Rebels Rumble the Thunder
Essex Rebels hosted Worthing Thunder on Sunday. Both teams were looking to continue their win streak with both sides picking up important wins last weekend.
Worthing started the 1st efficiently, racing out to an early 13 – 4 lead with only 3 minutes played. Essex were slow to find their feet but a strong end to the quarter saw the Rebels only down by 4.
Essex were now in the game and the 2nd quarter showed. A strong display of team basketball saw the game swing in the favour of the hosts and Essex jumped into the lead by 11 at half time, 44 – 33.
The rebels needed to stay focused on the game plan and continue to play their style of basketball. Worthing used their experience and continued to pile on the pressure. The 3rd saw a tight scoreline but Rebels still edged it.
Going into the 4th saw the Rebels up 12. Both teams traded baskets early on and it was a case of which team was going to step up defensively. With 5 minutes to go, Essex was able to get 3 stops in a row and execute 3 scores on the bounce which ultimately gave the cushion that was needed to see out the game.
The final score saw Essex take the win, 94 – 69.
The home side were led by Sam Newman’s double double of 19 points and 14 rebounds, closely backed up by Ethan Price’s 14 points and Andre Lavinier’s fine shooting performance with 13 points. Worthing were led by Zaire Taylors 17 points and Crawfords double double of 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Essex have another away double header next weekend where they travel to the inform Thames Valley Cavaliers on the Saturday and take on Leicester Warriors on the Sunday.
