MASSAGE WEYMOUTH RAIDERS 61 TORBAY TOFS 54

IN a close and exciting match, the Raiders dug deep to win their second game of the season against a strong Torbay side.

The visitors raced into a quick lead with their zone defence making the opposition work hard to score.

Good rebounding and steals from Connor Doherty and Sam Brown led to points from the fast break and, together with baskets from Simon Dean, Weymouth led by five points at the end of the first quarter.

But Torbay responded and brought on some of their stronger players, who provided some aggressive offence.

With the Raiders making turnovers under pressure, Torbay took the lead with multiple three-pointers to end the first half 27-22.

After a half-time team talk from coach Craig Sorrell, the Raiders changed their defence and upped the tempo in the third quarter with Dan Park working hard, forcing turnovers and getting the Torbay side into foul trouble.

Strong drives from Jeff Robertshaw and shots from Piotr Lason meant that the Raiders closed the gap and in the fourth quarter, they pulled the game back with fantastic teamwork, scoring 24 points to Torbay’s eight.

Performing well under pressure, Max Gilmartin took on the role of point guard and the Raiders grabbed the lead with a three-pointer from Lason, who scored 20 points on his own in the second half.

Points from Doherty and Park helped to keep the momentum going. In the final minutes of the game, the Raiders held on to their lead by just a few points, coping with the strong offence and outside shooting of the Torbay side to win 61-54.

Coach Sorrell said: “I’m incredibly proud of our team performance.

“We showed that we can win games and play well together to beat a strong side. And even when we were losing, we kept our heads up and got the win.”

Raiders: Piotr Lason 23, Jeff Robertshaw 14, Dan Park 6, Simon Dean 4, Tom Storey 4, Max Gilmartin 3, Scott White 2, Connor Doherty 2, Sam Brown 2, Kyle Houlden Massage Weymouth MVP: Piotr Lason