TEAM Solent Kestrels reached a huge milestone, as they won their 50th game in a row in all NBL competitions by beating a young Oaklands Wolves side 119-58 in Hertfordshire.

Kestrels controlled proceedings throughout to move them to 8-0 on the season, putting them at the summit of NBL Division One, writes Jack O'Keeffe.

Oaklands took a quick 5-1 lead as AJ Roberts and Kane Daley scored early on, however seven unanswered for TSK saw them respond in quick fashion to take an 8-5 lead.

Travis Charles would score six straight to give Kestrels a 14-7 advantage and sparked a coach Baker timeout early in the first. A 12-3 run post timeout, behind Andre Arissol and Luke Busumbru off the bench, put Kestrels firmly in control with just over a minute left in the period, 26-10.

Wolves did respond in kind though to close the quarter as Ray Akpofure knocked down a pair of free throws before Kane Daley beat the buzzer from half court, TSK up 25-16 after one.

The sides would go back and forth trading a number of scores to start the second quarter and Wolves would even trim the gap to eight when Roberts got to the basket for the hosts.

That seemed to light a spark under TSK though and they strung together a 10-0 run capped off with a pair of Elliot Dadds triples, timeout Oaklands, 39-21.

Kestrels would hold the home team scoreless for a five-minute spell, by which point they were now 46-21 to the good, as Kestrels' balanced scoring attack fuelled them at the other end. Arissol and Busumbru continued to find easy scores in the paint as the half came to a close and Elias Poorman knocked down two free throws to ensure the Kestrels lead was 28 at the break, 56-28.

TSK jumped out the gate in the third quarter on a quick 10-3 run to push the advantage to 35 behind Charles and captain Dadds. Oaklands would use their first time out of the half but it would the scoreline ballooned further as Kestrels turned up the pressure on the defensive end, whilst stringing together another 13-0 run through a balanced scoring effort.

The hosts used another timeout in an attempt to settle things down but TSK continued to pour on the offensive production as Arissol and Johnathan Lashley finished well from beyond the arc and above the rim respectively. The visitors lead stood at 55 with 10 minutes to play, 93-39.

Lashley and Luke Gosney scored early on for TSK to keep the scoreboard ticking over and despite Oaklands showing plenty of spirit the game was well out of sight for the Kestrels. The highlight of the final period a high flying alley-oop from Busumbru, served up on a platter from Arissol, TSK running out 119-58 winners for their 50th victory in a row in all NBL competitions.

Team Solent Kestrels had five in double figures and were led by Charles, who provided 23 points and six rebounds on 81 per cent from the field, with Dadds adding 19 points on 4-6 from deep and Ian Smith with 18 points, six assists and six rebounds. Oaklands youngster Daley led them with 19 whilst Roberts added eight points.

TSK interim head coach Jack O’Keeffe said: “I was really pleased with our professional performance.

"I thought the guys were locked in from the opening tip and we had a number of really positive contributions across the squad. It’s important for us to continue to build on the foundations we have laid in the early part of the season and be that little bit better with each performance.

"The group are working tirelessly to improve each week and we now look forward to testing ourselves against Surrey on Friday.”

Kestrels now shift the attention back to the BBL Trophy where they will make the short trip to the Surrey Sports Park on Friday evening to face Surrey Scorchers in the quarter-finals of the competition.

The game will be live-streamed on the BBL Player.

Kestrels then head back on the road on Saturday to face Barking Abbey London Lions for the third time this season, in the capital.