Sunday’s 87-86 loss at Essex was an honest representation of the season Lancashire has had to this point.
“Really tough,” said Lancashire coach Neal Hopkins. “We deserved a better result, but we were undone by some lapses in concentration.”
The Spinners saw the highs — leads of as many as 15 points with seven minutes remaining the third quarter — and the lows of twice surrendering double digit advantages and the eventual game-winning shot from the Leopards.
“First and foremost it is a loss,” said Jack Hudson, who led the Spinners with 22 points. “It’s one of those if we make a play here, get a rebound there or don’t make that turnover there that jump shot at the end becomes irrelevant.”
Hudson also had six rebounds, five assists and five steals for Lancashire (5-11, 4-7 National League 1), who shot just 39 percent after halftime and 41 overall.
AJ Roberts finished with a triple double of 24 points, 12 assists, 12 rebounds to help Essex (7-9, 4-7) end a two-game skid. Darrell Bethune added 25 points and Michael Martin had 18.
The Spinners — who mounted a comeback of their own to erase an eight-point deficit in under two minutes — forced the ball into the hands of Tosin Oyelese but he converted the most important shot of the game.
Oyelese had scored just two points and was 1-for-5 up until that point.
“I feel like we’re finding the right players during pivotal times,” said Zion Tordoff. “But it comes down to how we defend down the stretch and we lost focus.”
Tordoff continued to impress finishing with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting and 11 rebounds.
The Spinners seemed to whether an 11-2 Essex run, which cut the lead to 67-65 with entering the fourth quarter, but Bethune hit a 3-pointer to put the visitors on their heels as the Leopards scored eight unanswered points.
Mark Rangeley scored nine of his 18 points in final quarter, including four-straight to give the Spinners an 86-85 lead. Though Oyelese responded out of the timeout and hit an off-balance shot to beat the buzzer.
Connor Murtagh finished with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss.
TIP INS: Lancashire had 20 points off of 12 Essex turnovers in the first half … Just two points on five turnovers in the second half … The Spinners were outrebounded 52-39 … Edged 42-38 in points in the paint.
Oyelese had just two points in nearly 31 minutes before hitting the game winner … Was 1-of-5 from the field beforehand … Also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Allen Gunn
Latest posts by Allen Gunn (see all)
The post Spinners suffer heartbreaking loss at Essex appeared first on Lancashire Spinners.