City of Birmingham Rockets defeated the defending champion Derby Trailblazers to record a statement win on game week one of the National Basketball League (NBL) Division One season at the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre on Sunday evening.
An incredible fourth quarter saw Rockets outscore the hosts 31-18 to come out on top after a hard-fought battle in the East Midlands.
Zack Powell once again led the scoring for Rockets with 19, with Martyn Gayle, Lucas McGregor & Luke Okosieme contributing 14 each in a true team effort.
Rockets started the game with Zack Powell, Martyn Gayle, Orlan Jackman, Lucas McGregor & Luke Okosieme.
Okosieme got Rockets started offensively, laying in from close range after good work from Powell to keep the offense alive after Jackman’s three came up short.
Both sides were slow to get going offensively in the early stages with Derby especially struggling to deal with Rockets’ defensive intensity early on.
Okosieme recorded five blocks and Powell added another three; while Jackman and summer addition CJ Hayden both grabbed eight rebounds each as Coach Smith looked to build from a solid defensive foundation.
Offensively, Powell proved to be a thorn in Derby’s side all evening with ‘The General’ going to the free throw line on six occasions as the Trailblazers failed to find an answer for his speed and athleticism – he would go on to score ten of his twelve efforts from the line.
Despite their struggles early in the quarter, Derby fought back with a 7-0 run of their own to end the first, with the scores level at 17-17.
Sam Toluwase started the second quarter and made his presence felt with an early two before Malcom Smith levelled things again almost immediately for Derby.
McGregor then took control of proceedings with a long two followed by a three after good ball movement from Gayle and then Jackman to find him isolated in the corner.
Both sides traded baskets until Rockets found an extra gear with just over a minute to play before the halftime break.
Levi Noel and Jordan Dawes were introduced to firm up the Rockets backcourt and Derby failed to score for the remaining two minutes of the half – allowing Rockets to pull away through Jackman and Gayle to take a five-point advantage into the half, 31-36.
Derby came out with a point to prove at the start of the third and wasted no time in wiping out Rockets’ lead.
Scores from Rob Marsden, Malcolm Smith, Jonas Dietrich and an emphatic dunk by Leighton Elliot-Sewell without reply left Rockets shellshocked before Jackman got Rockets started for the quarter and another McGregor three re-established the lead.
Derby would go on to finish the quarter as they had started it – scoring nine points without reply to take a 58-51 lead into the fourth.
Coach Smith rallied his players but Derby continued to extend their lead at the start of the final quarter – leading by eleven with just eight minutes left to play.
Okosieme took advantage of some static Derby defending to slam home a dunk to reduce the deficit to single figures before Toluwase weighed in with a four-point play to reduce Derby’s advantage to seven.
Okosieme then took over as he hit a pair of free throws before connecting with Powell for an alley oop to reduce the margin to just four, 66-62.
Gayle then took centre stage with a pair of threes to stun Derby and retake the lead, 66-68.
The hosts would manage one more fightback to take their final lead of the night through Elliot-Sewell with just over four minutes to play.
Powell hit a pair of free throws followed by a three to retake the lead before a pair of threes from McGregor put Rockets in control heading into the final seconds.
Elliott-Sewell narrowed the gap to three, 79-76, after sinking a pair of free throws but the hosts would fail to score again with free throws from Okosieme and Gayle making sure of the win.