Rebels couldn’t slay the dragons in a tight contest

Essex Rebels Division 1 men hosted the Bradford Dragons last Saturday. Both sides were looking for their first win of the season. 

The game saw some Bradford take the lead with the Rebels misses some of their easy layups that are normally converted. 

Essex needed to regroup fast but with pressure coming from Bradfords Zach Gazette and David Walsh rebels kept making silly mistakes on the defensive end. 

Bradford managed stretch their lead by 14 points in late in the 4th quarter. However a last ditch effort by the Rebels saw them close the gap to only 4 points with a minute to play. 

Essex continued to put Bradford defence under pressure and got to the foul line on 2 occasions. A lack of concentration at the line allowed Bradford to maintain their lead. 

Essex were down 3 points with 10 seconds left, and managed to find an open look but just fell short and rattled around the basket.

The game finished 88 – 85 to Bradford. Essex were lead by Rory Winter’s 22 points, whilst Josh Moore had a big game off the bench with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Rebels Head Coach Ross Norfolk said, “We needed to be more clinical early on in the game. We missed too many open opportunities which allowed them to continue with their lead. It was great to see the group fight back and never give up on the game”.

Essex now look to play Solent Kestrels in the next round of the national cup.