THE double trouble from last weekend was converted to double joy this time around when TCS Chester Jets claimed a brace of impressive victories on Saturday in London and Sunday at the Northgate.
The sweeter of the two was their second victory of the season over the London Towers and their former coach Robbie Peers and the 92-75 success was a considerably more convincing performance than the season's opener, which had been just a little bit too close for comfort.
The Jets broke clear early in the opening quarter and looked to be back to their imperious best as they led 28-18 going into the first break. The Towers however posted a 14-5 burst in the second quarter.
The score at half-time saw the boys from the North-gate only a single point up and the few stalwart travelling fans were beginning to think that the failure to convert superiority into points that had cost them so dearly recently was back again.
However their fears proved groundless as the Jets began the third quarter brightly, two three-pointers by Ryan Huntley and seven points from Calvin Davis sparking a 15-4 burst to open up a double figure advantage at 58-46 and they never looked back.
A 12-point three-quarter time lead opened up to 17 by the final buzzer and in the end Towers were well beaten.
Calvin Davis top scored in the game with 28 points and dominated the boards at both ends, while skipper John McCord with 19 and assistant coach James Hamilton, 18, gave him valuable support.
The second game of the double header weekend proved to be a little less taxing than the first as injury affected Milton Keynes Lions visited the Northgate.
Sean Jamison put the southern outfit into the lead 3-0 with a drive and free shot from the resultant foul, but that proved to be the only time that they were ahead.
TCS Jets clicked easily into cruise control and the gap between the teams just steadily increased.
Last week's shooting problems seemed like just a distant nightmare as Michael Nurse, John McCord and Calvin Davis started dropping the shots that they had so agonisingly missed in the cup debacle against Newcastle.
The one player who might have given Chester cause for concern - hotshot guard Joel Burns - virtually gave himself the evening off by committing three early fouls and having to sit out more than half the game.
In the absence of his outside threat Chester dominated all phases of the game and led by a comfortable 26-17 at the first break.
This gap grew considerably by half time, as all the Chester players got their eyes in and scored a few for their personal tallies.
Most impressive was Calvin Davis who picked up 16 personal in the half including a couple of powerful slams, redolent of the classic Jetwash days of a couple of years ago.
53-32 was the score at the break and the game as a contest was as good as over.
Milton Keynes managed to match the home team in the third quarter.
Joel Burns re-entered the fray and landed a couple of treys, but Chester guards Mike Nurse and Ryan Huntley had also found their range and cancelled out his threat, while John McCord's strength and accuracy inside saw that the gap remained at over 20 points. The final quarter was largely the same story, with Victor Payne and Joel Burns striving to keep the score respectable while Michael Nurse and John McCord kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Jets.
With a little over two minutes to go TCS Jets coach Paul Smith decided that he could afford to run his bench and the four young English players took to the court with only Nurse of the starting five with them.
One of the biggest cheers of the night was reserved for young debutant Steve Mercer who took a couple of impressive defensive rebounds before icing his cameo performance with a languid jump shot for two in the dying seconds.
Chester's main scorers in the 97-75 win were Calvin Davis with 23, top scorer for the second night running, John McCord with 22 and Ryan Huntley & Michael Nurse both with 19.
TCS Chester Jets next game is this Friday evening when they entertain struggling Leicester Riders at the Northgate. Tip off is 7.30pm.
