Rebels Return to Essex with a Win and Lose After Long Road Trip
Essex Rebels men had a long road trip across the country last weekend. First on Saturday they travelled to Newcastle and then on their way back to Essex, play Nottingham on the Sunday.
The Rebels came out firing against Newcastle considering their long journey it didn’t seem to make an impact early on with the visitors wining the first quarter.
As Newcastle got a feel for the game they started to find some offensive rhythm and Essex couldn’t buy a basket.
The Rebels found themselves 20 points down at one stage during the game, but that didn’t stop the surge and Essex got the game back within touching distance. It was a 4 point ball game half way through the 4th Quarter. However, the home side kept the pressure on and with Essex not being able to convert the game stretch out to a 15 point lead. Essex couldn’t fight back and the game finished 100 – 85.
The Rebels needed to get over the loosing hangover as the next match up was within 24hours. Nottingham were looking for their first win in 5 games and Essex needed to bounce back.
Rebels started the game with good pace and exploiting their height advance buy getting easy baskets around the rim.
The visitors looked in control going into half time up by 12 points. All Essex needed to do was stay focused on getting stops and being clinical offensively. The game saw Essex stretch the lead in the 3rd and despite a late run by Nottingham the Rebels came out victorious winning 95 – 82.
Rory Winter lead the Rebels on Saturday against Newcastle with 19 points whilst a big weekend for Jordan Gray saw him notch 17 points, 7 rebounds on Saturday and contributions a double double on Sunday with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Coach Ross Norfolk was pleased with the teams performance, “We were disappointed with the result on Saturday as we knew we didn’t meet our standards of play. To see the guys bounce back like they did on Sunday and produce a quality team performance shows the groups character”.
The Rebels next game sees them host Worthing Thunder on Sunday at 12 noon with the WBBL women hosting Durham after at 3pm.
