On Thursday 22 March 2012, Newbury College's new Sports Hall hosted its first charity basketball match, a close but a well fought battle against Newbury Sound (The Breeze Newbury from 2 April 2012).
Both teams stayed relatively equally for the first two quarters, drawing 24 - 24 at half time, however an energetic push from Newbury Sound's ex-professional player Steve Tolloczko gave the "Feel good station" the lead.
All was not lost as last minute addition to the team, Dennis Davis, scored an impressive 3-point basket in the 4th quarter along with a flurry of points coming in from Matt Hall, Liam Hume, Mellanie Parehwa and Henry Johnson.
The game ended with a tiny 8 point difference at 54 - 46 to the away team and after the match News Journalist Emily Tolloczko said "We'd like to thank Newbury College for inviting us to take part in this charity challenge. We've had a great time, and are delighted to have raised money for Sport Relief. The Newbury College team demonstrated fantastic sportsmanship and made us feel very welcome, it's been a pleasure to be involved."
Reading Rockets Coach Mark Halewood was also on hand to offer tips to both teams and commented on the promising level of talent displayed by the students. Mark will be running after College sessions every Thursday after the Easter holidays for anyone that wants to get involved (see noticeboard in the Street for details).
Spectators, who watched from the viewing gallery on the mezzanine, and players alike had a really enjoyable time with the main highlight being the £150 (to date) raised for Sport Relief 2012. Our thanks to everyone for giving up their time and/or money for this event.