A DOUBLE blow for BiG Storage Cheshire Jets saw them drop out in the quarter-finals of the BBL Cup and lose yet another league game at Guildford Heat.
Jets faced Newcastle Eagles in the cup on Friday, when not even the arrival of new boy Philip Perre could inspire them as they went down 112-92.
Perre was the Jets top-scorer with 22, followed by Chez Marks with 21 and former Eagle Shawn Myers with 19.
But the Eagles’ firepower told in the end, with Andrew Bridge hitting a season-high 29, Darius Defoe sinking 26 and one-time Jet Trey Moore racking up 25 at Newcastle Arena.
The Eagles had the better of the early exchanges and led 6-4 before Perre sparked a 7-0 burst for the Jets and sent them into an 11-6 lead. At the end of the first quarter it was 33-25 to the Jets.
Paul Smith’s side still led at half-time, with the scoring responsibility shared as the Jets found themselves 57-48 up.
The Eagles picked up the momentum in the third, however, and pinned the Jets right back, racing ahead 82-72. The Jets were stunned and by the time they gathered themselves to fight back in the middle of the fourth it was too late.
On Sunday, Smith was hoping his side would react after the cup defeat.
He had already said the Jets had lost too many games so early in the season and they were desperately unlucky to return from Guildford with their fifth BBL Championship loss, Heat winning 91-88.
The hosts led every quarter but it was always close, the gap never bigger than 11 points. But the Jets couldn’t quite find the final score they needed from downtown to take the game into overtime.
Calvin Davis led the Jets scorers with 22, Perre was up there again with 17 and Alto Virgil, still struggling to discover the consistency which made him a fans’ favourite, posted 16. By half time it was 50-39 to the Heat despite Jets repeatedly getting close, only to fall away at the end of each quarter.
The Heat always found another gear and led 71-61 going into the last.
Cheshire predictably rallied and took the lead on a Marks free throw at 76-75, but couldn’t hold on as Guildford finished strongly.
