Uniball Trophy : Rocks struggle past dogged Riders
Edinburgh Rocks delivered a winning start to their uni-ball trophy campaign at Meadowbank yesterday with a 77-72 victory over Renault Leicester Riders. But against an opponent which is still missing injured guard Troy Coleman, the Scots were scarcely impressive and struggled consistently to break their visitors down.
Although Edinburgh held a slight advantage for most of the contest, it was not until the final five minutes that their late 11-2 spurt truly killed off Leicester's dogged resistance, condemning the visitors to a potentially fatal third loss in the qualifying group.
"I hope that we can raise our game better. We weren't as sharp as we could have been," admitted Rocks coach Jim Brandon, who was putting a brave front on yet another sub-par showing. "Leicester did a pretty good job. They came out with nothing to lose and played with a lot of energy. "
The Riders' greatest advantage arrived early in the opening quarter as seven unanswered points put them in front 14-9, the first of eleven lead changes in the contest. But the hosts rebounded to go in front by 31-30 at the mid-point, the tight margin thanks only to an amazing shot fired by from the half-way line ex-England cap Kevin St. Kitts which dropped in Midlands side's favour as the buzzer sounded.
However, the Scots took their principal cue from captain Michael New, whose stellar 24 points and 10 rebounds contribution arrived principally in the crunch time of the second half.
The American forward hit the opening points of the final quarter to put the Rocks 54-51 ahead and Brandon's men were never again bested despite six three-pointers in the final five minutes which included two of a total four from Drew Barrett.
"Any team can give you a hard time. The guys came through in the end and ultimately, a win's a win. There were a lot of little things we didn't do well but on an off night, it's nice to get the victory," concluded Brandon.
Recent signing Purnell Perry led the Riders offense on 17 points with Rob Wilson hitting 14.
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