ALEX SEMANDA’S last-gasp score helped Newham All Star Sports Academy under-16s beat local rivals Newham Youngbloods 70-69.

Having fallen behind early on, NASSA trailed throughout the match and were five points behind at the end of the third quarter.

NASSA sparked into life in the final quarter and solid defence from Jeremy Atta-Owusu and Eromoselle Unuabona allowed them to close the gap on Youngbloods to just a point going into the final 30 seconds, where Semanda struck to secure the win.

NASSA Men’s D4 also left it late to beat Uxbridge Emperors 70-64 in the National Shield.

A slow start saw D4 16 points behind going into the final quarter, prompting head coach Sam Stiller to change tactics.

NASSA responded and scores from Bruno Klavis, Hanif Moncrieff and Anthony Okereafor secured the win.

Director Natasha Hart was delighted following NASSA’s double triumph.

“We had some good results this weekend and I am pleased with the performance of all of our players and coaches,” she said.

“Clearly it is still very early in the season and we have a long way to go and a lot of hard work to put in to ensure that our teams become stronger in their game.”