Hoods Victorious at Far-away Falkirk
After a loss at the hands of the Knights in Newcastle, the Hoods continued north on their road trip where they finally broke their losing streak against the Falkirk Fury.
Both teams came out the gates strong, neither looking to give an inch in the early seconds of the game. The Hoods opened the scoring with a three from Kahn, the first of many as both sides decided on living beyond the arc. They had been kept at arms length for most of the quarter with the Fury holding a seven-point lead with Fraser leaving his finger-prints all over the game. Polak and Mughal’s sharpshooting from three brought a deadlock between the two teams within the final seconds. With both teams trading shots from deep, the first quarter of action saw a tight run affair. With only half a minute remaining, however, the Fury broke the deadlock with Harte sinking a three to give Falkirk the lead into the second period.
Despite momentum going in the way of the Fury, the Hoods looked to press the issue in the second period. A steal from Triggs triggered a fast break within seconds. Akano ended the play in transition with a layup, the start of a 11-2 run by the Hoods. In the closing stages of the quarter, another basket by Akano saw the Hoods reach a 9 point lead, their biggest of the game so far. Despite the lead the Hoods continued to force the issue with aggressive plays on the inside leading to many trips to the free throw line. Smith-White benefited greatly, shooting 6-7 from the line for the game.
Falkirk seemed to have no answer for Nottingham in the third as the game eventually slipped away - the Hoods building an expressway to the basket. Kahn and Bailey took turns cruising to the cup from the inside before Burroughs finally replied with a three. By then, the Fury’s deficit had already grown to sixteen and only increased as the seconds ticked away.
The game ended in an impressive thirty-three-point victory, a massive boost for the Hoods as they look to put their previous northern run-ins behind them. With the season opener against Derby just two days away, the Hoods will certainly look to build on from this performance. Cam Polak, Cam Kahn and JSW (Joshua Smith-White) especially after posting 22/9/5, 24/4/2, and 20/10/1 respectively.
By Gabriel-Javis Megueu
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