final, with the opening three periods producing only a one-point difference between the sides after scorelines of 22-22, 21-21 and 20-19 to Fury.

The final stanza saw Fury make a key push with five minutes left when Daniel Velykyy put them 70-67 up after a two-point play.

Captain Jack Shand, Alex Low and Velykyy continued to put points on the board, forcing Blaze into a timeout with three minutes to play and the score at 75-67 for the Sony sponsored side. Andrew Henderson then put Fury further ahead, taking them into the final against Stirling Knights.

Ukrainian Daniel Velykyy finished top scorer for Fury on 25 points with Jack Shand on 23 and Andrew Henderson on 13. Finlay Morrison and Alex Low shared 14 points.

Into the final between Scottish Cup winners Fury and Division 1 champs Knights, it was Stirling who took the first period 15-13.

The teams tied the second, Knights took the third 19-16 and with six minutes left Fury captain Shand put the Falkirk side ahead for the first time in the fourth with a two-point play for 54-53.

A Shand steal saw Finlay Morrison put Fury five clear and Henderson made it seven with five minutes to play with just over a minute to go, before Shand’s two-pointer made it a seven-point lead. Fury eventually ran out 72-62 victors.

For the Fury junior men it was their second title of the season, adding the play-off championship to their Scottish Cup win.

For their coach Keith Bunyan, it was his fifth title of the season after his triple trophy campaign with the Fury senior men. It was also great to see hard working JM assistant coach Ewan Carlow picking up his second title after coming so close in all three competitions with his cadet men's team.

In the final Shand had a 22-point game and six assists, with Shand, regarded by many as the best point guard in the league, rightly picked up the MVP award. Finlay Morrison had 11 points with Dylan Low on 10. Daniel Velykyy chipped in with six points and 14 rebounds.

Alex Low had eight with Liam Bouch seven and Andrew Henderson six. Gavin Black had two points with Adama Hainey, John Crozier, Cole Mellstrom and Jack McNie completing Fury's team.

Fury JM coach Keith Bunyan said: “Going into the season we knew we had a strong group of players who were all prepared to play for each other and work hard on the concepts we put in place in terms of our offence and defence and over the season the players and team have developed into an excellent side.

"For the majority of the players it's their last season and to be up beside some of the great Fury Junior teams of the past is a testimony to their ability. "

Ten of the 12 Fury junior men are Falkirk High School players.