The Kent Crusaders couldn’t complete a furious fourth quarter come-back and had their four game winning streak halted by a two point loss at Colchester Hornets.

“We made an attempt at a come-back at the end, and played some inspired basketball the last two minutes”, said Crusaders head coach Mads Olesen after the game, “But you can’t expect to be able to win if you leave it to the last minutes!”

A poor overall performance saw the Crusaders go into the last two minutes of the game down ten, 73-63, when the Crusader defence created a couple of steals that led to Simon Mitchell layups which finally seemed to get the team fired up. Colchester then got to the foul line for two points before James Harris drove to the basket, making the shot while he was fouled, sending him to the foul line where he made the extra shot.

Down five, 75-70, the Crusaders pressed full court, but Colchester’s Matthews got through the press and it looked like he would make the open layup when James Harris came out of nowhere and knocked the ball out of his hands.

On the next possession Crusaders got within three as Damian Lyons got to the basket for a layup. Despite the Crusaders pressing full court the Hornets were able to get the ball past the halfway line, but here Simon Mitchell stole the ball and fed James Harris for a layup to get Crusaders within one, 75-74.

The Crusaders full court press now paid off, and Damian Lyons had a chance to convert the turnover to a one point lead, but physical Colchester defence forced him to miss the shot. Instead Colchester got the ball up to Scott who hit a layup.

Now within the last minute Crusaders raced up the floor, but struggled to find an open shot. Finally they found JP Dimandja inside and he got them back within one. Next James Harris was called for a foul on Colchester’s Matthews, who went to the line and calmly hit two free throws.

On the ensuing possession Damian Lyons again got inside for a layup, and was again denied by the physical defence. With 11 seconds to go Crusaders again fouled Matthews, and again he hit both shots. Crusaders now had their last possession, as they struggled to find someone open until Robbie Parker hit a three pointer with a second to go, and Colchester could take the victory.

When asked what he thought decided the game coach Olesen keyed in on intensity: “We didn’t get any help from the referees, as Colchester shot 36 foul shots to our 19, but we should be able play through that. Instead we let it bother us and let our focus slip. Every time a call went against us we looked like we were giving up, and offensively we kept looking for the referees to bail us out, when those calls obviously weren’t coming. We know we’re a better team than what we showed tonight, and we’ll come back and prove it.”