Rocks survive dunk drama to shoot down Bullets
Mark Woods
If every there was a basketball game that merited the game of two halves moniker then Edinburgh Rocks 85-81 defeat of Pertemps Bullets Birmingham at Meadowbank was the one. A broken rim, a comeback from 19 points down to end up with victory, and a match which started in one hall and finished in another were just the headlines from a quite remarkable contest.
In the first half, the Scots were nothing short of dreadful and the Bullets, the Southern Conference leaders in the Dairylea Dunkers Championship, were never bettered in the first two quarters as England international Yorick Williams eluded the Rocks shackles with undue ease.
At the close of the first quarter, the visitors lead was five points and it was rapidly extended via a 13-5 run midway through the second period. The Rocks enforcing duo of Michael New and Brendan Graves found themselves in foul trouble, limiting their ability to resist the powerful Birmingham front line and only Ted Berry with 14 of his total 23 points in the first half found a way to unlock the stifling defense of the Midlands outfit.
But in the third quarter, normally the Scots achilles heel, the balance of the match underwent an unexpected and remarkable transformation.
Having extended their lead to 19 points just after the re-start at 60-41, the Brummies shooting percentage dropped to zero for an seven minute spell. Its co-incidence with a revival in the Rocks own performance enabled the hosts to rack up 23 points without reply, shared evenly between Berry, John McCord and Joel Burns.
It was a turnaround which left Jim Brandon's side 67-62 in front just before the close of the third period and McCord's own flurry continued into the ultimate quarter. The American hit the eight consecutive home points, the last two reversing a brief lead for the Bullets. Six further unanswered Rocks points opened their lead to 79-74 but it was McCord's thunderous dunk on a breakaway with 3:02 left which stole the show.
Slamming the ball downward with such venom that it severed rim from backboard, it would be 45 minutes before a move into the adjoining arena was adjudged as the only option to salvage the game.
It failed to turn the Bullets fortunes around, as they missed seven shots in a row, with Burns notching six points - included 4/4 from the foul strip - to close off the drama. McCord finished on a game 26 with Williams and Jamison hitting 21 and 19 respectively for Bullets who have now dropped four straight games.
"The guys were unbelievable tonight," said delighted Rocks coach Jim Brandon. "They stuck together so well and Iain Maclean did a remarkable job on defence. I was so pleased how they showed more character than they have done of late to come back they way they did."
For Birmingham, an inquest on their loss is surely on the cards.
"Credit to Edinburgh who played very hard in the second half, admitted a disappointed Williams. "They played with a lot of emotion and we succumbed to the foul calls and the crowd . If we're going to win games like that, we can't be distracted."
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