Arturo Noha was in fine form as London Mets reached their first top flight final with a 92-91 double overtime home win against Derby Trailblazers in the National Trophy.

 

Derby's dreams were shattered by the remarkable sharp shooting of Noha, who piled in 32 points in regulation time and a further six in the additional periods.

 

In a remarkable transformation of form from the previous night, the Trailblazers struggled to convert from the free-throw line, netting just 15 of 25 attempts, as opposed 16 of 17 against Coventry in Saturday's league match.

 

Mets coach Solomon Ayinla had praise for this team, who completed a weekend double by beating the top two in Division One.

 

"I knew a couple of weeks when we drew Derby that it would be tough," he said. "Five minutes into third quarter of the encounter both teams did not score a point, but we were still up by four points from the half-time break.

 

"It wasn't because of bad offence from both sides but it was from both teams playing great defence.

 

"During the match, I remember telling my team that people will think that we were lucky last night by beating Leeds by 24 points. Before the beginning of the second OT I mentioned to my team if they realised what they were about to achieve, if we could pull a back-to-back upset against two teams that were tied for first place coming into this weekend."

 

Ayinla also had praise for Derby's big man Dave Attewell:

 

"No need to vote for MVP at the end of the season. Dave Attewell is by far the best player in the league."

 

An evenly-balanced first quarter ended with Mets stand-out player Noha hitting his second three-pointer of the game just as the first buzzer sounded. That took the score to 28-26 in Mets favour and the same player opened the second period with an identical shot for a five point lead.

 

However, ten straights points for the Trailblazers followed, with Matt Shaw nailing a three and Dave Attewell adding a further five. Derby were still ahead by four when new signing Ryan Lewis picked up his third personal foul, limiting his involvement in the remainder of the game.

 

With Mets 48-44 ahead at the break, both sides stepped up their defensive intensity, resulting in a third quarter in which Derby won 15-7. It took over three minutes for Shaw to open the scoring, with a pair of shots from the line.

 

A strong finish to the quarter period saw Derby go into the final period with a 59-55 advantage, after Attewell, Madourie and O'Shea combined to produce a 7-0 burst. However, it was Mets who came out stronger at the start of the final stanza.

 

Noha hit a pair of free-throws and a three-pointer in an 11-4 start to the period, forcing coach Clarence Wiggins to call a time out. A long two from Simon Allaway followed by a three from Shaw put Derby back in front, before Noha again tied the game at 68.

 

The two sides exchanged baskets before Stedroy Baker stole the ball and provided an assist for Attewell, who was also fouled in the act of shooting. The Trailblazers centre completed the three-point play after a Mets time out and when Sam O'Shea added another deuce to put Derby 77-71 ahead with two minutes left, it seemed as if the Blazers had one foot in the final.

 

When Martyn Gayle was subsequently called for a foul while attempting a steal, Noha sank another two points from the line. Moments later, it was signalled that O'Shea had been fouled by Deng Deng, in what would have been his fifth and final foul.

 

Instead of the anticipated two shots, the foul was rescinded by the senior match referee, who awarded a sideline possession instead with just four seconds left on the shot clock. A Derby turnover followed and Noha converting two more shots from the line. O'Shea then made of one of two, before David Ajumobi and Jeff Danchie did likewise for the Mets, cutting the deficit to a single point with 30 seconds left.

 

High intensity defence from the Londoners led to Baker turning the ball over and Shaw was left with no option but to foul to stop Ajumobi from sealing the victory. The Mets forward hit one from two at the line and with just two seconds remaining in regulation, overtime was required.

 

After Ajumobi tied the game at 85 with 20 seconds left, the Trailblazers looked to O'Shea for an inside score, but he was fouled by Noha with just two seconds left on the clock. He failed to score either from the line, meaning another extra period would be required.

 

Mets began with a three pointer from Ajumobi before strong defence dominated, preventing either side from scoring over the next two minutes. O'Shea then fouled out with an offensive foul, bringing Joel Madourie back into the game.

 

A defensive foul by Ayinla sent Allaway to the line, but the Trailblazers guard uncharacteristically missed both attempts. Attewell then hit all of Derby's points in a 6-4 run which left them 92-91 in arrears.

 

Although the Trailblazers were able to prevent Mets from scoring in transition, they only regained possession with around two seconds left on the clock and there was no time to get a shot away as Mets booked a trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday February 28.

 

Ajumobi (24) and Danchie (20) completed the Mets' scoring, while Shaw (22), Attewell (14), Allaway (13) and O'Shea (13) led Derby.