The Rebels Take Down The Hoods
Essex Rebels Division 1 men took on the Nottingham Hoods in their second match-up of the season. The Rebels were looking to bounce back after a difficult home game against Derby last week.
Essex were back to full strength with both Jake Eynon and Dylan Johns back in the squad after recovering from knocks during the week.
The trip up to the midlands seemed to have played a toll on Essex to start. The first five minutes saw the rebels down 10 with them only putting 3 points on the board. A time out by Coach Norfolk allowed the unit to refocus on the task ahead and to concentrate on the scout. After this Essex began to find their flow, Owen Chose started to get going from the perimeter and Lee Linton Hodges used his presence inside to get some easy scores.
The Rebels were executing their defensive schemes causing the hoods to work for their points. Essex went into halftime up 8, 47-55.
The second half saw the two teams trading baskets and the points difference not changing. Essex still continued to hold their lead going into the final stanza.
Essex knew their work wasn’t done. Nottingham is a team that does not let up and continues to put pressure on with their threat from the outside.
Early on in the fourth, Nottingham went on an 8-2 run which unsettled the Rebels. The group rallied after a timeout to settle any nerves. Late in the quarter The Hoods started to make shots from 3 and clawed back into the game. It went down to the wire but the cool head of the Rebels was able to ice the game from the foul line.
The final score saw Essex hold off for a 106-102 road win.
Essex were led by the outstanding shooting performance from guard, Owen Chose who finished with 44 points, 10/15 from 3 and 8 rebounds. Big man Lee Linton Hodges pitched in with double-double if 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Coach Ross Norfolk, was pleased with the team’s efforts, “we showed great character to bounce back after a tough loss last week. The guys executed the scout for long periods of the game. We were great at finding the hot hand of Owen to help with our scoring”.
Essex now sits mid-table in NBL division 1 with a record of 7-8.
The next home game, Essex host Worthing Thunder in our Valentine’s Day special on the 11th of February. Tickets can be found on Eventbrite.
