Despite keeping it close throughout the game, the Reading Rockets have started the NBL season with five losses after a 10 point defeat to the Derby Trailblazers.
Troy Cracknell led the way for the Rockets with 21 points on 46% shooting, with four of his six buckets being threes. Jermiah Jenkins added 17 off the bench on 43% shooting and Jordan Jackson was the other Rocket in double digits with 14 points on seven-for-eight shooting, while also claiming eight boards.
Raheem May-Thompson led the Trailblazers with 29 points on 64% shooting, with all his points coming from inside the three point line. Ryan Bruggeman added 22 points and eight assists while Charlie Brown played the ultimate team game with eight rebounds and 16 assists.
The game started very back and forth, with teams trading buckets. Cracknell was alive early on, scoring eight of the Rockets opening 10 points, including two threes. However, the bug that has been infesting Reading so far this season came early this time as Derby would go on a 13-2 run. The Rockets turned the ball over three times in this run and fouled six times in the four minute span the run lasted.
Down by 10 to start the second, Jackson and Ben Dixon found the bottom of the net twice but back to back threes kept Derby’s lead intact. The teams would trade buckets back and forth throughout the quarter, with the Trailblazers lead jumping between eight and ten.
With 30 seconds left to go in the second quarter, Lewis Champion pulled off a nice move and nailed the step back jumper to bring the lead to nine. Instead of giving up a bucket at the other end, the Rockets forced Bruggeman to miss. They used the long rebound to initiate the fastbreak where Cracknell found Jenkins in the corner, who hit the three and cut the deficit to just six at half.
The third quarter was much of the same as Derby just kept out of arm’s reach of the Rockets. There was a frustrating two minutes half way through the quarter where neither team could hit a shot. Jenkins and Cracknell ended the drought, scoring eight points in a minute to cut the lead to just one. However, the Trailblazers put an end to any thought of a Rocket lead, with a quick 8-0 run in response.
Jenkins started the fourth quarter with a wide open layup off a Isaac Round steal to bring the lead down to five but at the other end, Bruggeman responded with a three.
After two Morakinyo Williams layups, Jase Harrison hit a massive three for the Trailblazers which brought the lead back up to ten. This would end up being the dagger in Reading’s hearts as three back to back turnovers in three minutes ended all hopes of the first win.
Derby spent the last two minutes going to the charity stripe, where they got the lead up to 13 but Reis Pinnock had other ideas as he would rush the ball down the other end and hit a pull up three as time expired to end the game 92-82.