Surrey suffer once more to high-flyers

by UK American Sports Fans

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A long weekend saw Surrey United suffer two defeats from two games and remain in the league dwelling spot. However, they did play two of the teams competing for a top four finish, and so there is not too much to be disheartened about.

Having suffered concussion last week against the Eagles before playing on versus Phoenix and then again on Friday during a loss in the rearranged fixture away to Worcester Wolves, Brandon McGill sat out this home fixture against Leicester Riders.

Surrey came out of the blocks well with an 8-2 lead whilst strong defence (and turnovers) resulted in a low scoring quarter with Surrey keeping their noses in front at 13-12 behind a 10-2 run by the Riders. That run continued, as the Riders looked to post a 9-2 run capped off by an Anthony Rowe two pointer.

Tight defence from the Leicester side resulted in United turnovers, and failure to score a point until the third minute of the quarter. This enabled Rob Paternostro’s side to extend their lead to 14 points as Hassan and Rowe headed the scoring behind dishes from Calvo. Each side went basket for basket for the rest of the quarter

Already 45-31 up, the Riders needed to consolidate their performance however their hosts weren’t going away as Leicester could only manage five points more for the quarter, though 61-42 ahead. There were no stand-out players through the first three stanzas, just team performances all round.

Surrey still stood a shot at getting back into this contest, 19 points is no mountain compared to the 60+ point deficits they faced at the start of the season. They soon had it down to 14 points which seemed to favour a home court comeback, however Anderson and Hassan combined to quickly push the lead to 21. This quick response was the sign of more to come as the visitors dominated the final showing to run out 85-56 winners.

There was an honourable mention to Ceslovas Kucinskas who was as strong as always, although he fouled out during Friday’s matchup with Worcester, he remained in the contest for the whole game with just one foul, 17 points, eight rebounds and two assists – as his side remain to find that elusive first victory.

However, Leicester’s Jorge Calvo showed his all round game today to deserve MVP. Not only can he score from inside but he stretched to knock down two-from-three from downtown, dish out seven assists, help his bigs rebound with three and steal the ball twice from his opposition.

Next Up

Surrey United at home to Durham Wildcats, Sunday 5th January, Surrey Sports Park, 3:00pm

Leicester Riders away at Plymouth Raiders, Sunday 22nd December, Plymouth Pavilions, 4:00pm.

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