BLAKE Shelton admits the Scottish Rocks need to raise their game after stumbling into first place in the BBL.
The Kelvin Hall outfit were let off the hook on Saturday by bottom side London Capital who led for three quarters before the Scots made a late run to snatch a 90-85 win.
Rob Yanders hit 26 points, including two priceless three-pointers, to help th
e Rocks avoid a massive shock as they came from 27-19 down in the second period.
And Shelton, who added 17, said: "We didn't start the way we wanted to. They gained in confidence and it took us longer than we wanted to match their intensity.
"And we let them play the way they wanted to and it made it really difficult for ourselves."
Everton Tigers moved up to third in the league as a strong fourth quarter enabled them to overcome the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets by 74-83 in a tight north-west derby at the Northgate Arena.
Andre Smith led all scorers with 27 points for the Tigers, whilst Marcus Bailey scored 15 and Olu Babalola had 12. The Jets were led by Shawn Myers' 17 points.
The Tigers won it midway through the final quarter with a decisive 13-6 run that included six points from Babalola and gave them a 67-73 lead.
The Jets were in the penalty by this stage and Andre Smith hit six from six free-throws down the stretch to ensure that the Jets could not get close enough.
Meanwhile, Newcastle overcame Everton 112-105 in the first leg of their BBL Cup semi-final but the Tigers gave themselves hope after rallying from 23 points down.
The full article contains 294 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
