Essex Pirates repel Plymouth Raiders to get off the bottom (From Echo)

Essex Pirates repel Plymouth Raiders to get off the bottom

12:00pm Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

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ESSEX Pirates climbed off the bottom of the BBL standings with a 79-75 win at Plymouth Raiders on Sunday.

Taner Adu led the scoring with 25 points.

And head coach Tim Lewis was thrilled to see his side finally return to winning ways.

“It’s a result which has been coming for some time now and we’re delighted,” said Lewis.

“We had been in front in our last four or five games before losing but this time we saw it through and I think we may have turned the corner.

“We didn’t panic this time — we didn’t get caught up looking at the scoreboard or the clock — we just kept on going and got our rewards.”

Pirates led 21-18 at the end of the first quarter and 39-32 at half-time.

They stayed seven points in front during the third quarter to lead 60-53 and then held their nerve during the final 10-minute period to secure just their second away win of the season.

Pirates also used a smaller number of players during the game and Lewis feels this may also have helped them.

“We relied on just seven or eight players and maybe that helped with the chemistry,” said Lewis.

“It was a good all round team-performance though and we had plenty of people stepping forward which is what we need.

“Now we need to try and do that on a more consistent basis.”

Pirates travelled to Plymouth having narrowly been beaten 95-83 at home to Everton Tigers on Saturday night.

The Southend-based side led 73-69 with seven minutes to go in front of a crowd of around 700.

But they were eventually overcome in the closing stages.

“We played well but just lost it at the end,” said Lewis.

“The crowd were great though and hopefully they will keep on coming back, along with plenty of others.”

Pirates are back in action at home on Saturday as they host Worcester Wolves, tip-off 7.30pm.