MK Breakers got their season officially underway on Saturday, going down 77-82 at the hands of COB Rockets in their opening game of the BCB Trophy competition.
Coach Ben Stanley and the team had worked hard all week, and those efforts paid off from the outset as Breakers exploded out of the blocks. Smothering defence and dominant rebounding saw them jump into a 10-0 lead, forcing the visitors to burn an early timeout after just 2:15 of action.
That served to halt Breakers’ momentum and allow the Rockets back into the game, but it would take until midway through the second quarter before they managed to take the lead.
After half time the game would remain in the balance, Breakers putting good spells together but a combination of their own missed shots and turnovers as well as some relentless rebounding from COB allowed the Rockets to keep it close.
It would remain a finely balanced game, but – despite a superb performance from Chris Tawiah who weighed in with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks – the visitors eventually won 77-82, much to the dismay of Breakers’ Head Coach Ben Stanley.
“Obviously we’re disappointed with our performance,” he said. “Credit to Birmingham who I thought played harder and were more cohesive than us. Chris stepped up to the task, but in the coming weeks we’ve got to become mentally tougher as a group and play more as a unit if we are to be successful moving forwards.”
They get an opportunity to do just that next weekend, where a double-header of Trophy games awaits. Up first is Saturday’s trip to Hemel, before Bristol Hurricanes travel to BLC on Sunday for a 5pm tip-off.
Get your tickets for the Bristol game here!