BASKETBALL: Thunder lose at home to Guildford

They must again entertain Everton Tigers and this time draw level on points by beating the Merseyside outfit who won 90-82 here in February.

But in the words of Guildford's heroic player-coach and centre, Chad McKnight, "Everton can beat anybody or lose to anybody". Thunder lost to Everton despite wiping out a 22-point deficit. And Everton lost on Sunday at Worcester Wolves, who had lost their previous four matches.

This Sunday, Thunder go to Guildford needing to win to keep their nearest BBL neighbours a safer distance behind in the race for the top-eight play-offs. Heat, unlike Thunder, will not have played the night before and Guildford have the easier run-in after that, with three decisive games against rivals Worcester, two of them at home, plus visits to Essex Pirates, Glasgow Rocks and Leicester Riders.

Meanwhile, Thunder must improve their away form if they are to last the pace. They go successively to Newcastle, Everton and Worcester. Then they are at home to Plymouth Raiders, Milton Keynes Lions and Sheffield Sharks, before finishing the regular season at Plymouth.

Worthing's 78-71 loss at Guildford in November means, if the teams tie on league points at the end of the season, Heat have the series 2-0 so far as the tie-breaker after Saturday '“ when Guildford's win cut the gap between them to four points. McKnight's summary: "Tonight was a big game. Now Sunday's even bigger."

After wins over London Capital and Worcester Wolves, Thunder on Saturday faced a Guildford team with only one victory in nine outings.

Fervent expectation reflected in the crowd figure, and a celebratory feel with five Thunder junior teams on show, was greeted by Worthing's first winning opening quarter in six home games.

Guildford, never losers to Worthing in the BBL, were without key starter Michael Martin and needed to win to stay in play-offs contention.

Thunder head coach Dave Titmuss was missing. Assistant coach Josef "Dodi" Butor, helped by Alan Sweetman-Hicks, rotated the roster effectively to stay in contention until the final seconds of a gripping game of 21 lead changes and four tied scores.

But Butor was unsure of who his best five should be for the end-game while Heat were managing to keep their composure in defence though not in attack. Some will wonder why Butor did not keep faith with Latvian power-forward Janis Ivanovskis after his first 10 points of the match had given Thunder the third quarter. He appeared to solve their attacking problems going inside Guildford's defence.

Reggie Bratton's potential match-winning three-point shooting was nil of six on the night, four in the first quarter, and, as a marked man these days, he committed seven turnovers. His unexpected dribble out of play at 100-102, and Evaldas Zabas' foul on Arron Drakeford, that cost two free throws, almost sealed Thunder's fate. With four seconds left, as in the previous game, Zabas found himself at the free line but this time requiring four points to force overtime. His deliberately missed second throw, however, instead of Thunder's, became the 5ft 10in Drakeford's sixth rebound for the Heat. Game over.

Ville Makalainen looked back to his best, he combined potently with Ivanovskis, and Thunder had five scorers in double figures. Samuel Cricelli for a second game running, took a Thunder career-best 12 rebounds. One man, though, kept Guildford from drowning in the final quarter. Julius Joseph nailed four of his lifetime-best seven off 11 three-pointers, the last proving a game-decider after it set up a 102-98 lead.

THUNDER 101: *Makalainen 25pts (8-14 in 2s 2-2 in 3s 3-3 in frees) 7rb 2ass, Zabas 21pts, *Bratton 14pts 2rb, *Richard 12pts 9rb 2blk 2stl, Ivanovskis 12pts 4rb 4ass, *Prezzie-Blue 10pts 5ass, *Cricelli 4pts 12rb 2stl, Brame 3pts, Midgley 0pts, Hildreth 0pts. DNP: Mitchell.

HEAT 104: *McKnight 31pts 8rb 4ass, *Joseph 27pts 2rb 2ass, *Langhorne 23pts 7rb 3ass, *Ogedengbe 9pts 7rb, Sandell 8pts 3ass, *Drakeford 6pts 6rb 5ass 3stl, Popoola 0pts, Gawanab 0pts. DNP: Ociepa.

BBL (P W-L Pts): Newcastle 28 23-5 46; Sheffield 27 22-5 44; Glasgow 26 18-8 36; Leicester 27 16-11 32; Cheshire 27 15-12 30; Milton Keynes 25 14-11 28; Everton 26 14-12 28; Worthing 27 13-14 26; Guildford 28 11-17 22; Worcester 26 10-16 20; Plymouth 26 9-17 18; Essex 27 4-23 8; London 24 3-21 6.

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