The Warriors lost an epic battle - losing 91-63 away at the Sunderland Predators.

Although the scoreline might suggest otherwise, the game was a closely fought contest for the most part.

A depleted Kendal made the three hour journey to the East Coast without Tom Withnell but they were boosted by debutants Marc Crockford and Peter Howarth.

The game was played at a frenetic pace with Mathias Basedow in fine scoring form for the Warriors as he personally picked up 9 points while working tirelessly with Phil Mason to shut out the Sunderland perimeter threat.

Kendal also displayed some good team play through the combination play of Keith McInnes and Kevin Mason who worked well to provide scoring opportunities under the basket but at the end of the quarter the Warriors trailed 26- 22.

The second quarter started in a similar manner to the first.

Nathan Williams had entered the court for Kendal and points from him and Gareth France tied the game at 26 all.

But Kendal started to struggle as they lost focus on defence allowing Sunderland to hit a number of shots from range whilst also losing discipline on offence.

This resulted in a number of forced shots and turn overs.

Kon Arfanis stepped onto the court to help steady things until the interval but the Warriors were behind 47- 36 at the half.

Kendal began the third quarter determined to eat into Sunderland's lead and through a defensive full court press they made great inroads as the Sunderland guards panicked and started to turn the ball over.

Basedow, France and Mason in particular took advantage to pull Kendal back to within two points.

An A mini scoring spree from Sunderland allowed them to open up their lead again but at the end of the third quarter Kendal had managed to stay within six points as the Predators led 62 - 56.

The physical effort of the third quarter had an effect on Kendal as they started the final quarter in sloppy fashion allowing a number of scores by Sunderland, including a number from range.

It was 74- 60 to the home team with 5 minutes to go.

Kendal called a time out with the intention of gambling by applying full court pressure again.

It was easily quashed as a disorganised and tired defence and sloppy attack saw Sunderland score 15 unanswered points to booster the score line.

The final score was 91- 63.

Kendal's next game is against high-flying Newcastle Knights at Dallam School on Saturday, October 25 at 5pm.