BBL Hancock's press confounds Rocks
When Edinburgh Rocks coach Jim Brandon finalises his Christmas wish-list, he could do worse than petition a Yuletide gift of some inspiration for his basketball team. The capital side enter the holiday break on a roll of three straight losses, the latest arriving at Meadowbank where Milton Keynes Lions took advantage of a series of errors from their hosts to run out 78-69 winners.
The locker room door was firmly shut after the final buzzer sounded, presumably as Brandon castigated his side for throwing away a game in which their latent firepower should have held sway. The Lions' strategy of harassing the Scots at every turn ultimately worked in their favour as the team-play shown by their veteran competitors undid an Edinburgh outfit who were found lacking in leadership at crucial moments.
It looked so different at the beginning as the Rocks hit eight points without reply to lead 10-2. Eight lead changes in the opening 12 minutes still left the home side ahead, a 6-0 burst putting them up 28-23. It was to be their final advantage as Lions embarked on a 20-4 spurt which put them in front 43-34 at half-time.It took until the final quarter before Brandon's men cut the gap, closing to 65-62 with three minutes left. But Milton Keynes immediately racked up six points to condemn Edinburgh to their seventh Championship loss this season.
John McCord hit a game-high 23 points for the Rocks while Tony Windless led the Lions with 22.
"You have to be pleased with that kind of win," admitted Lions boss Tom Hancock afterward. "I liked what I see being done out there. It took us some time to get things going but it's rolling well right now."
Copyright Britball. Download is subject to Britball's Terms of Service.