Erkenwald eased to a win over old rivals Lakers to kick-off their bid for a 4th successive Essex Met title. Whilst the final margin was only 9 points, Erks had opened a 17 point lead at the end of the first quarter on the back of some superb outside shooting from Mark Denchfield. The guard hit 6 first half treys in his total of 25 points at the halftime break, which equalled the Lakers team output for the half, as the Erks dominated from the outset.

The score at the half was 43-25 and although Denchfield was held to only 2 second half points as the Lakers concentrated their defensive efforts on him, that only opened the door for debutant Adrian Leclair, the Canadian point guard stepping up with 14 points in the second half on a succession of teardrop jumpers and cuts to the hoop picked out by centre Dave Churches, as the Erks were never really threatened. Churches also found more space in the second half, as he picked up 10 points and there was a strong showing from Ed Bailey, who dished out a number of assists from the top of the key and crashed the offensive boards strongly for his 13 points, his assist count being supressed by at least 3 as Churches missed 3 successive lay-ups after being hit on the baseline, the big man altering his shot to avoid Pat Cann's shot-blocking threat.

With 3 minutes to go, the score stood at 75-57, and although the Lakers mounted a late fightback as the Erks turned the ball over, the final margin of 9 points flattered the visitors, who, with the exception of some strong moves from Charles Brandon and some typical drives from the evergreen guard Chris Mark, struggled to put the ball through the hoop all night.

Erks next outing is the first step in their defence of the Founders Cup at home to Northampton on Sunday afternoon, tip-off 2pm.

Erks scorers:
Denchfield 27, Leclair 17, Churches 14, Bailey 13, Overare 4, Atkinson 2, Agbolegbe 1, McCusker, Glennard, Williams.