| Glasgow Rocks | 86 |
| Guildford Heat | 75 |
The Glasgow Rocks Junior Men side made the most of their time on the professional court at the Kelvin Hall Arena, with a comfortable 87-62 win over the visiting Glasgow Storm on Sunday afternoon
Several hours before the professional squad tipped off against the Chester Jets in BBL action, it was the youngsters from the SLBA who would set the example for the pros.
The Rocks got off to a blistering start, spurred on by the defensive efforts of guards Daban Kamil and Mohsin Kayani they took a 17-4 lead late in the first.
Using a half court trap the Rocks guards managed to get a lot of steals which they converted into easy layups.
The Rocks showed great pace, poise and there was even room for a bit of pizzazz too, as guard Danny McNeil managed to save the ball from going out of bounds, throwing a no-look pass over his head from half way, to Gian Ituralde for the easy score.
The highlight play captured the essence of the Rocks, who were the far more energetic side and did not seem at all phased by the allure of the big arena, if anything, they played up to it.
On the other hand, Glasgow Storm seemed to be out of sorts and lethargic.
They committed nine turnovers in the first quarter alone and shot very poorly.
Despite getting numerous second shot opportunities and out-rebounding the Rocks on the offensive end, they just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop. But to be fair to Stuart Gibb’s side, it was their first game of the season and perhaps the setting proved a tad intimidating for his youngsters.
However, on the occasions where Storm did manage to beat the trap and get the ball over the half, mostly behind the heads up play of Zak Mofian, they did settle into an offence and moved the ball well, often finding their big man Steven Murdoch inside. Still, the Rocks managed to keep up their fiery pace and intensity, bulldozing their way to an impressive 57-21 lead at half time.
Glasgow Storm had a huge task on their hands in the second half, they would need to bring more energy and get some stops on the defensive if they were to make any sort of dent in that deficit. And for the best part of the third quarter, they did look the better team. Behind the positive play of forward Steven Murdoch, Storm began to make their selves a bit comfy in the house that the Rocks built.
Steven was a force inside, putting the Rocks into team fouls and forcing Coach Hutton to bench Sean Cole and Sean Griffin. Murdoch, who often trains with Storm’s national league side and plays with the first division squad, was an inspiration for Storm, scoring 10 of his game high 24pts in the third quarter alone.
The Rocks seemed to be easing off the gas in the second half, giving away cheap fouls and not pushing the ball as well as they did earlier in the game. However, the lead they built in the first half was too much to ask of a Storm side that overall looked rusty on the day.
The Rocks had 19pts from Sean Cole, 16 from Sean Griffin and 12 from William Whitehead.
MVP : Sean Cole - Although the Rocks big man missed a breakaway dunk in the fourth, he didn’t do too much else wrong, collecting a team high 19pts
Starting 5 for Rocks : William Whitehead, Sean Cole, Daban Kamil, Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohsin Kayani
Starting 5 for Storm : Rory McColl, Steven Murdoch, Matthew Cowie, Matthew Flowoll, Jordan Norrie
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Score by Quarter : Rocks 23 34 12 18
Storm 11 10 20 21
Posted on 29 October, 2009
