1. Skip to Content
  2. Skip to Site Navigation
  3. Skip to Page Navigation
  4. Skip to Useful Links

Heat Save Club, Lose to Lions

31 January 2011

Heat

On the day when the Guildford Heat announced that fans had raised £25,210 to save the club and new owner Alison Reeve was introduced to the Surrey Sports Park crowd, the Heat lost an emotional game to the Milton Keynes Lions.

The Heat jumped out to an early lead, an 18-4 run sending them into the locker room ahead 45-33 at half time. However, the Lions came out roaring in the second half, stepping up the defensive pressure. The Lions opened with an 11-1 run as the Heat turned the ball over on four of their first six possessions. The Lions took the lead, 56-54, with two minutes to go on their way to outscoring the Heat 28-12 in the third quarter for a 61-57 lead.

It was more of the same in the fourth and with two minutes to go, the Heat were down 67-79. However, an inspired rally saw them run off eight unanswered points in less than 90 seconds, cutting the lead to 75-79. However, needing to foul to stop the clock, the Heat couldn't quite get there, getting as close as three on two occasions, the last one at 83-86, before a Yorick Williams free-throw sealed the game with five seconds to go, the Lions winning 87-83.

Martelle McLemore top-scored for the second game running with 23 points and seven rebounds, Mike Martin adding 20 points and six rebounds. Tomas Janusauskas had a strong game with 12 points and six rebounds, bouncing back from his recent injury. The Heat won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Lions 56-30, but turned the ball over 30 times and missed 14 free-throws, 10 of them in the last two minutes.

A full match report can be found here.