Rockets overcome the Storm
Reading Rockets 97 Hemel Storm 80
ROCKETS produced a scintillating final period to storm past Hemel and move up to fourth in the table.
Hemel held a narrow 63-62 advantage heading into the fourth stanza only for the hosts to hit 35 points to take the game away from the Storm to ease to victory with Adrian O’Sullivan top scoring.
Rockets fell behind 23-18 after the first quarter thanks to five Hemel trebles with O’Sullivan and Sydney Donaldson keeping the home side in the contest.
An upbeat second period followed from Alan Keane’s charges, draining five trebles of their own to turn the game in their favour at 45-42 at the break. Academy player Arinze EmekaAnyakwo played a big role for Reading with two three-pointers while
Adrian Nosa Castillo also bagged a vital score.
Rivermead was treated to a physical contest after the restart and Rockets gave the home fans plenty to cheer in a thrilling final quarter, taking it 35-17 which included a 19-0 run.
O’Sullivan led the scorers with 32 points and seven rebounds, his best return since moving to Berkshire over the summer, while AJ Carr (10pts), Donaldson (14), Pemberton (17) and Emeka-Anyakwo (13) also contributed well.
Now with four league wins in a row, Reading (4-2) face a double header this weekend away at league leaders Team Solent Kestrels (7-0) on Saturday evening (7.30pm) before going to Essex Leopards (0-5) on Sunday (5.30pm).