SWINDON Shock started life as a National League Division Three South team with a win after dispatching local rivals Oxford City Hoops in the National Cup.

Player-coach David Colclough was pleased with the 99-78 win in what was a feisty encounter at Swindon New College.

Spencer Wells produced another dominant performance, he weighed in with 40 points, while Matt North also contributed well.

Colclough was unable to play due to registration issues, while Antonio Wilburn also missed out as he is waiting for a visa, before returning to the country.

This meant the Swindon side were left without a natural point guard for their opening encounter of the 2017/18 campaign.

“It was a great game and we were really aiming for that last point to take it to 100 as well,” said Colclough.

“Our fitness level was different. We have played them before and they normally play us pretty even but in the last quarter we were up by one, and ended up winning by 20 plus.

“I think our trip to Germany paid off. We never seemed to panic during the game and kept the same pace while they were starting to fall off a little.

“The intensity picked up, you could see the guys get motivated and when Oxford got too close we used another gear and that is nice to see.”

Shock are back in action at the weekend, where they will travel to Reading Rockets II for their National Shield tie.

When the two sides met in their domestic campaign last term, it was Shock who came out on top on both occasions.

Colclough is expected to be sidelined along with Antonio Wilburn, while Matt Ford will look for a return to competitive action.

“We played them before, the first game at home was really easy but when we went there it took a late surge in the fourth to win,” added Colclough.

“The tough part about them is they are a bunch of guards, they played what we call ‘small ball’ so it was really hard for our big guys. They had no issue scoring against them, but we couldn’t really guard them so that is what we have to be cautious about.”