ROCKETS STAY FOURTH WITH AWAY WIN
READING ROCKETS ensured they kept their season on track with an away win at Westminster Warriors.
With a late tip-off due to a facility issue coupled to a game the evening before, the Rockets weren’t disrupted due to their meticulous preparation, they took off with a pair of steals which Jordan Jackson finished with a dunk and lay-up sandwiched with a big rejection of Warriors first offense.
The hosts responded but the mercurial Jermiah Jenkins sent an assist to Reis Pinnock to score with a reverse lay-up before he himself rejected another Warriors effort.
A brace of trebles by Jenkins and Zack Powell couped to strong defence saw Rockets enjoy a 28-13 first quarter lead.
Warriors struck first in the second period with eight quick points to just four from Rockets but Finleigh Porter spun twice to score before Jenkins gave an assist to Jackson prior to a superb bounce pass from Pinnock to Ben Dixon to finish and see Rockets retain their double digit advantage at 38-27.
Troy Cracknell finished a great three man play drawing a foul as he finished, so making it a threepoint play but this was bettered moments later with a Rockets five man play finished with a treble for wide out by captain Dixon.
Rockets lit up this latter part of the second quarter with some scintillating basketball as Pinnock went coast to coast , Jenkins spun away form his opponent , drove and finished well as Rockets headed to the interval 52-35 ahead.
Again Warriors scored first but a Cracknell buzzer beating spin score hurt the hosts before a pair of great floor recoveries kept the ball in play for Dixon to hit another treble.
Though Warriors hit three trebles in this third period Rockets play remained fast and pleasant to watch as they maintained a 15-18 lead and despite a buzzer beating floater form Pinnock found themselves just 70-56 ahead as the final stanza approached.
Warriors were arguing amongst themselves, even the coaches so having received one technical call and exchanges between the Coach and Assistant the Head Coach left the arena. Moments later the Assistant got his second technical foul was forced to leave the arena too. Rockets stayed calm as Head Coach Samit Nurzade played his full roster with the academy young men not only scoring but seeing Rockets to a 96-75 victory keeping Rockets in fourth place in the league.
Top scorers for Rockets were Troy Cracknell with 22 points, Jermiah Jenkins with 21 points and Reis Pinnock with 17 points.