Heat back to winning ways

10 February 2011

After the long trip up to Newcastle, the Heat were glad to be home and it showed in an inspired second half performance at the Surrey Sports Park. In front of a large and noisy crowd, the Heat notched an impressive win against the Plymouth Raiders. For much of the first half it was a see-saw affair with eight lead changes and eight ties. Then with the scores level on 39-39 with three minutes to play, the Raiders went on a 13-0 run to take control of the game, going into the break up 52-39.

The Raiders carried on In the opening minutes of the second half, extending the run to 20-2, the Heat's only score coming from Mike Martin who finally got a shot to fall after enduring a scoreless first half. However, when Mike went to the line with six and half minutes remaining it seemed to galvanise the Heat, who came from 41-59 down to boss the rest of the quarter, going into the final period down just 10 at 55-65.

They carried their momentum into the final quarter and after Anthony Rowe flattened Carlos Medlock on his home debut to get open for the first basket of the period, the Heat clamped down on defence, a 14-2 running seeing the scores level on a Martelle McLemore three from in front of the Plymouth bench. The Heat took the lead on a Mac tip-in and they didn't look back, outscoring the Raiders 18-10 the rest of the quarter on their way to a memorable win.

Carlos Medlock, on debut, and Martelle led the way with 18 points, Martelle adding 11 rebounds in one of his best all-round games for the Heat. However, Carlos was the difference maker, showing how much the Heat have lacked a true point-guard. He made some breath-taking passes in the first half and controlled the tempo of the game in the second.

A full match report will is available on the Heat website.