16/11/10 - Hemel Storm missed out on the chance of going clear at the top of Division Two as OJ Reed had a career night in Medway Park Crusaders' 80-72 victory on Saturday.

Medway American Reed had 30 points on an almost perfect shooting night, hitting all of his 11 shots inside the three point line, but coach James Vear had his eyes on the other end of the court. "OJ was outstanding tonight," he said. "Everybody can see how well he played on offence, but defensively he was great tonight and he rebounded so well against some of the best big guys in the league."

The game started very tentatively with both teams struggling to find any rhythm on offense. Great defence by both teams left the score at only 4-2 to Crusaders after six minutes played. After getting a feeling for the opposition both teams then livened up offensively and the hosts led 14-9 at the first break.

In the second quarter the Crusaders came out strong and really looked to 'up' the tempo of the game. Hemel went to a zone defence midway through the quarter which helped them find some consistency on the defensive end. Hemel also looked to get the ball more into Tom Frederick, who caused the Crusaders problems all night with his size, but they still went in at the half 43-34 ahead.

To start out the third quarter Hemel again switched defences coming out strong in a 1-3-1 zone to catch Medway off guard. The game became scrappy, with both teams struggling to find good looks on offense.

This was when the stars came through. Reed stepped up when the Crusaders needed a basket and Joe Matthews did the same for Hemel, knocking down two threes. Medway managed to hang on for a 60-53 lead at the final break.

The fourth quarter started scrappy as well, as both teams found themselves with key players in foul trouble before Reed came up big, hitting two tough pull up jump shots and hitting four foul shots. Hemel were not about to lie down though, and they fought back and got it back to four points with two minutes left. The shaken Crusaders were steadied as Steve Vear hit a tough runner in the lane and Reed iced the game with two free throws at the end as they held on for the win. "We are a new team and we have to treat this as an opportunity to learn and improve" said  Coach Harrison "it is difficult to be effective when the team suffers 23 turnovers, 30% of which were converted into points".

Storm will now focus on the upcoming home game this Saturday against  Tees Valley Mohawks when they hope to get back to their winning ways. Tip off at Sportspace is 7pm.