Maybe it was the fact that the heating was turned off at Meadowbank. Perhaps it was the snow outside. But Edinburgh Rocks finally found the hot spark they had been missing for the past three months on Sunday night.

Iain Maclean's men ended a 17 game wait for a win in the BBL  Championship by  edging out Manchester Giants 76-74 in the tightest of encounters.

It was the visitors who ended on top after a tight first quarter in which the lead changed hands eight times. Up 19-22 at the break, they pulled as much as six ahead as Edinburgh's inside shooting failed to find its intended mark.

The turning point, perhaps, arrived late in the second period with an injury to Giants' star Brian Reese which kept the former Tar Heel out for the rest of the contest.

Buoyed by his absence, the home side closed to within one at the break through a speculative three pointer from Ted Berry and, displaying a degree of endeavour which has been absent during their skid, they surged in front with seven unanswered points early in the third quarter.

Although Giants rallied from a nine point deficit in the final two minutes, levellling at 68-68 and then closing back to within one at 71-70 when Brendan Graves - left too long on the bench - converted a pair from the line, the Scots held on, with a vital three pointer from Keith Bunyan - his fourth of the evening - sparking an overdue celebration.

"We needed to get back some respect and we took some of that at Manchester at mid-week," stated a delighted Maclean, whose team were led by 22 points from Ted Berry.

"Although we lost there by ten point, we didn't feel they were necessarily better than us. It was crucial mistakes, more than anything that cost us.

"You can make all those mistakes as long as you make the effort on the defensive end and tonight, every time we made a turnover, we came right back and got a steal."

Losing coach Andre Alleyne - whose team were led by a game-best 32 points from Justin Phoenix - refused to blame the injury to Reese for his side's reverse.

"Even without Brian, the guys we had on the floor should have won it for us," he said. "But they played well."
 
 

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