Sunday 31st January
Hemel Storm 94 -97 Essex Rebels
NBL Division One
Vanarama-sponsored Hemel Storm missed out on a chance to move into a top 4 position with a surprise 94-97 home loss to bottom of the table Essex Rebels.
Once again, the Hemel defence was found wanting as Essex scored inside, outside and from drives as the home sides man to man defence was exposed by repeated mismatches that the visitors exploited. Hemel lost the opening two quarters and went into the break trailing 48-52, seemingly unable to stop the offensive plays from Essex.
Essex had returning Storm players Sam Newman and Lee Hodges in their line up, but it was Ethan Price who was the main tormentor with 31 points.
Greg Poleon continued his excellent form as he poured in 34 points to keep Hemel in the game but again it was the lack of any effective defence that was the issue.
Essex led by 3 with 1 minute 10 seconds on the clock and failed to add to their score, but so did Hemel despite numerous opportunities. Hemel had a last play to tie the game but it wasn’t to be.
A bad day at the office for Storm who will need a positive response to keep hopes of a top 4 place alive.
Storm have a double header next weekend welcoming BA London Lions on Saturday (6th February), tip off 5pm, watch live on Hemel Storm TV YouTube Channel. On Sunday Storm travel to Cheshire as they begin their BBL Trophy campaign.
Photo credit: Joanne Charles
