College basketball team bounces back with promotion to Division Two

An undefeated run over Lent term has sent St John’s College Basketball Club shooting up the League.

Easter term 2015 signalled the end of an impressive St John’s College Basketball Club dynasty, as many of the team’s star players moved on after graduation, leaving the club to rebuild. 

After being relegated to the Third Division and suffering a series of defeats in Michaelmas, the team fought back with dogged determination – going on a winning streak over the next six games and securing its reinstatement in the Second Division of collegiate play.

The team also reached the final four of this year’s Cuppers- a competition open to basketball teams from all the Colleges.

Jean-Robert Lalancette, a History PhD student who will be captaining next year’s team said: “We owe the team’s comeback to the dedication of our players and their devoted attendance at every practice and game. Despite being injured for most of the season, our team captain and coach, Pavel Berkovich, came to all our games to spur on the players and spent many hours devising plays to ensure victory”.

“Many of our players are returning next year and we are looking forward to welcoming some great new recruits.  The plan is to make a run for a first-ever promotion to Division One and the elusive cuppers championship title.”

The current team is an international mix of graduates and undergraduates, with players aged 20 – 35. The squad includes Justin Tsang, Naz El-Khatib, Cillian Leow, Markus Schober, Baba Bob-Soile, Aaron Tam, Jean-Robert Lalancette, William Ko, Bartek Calka, Biko Agozino, Luka Skoric and Padraig Condon.

Any student interested in joining the Basketball club can get in touch with Jean-Robert via jrl60@cam.ac.uk.