The Everton Tigers recent upsurge in form came to an end yesterday after they suffered their first defeat of the new year to the Plymouth Raiders.
The Tigers went into the game on the back of three straight victories but produced a below par display which allowed the visitors to record only their 5th victory of the campaign.
The home team didn’t lead at any point in the match and to make matters worse Tony Garbelotto’s side lost star man Flo Larkai with an ankle injury in the third quarter.
The Tigers never recovered from a poor start and the hosts were second best all over the court for much of the game.
The first quarter was nearly five minutes old before they finally managed to register on the scoreboard.
Plymouth, who began the day bottom of the table, led 21-12 at the end of the quarter and in the second period they maintained a stranglehold on proceedings.
The Raiders stretched their lead to 14 points before a late rally from the Tigers closed the deficit to 39-30 at the interval.
The gap was further reduced to three points but midway through the third quarter power forward Larkai landed heavily on his ankle and after lengthy treatment he had to be helped off the court.
Skipper Olu Babalola did his best to rally the troops with some impressive baskets and Kevin Bell landed one on the buzzer to make it 59-53 going into the final 10 minutes.
The stage was set for a grandstand finish but unfortunately for coach Garbelloto’s men it failed to materialise.
Babalola top scored for the Tigers with 19 points, while Bell finished with 18.
The Tigers should receive a welcome boost this week with new signing Trey Moore due to arrive from America in time to make his debut in Friday night’s home game with Essex Pirates.
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