Reigning league & play-off holders Erks 2 continued their unbeaten start to the season with an ultimately comfortable win over a Hainault side missing a couple of key players. New signing John Kimani was the man who did the damage, once again showing a great touch off the dribble and from outside the 3 point arc on his way to 29 points.

The Erks got off to a slow start, trailing for much of the first quarter as Stars big forwards Burns and Baskilla worked well around the basket and ex-Erk Keith Pringle drove to the hoop aggressively, however a pair of baskets from Kimani and a shot from the corner from Lee Atkinson gave the Erks a 16-15 lead at the end of the first period. After the teams traded baskets for the first 5 minutes of the second period, the Erks made a decisive break when the introduction of debutant Yinka Aramide sparked an 11-3 run. Yinka was making his first foray into senior basketball after playing junior ball with the East London Royals and he showed great speed and athleticism, picking up 6 quick points on the break and a couple of blocks at the defensive end.

With the Erks leading 33-26 at half-time, a good start to the second half could kill the game off and the Erks obliged, Martin Overare going to work around the basket. Although the new father didn't display his usual touch off the glass, possibly as a result of a lack of sleep, his athleticism meant that he consistently beat his man off the dribble and got to the free-throw line regularly. A 4 point play from David Passacantilli opened up a 44-28 lead and despite a sloppy period at the start of the 4th quarter, the Erks were never going to throw the lead away. Some long range shooting from Paul Edwards cut the lead to 9 points briefly, but with Kimani scoring the last 5 points of the game, the Erks eased to a 64-48 victory.

Scorers:
Erks: Kimani 29, Overare 10, Aramide 8, Passacantilli 6, Herd 5, Atkinson 4, McCusker 2, Hayden 0.

Stars: Burns 16, Pringle 13, Edwards 10, Baskilla 6, McDonald 3, Clarke 0, Clark 0.