Reading Rockets completed a perfect regular season with two hard-fought home victories over the weekend. (View Stats / Boxscore)

 

Dave Titmuss’ side survived a scare against Coventry Crusaders before beating them 85-82 on Saturday, and it took a strong fourth period to defeat London Leopards 98-85 the following evening.

 

Saturday’s statistics show how evenly matched it was, both teams having 38 rebounds each, Coventry edging the points in the paint 54 to 52 as well as points off the bench by 22 to 20. Crusaders' coach Scott Neely must have been delighted with his team's performance against a Rockets team who've beaten everyone in all competitions. But this was a game when Coventry shot out of the blocks, kept up the tempo, skill and clinical finishing to truly disturb Rockets.

 

The first quarter was immensely competitive with both teams scoring well and each showing defensive frailties. Terell Smith was clearly up for this game hitting his first shot, with his fellow American compatriot Ryan Lohfink making a three point play as he scored the bonus point from the line having been fouled in the act of scoring. 

 

Coventry were more than matching Rockets, finishing one move with a dunk before Smith hit a one handed dunk of his own. 

 

Smith took a charge moments before Dan McKay made a three point play as Rockets were having to work hard for every point. Crusaders led for almost all this quarter before a typical McKay drive finished a Rockets steal and gave them the narrowest of leads at 23 points to 22.

 

Crusaders were playing exceptionally well and eased into a double digit lead which they maintained till the last move of the period when David Watts finished with a lay up from a Rockets interception on the half way line. 

 

In between Smith shone all over the court taking rebounds, creating openings for other players, as well as scoring from open play and the free throw line. However it was Crusaders who went to the locker room 47-38 up and looking more than capable of ending Rockets' 31 game winning streak.

 

As impressive as Crusaders were in the second period, so were Rockets in the third quarter, outscoring them 23-12. 

 

Walid Mumuni made a steal and finished with a lay up while McKay went coast to coast to score and Lohfink hit a vital three pointer for Rockets, one of only two Rockets scored all night. 

 

A turning point in this period came from a steal, when Watts sent a long pass to Smith who had an unsportsmanlike foul called on him which Rockets turned into a three point play and took the lead again. Crusaders fought tirelessly but with Mumuni scoring once off a fake and then off a spin move, Rockets went into the final period with a two point lead at 61-59.

 

With Watts, Smith and Ryan Lohfink prominent on the boards and also troubling the scorers, it took a succession of three point shots and an alley-oop by Crusaders to overtake Rockets and move confidently to the end game scenario. 

 

Rockets were seven down with a couple of minutes to play when Lohfink spun for a base line two and Smith made a jump shot. McKay then stole the ball and passed to Smith for another two. 

 

A further steal in the back court gave Smith a shot for the lead but it rimmed out. In the scramble for the ball, McKay collected and drove to the ring but was fouled with 8.1 seconds on the clock and Rockets one down. He hit the first to bring the scores level but the second rimmed out and Coventry had possession. 

 

With just 1.6 seconds on the clock, Smith stole the ball in his own half, took a few strides and as he launched the ball towards the ring, time on the clock ran out, but he had been fouled in the process of shooting so went to the line knowing if he hit just one of the three shots, victory was Rockets. Smith hit all three as a crescendo of noise filled Rivermead.

 

Smith led the Rockets with 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Mumuni added 16 and Lohfink 12. Travis Lay led the visitors with 23 points, while Siman Stewart added 16 points and ten boards, with John Olinger adding 14 and Ben Potts 13.

 

The following day saw Smith take his tally to 57 for the weekend as he poured in 27 to help his side complete an 18-0 league season with a hard-fought victory over London Leopards. (View Stats / Boxscore) 

 

Watts added 22 and 11 boards, with Lohfink hitting 15 and ten rebounds, and Rich Wellings scoring 14 and Dan McKay 13.

 

Carl Latham-Henry led the visitors with 25 points, while Russell Jordan had his most productive night in a Leopards vest with 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

 

The home side started strongly with treys from Lohfink and McKay, and although baskets from Ronnie Baker and Hrvoje Pervan twice levelled the score, the Rockets went into the first break with a 31-22 lead.

 

Five straight Baker points saw Leopards narrow the gap to 37-33 with four second period minutes gone, and it was Latham-Henry who levelled the score at 42 with two first half minutes remaining as he sunk three straight free-throws.

 

Smith restored the home side’s lead, but three points from both Jordan and Latham-Henry sent the Leopards into the locker room with a 49-48 lead.

 

Smith again put Reading ahead with a trey, but four Pervan points followed by a Gareth Laws trey put Leopards in the lead at 56-51.

 

Rockets replied with seven straight points to regain the lead, and the sides exchanged baskets for the rest of the rest of the period, with eight Latham-Henry points helping the visitors lead 74-72 at the final break.

 

Tiredness clearly showed for a Leopards team who had travelled 600 miles over the weekend and had returned from Manchester at 4am on Sunday in the fourth period, and with Smith and Watts draining treys in a 13-2 run to open the fourth, Rockets took a lead they were to never lose.

 

After seeing his team become the first to finish in unbeaten Division One play since Crystal Palace in 1995/96, coach Titmuss was a delighted man:

 

"It's been an amazing journey with a terrific group of people. I couldn't be more pleased for everyone at the club." he said.

 

"In pre-season I really didn't anticipate that this squad of players could achieve what they have. I thought we could be a decent team defensively if we learned to play together, but we'd need a lot of work offensively in understanding how to first create a good shot but then work for a better one. 

 

"To their credit the guys have really stuck at the task of trying to excel in our read-and-react system; it's not an easy way to play but I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating!

 

"I think Coventry has improved from when we played them earlier in the year, they've become a really good team.

 

"They forced us into probably one of our poorest performances of the season. Our thirteen percent shooting from three-point range really hurt us and in the second quarter we lost focus on the areas where we had an edge, and Coventry just executed extremely well at both ends of the floor. 

 

"We got back on track after the half-time break and showed the tenacity and team play that have been Rockets' trademarks all year. We went 23-12 in the third - a terrific effort. 

 

"When we were trailing with five minutes to go in the fourth we threw in some combination defence and got five stops - that gave us a chance to win. Terell's steal when the scores were tied at 82 and about four seconds left was typical of the big defensive plays that he's made all season.

 

"Like us, Leopards had played the night before although they'd had to travel back from Manchester. But the way they played you wouldn't have thought it was a problem for them!

 

"I was disappointed that we virtually put points on the board for them in the second quarter by fouling jump-shooters and playing really poor interior defence; we gave up something like 30-plus points in the paint. But we were taking care of the ball well, getting decent shots and were only trailing by one at the half.

 

"We really stepped-up our inside coverage in the third and fourth quarters which was a key to the win, and going into the last five minutes threes from Rich Wellings and Tin Tin Watts gave us some separation. As we had done Saturday night against Coventry, we used some combination defence in the end-game to disrupt their offence and it was enough to get us the win."