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Mohawks squander semi cushion
Teesside Mohawks have one foot in the NBL Championship Play Off final at Wembley after picking up a crucial 92–86 win over Worthing in the semi final first leg at Eston Sports Academy. But the north-east side were left shaking their heads in disbelief after the side squandered a 21 point lead built up in a third quarter blitz that could almost have put the tie beyond doubt.
Coach Tony Hanson said: “When we were 20 up we thought we could put it away. But it shows the calibre of Worthing, who are a very good team and never let themselves down. They made a great game of it.”
The home side got off to a shaky start with Neil Hopper, Corey Jackson and Ralph Bucci all failing to find the basket with their early shots, while the visitors’ Gaylon Moore and Vandale Thomas’ aims were truer and gave Thunder an early four point lead.
When Mohawks did get off the mark, it was in the best possible fashion, with the first of his sides’ 10 threes from Bucci who, with 30 points, was the games’ top scorer, despite converting only 8 of 18 free throws. But breaking the visitors’ stranglehold on the game was proving difficult until coach Tony Hanson sent Norman Francis into action in the fifth minute.
The big power forward made an immediate impact under Mohawks’ basket to help restrict Thunder to just two points while he, along with Bucci and Ley, combined to add 9 to go into the lead for the first time.
And Francis looked to have given the side a winning end to the first quarter when adding another 2 in the last few seconds, only for his opposite number, Paul Mundy-Castle, to upstage him by sinking a basket of his own to give Thunder a one point lead (25 – 24) at the first break.
By the halfway point of the second period Mohawks found themselves 6 up before Worthing turned the statistic almost on its head and breezed into a worrying five point lead of their own.
Mohawks were having none of it however, and went on the rampage with a barn-storming 30 – 4 run of their own in an incredible five minute spell spanning the second and third quarters to stun the Sussex side by blazing into a 21 point, match-winning lead.
Thunder showed just why they finished runners-up in the division though, by staging a terrific fightback that gradually ate away at the lead, while Mohawks seemingly pressed the self-destruct button.
The visitors’ Vandale Thomas, who always seems to save his best for Mohawks, again came up trumps for Thunder, with a virtual one-man show in the final quarter seeing 15 of his side’s 22 points being attributed the 6ft 4inch American to give him a personal tally of 29, while the Teesside outfit added only 15 in total.
Mohawks were left pondering how they failed to capitalise more fully on Thunders’ indiscipline. Player coach Gary Smith was the first to get his marching orders in the fourth minute after registering five fouls, followed less than a 60 seconds later by Clive Harriott, much to the delight of Teesside supporters. And Smith, along with teammate Okolie Duro Ugbana also picked up a technical foul.
Before the game Mohawks would have been happy with a win, with anywhere near a 10 point lead ideal to take to Sussex for the second leg.
“Six is close enough,” said Hanson. “Any kind of cushion makes a difference. But it would have been better with a little bit more,” he added. The sides clash again in the second leg in Sussex on Saturday.
Mohawks. Norman Francis 10, Dennis Ley 14, Jason Swaine 13, Corey Jackson 7, Steve Butler 13, Neil Hopper 4, Ralph Bucci 30.
Thunder. Paul Mundy-Castle 18, Vandale Thomas 29, Clive Harriott 11, Gaylon Moore 19, Cory McGee 7, Darren Cheal 2.
In the weekend's other first leg tie, Manchester Magic edged out league champions Plymouth 89-86 at the Velodrome but the Raiders will still start as favourites to return to Wembley in the return leg at the Pavilions.
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