MERSEY TIGERS coach Tony Garbelotto admitted his side had limped to the Christmas break, after a hard-fought victory over Leicester at the ECHO Arena.
Following a tough on the road victory over Guildford on Saturday, the Tigers had to come from behind in a physical clash against the Riders, before prevailing 87-78 in front of the SKY TV cameras.
Garbelotto said: “We’re a team that is limping to the Christmas break but we’ve made it now.
“I don’t think we performed to any type of level that we can and I thought they were very resilient. But I have to give the boys full credit for staying in it and really playing hard. Now we’ve reached the break, we just need to get refreshed from everything and get ready to go hard in the new year.”
It was very much a case of stage fright for the home side, who found themselves 10-0 down in no time as the Riders took charge, Joseph Harris pulling the strings for the visitors.
It took the introduction of Nate Reinking to awake the Tigers from their slumber, and the mid-season signing got their first point on the board with a penalty shot, before a James Jones three-pointer reduced arrears to 14-6.
But the athletic visitors continued to flex their muscles, and they opened up a ten point advantage once again at 18-8, before Reinking twice forced turnovers to build some momentum, and with Tafari Toney in deadly form at the net, the home side fought back to within one point before the end of the first quarter.
A Harris three-pointer ensured the Riders maintained their lead at the first break, up 21-19, and it was deep in to the second quarter before the Tigers got themselves on level terms for the first time, when a big play by Perry Lawson tied the game at 24-24.
Lawson, dubbed “outstanding” for the second night running by coach Garbelotto, then netted a three-pointer to give the Tigers the lead for the first time.
However, the Riders were not going to let go of this game and the two sides exchanged baskets before a late surge in the first half gave the league leaders the initiative and a lead that they were never to relinquish.
Now playing a more relaxed game, Reinking and Toney began to find their range and by the end of the third quarter had helped their side open up a 16 point lead.
And as they have done so many times at the Arena this year, Mersey Tigers were able to close out the game, but not without a fight, as the Riders held on to their coat tails until the end.
