Jets too cool for Heat

31 October 2011

The Guildford Heat took on the visiting Cheshire Jets on Sunday afternoon and narrowly failed to break their duck, going down 84-90. In many ways the game mirrored the visit of the Worcester Wolves on Wednesday, where a strong second quarter was undone by a poor showing in the third.

The Heat and the Jets were locked together in the first quarter, with the Jets taking a narrow 20-16 advantage into the second. However, a 17-3 Heat run, with the Jets only points coming from Matt Schneck at the line, saw them take a commanding 12 point lead, 39-27, with three minutes to play. A Jet's timeout halted the slide, but the visitors still trailed by six with 80 seconds to go before reeling off the last six points of the quarter to trail just 37-43 going into the second half.

As they had on Wednesday, the Heat came out cold to start the second half. The Jets opened with a 18-4 run to retake the lead, 55-47. The Heat belatedly responded with six points from Julius Joseph, including the Heat's first three of the game, but they still trailed by six, 54-60, going into the final period.

Here at least the Heat showed more resolve. They pulled to within two at 63-65 before a Jets timeout led to a 6-0 run for the visitors. However, the re-introduction of Albert Margai at point sparked an 8-0 Heat run and tied the game at 71-71. The two sides exchanged baskets until Mike Martin put the Heat ahead, 78-77, with three minutes to go, but that was as good as it got for the Heat. Matt Schneck immediately put the Jets back ahead and although the Heat had their chances, they couldn't get back in front, going down 84-90.

The Heat were led by Tayo Ogedengbe's game-high 27 points while Martelle McLemore, Mike Martin and Julius Joseph all scored in double figures, Martelle adding eight rebounds. The Jets were led by Adam Brown who also added 27 points, while Matt Schneck and Bill Cole both recorded double-doubles.