TCS Chester Jets 73, Scottish Rocks 95: A SCORING slump either side of the break ensured Jets suffered their biggest home defeat since their 'pre-silverware' era at the Northgate Arena on Sunday.

It was the club's heaviest loss in Chester since they were beaten 114-90 by Sheffield Sharks in March 2000 - the season before Jets' first BBL Trophy success.

Coach Paul Smith said: 'We were outhustled, out-rebounded and we couldn't buy a basket. We weren't together as a team and there was no leadership. That's the second successive game in which we have been beaten by over 20 points and, while I can live with mistakes, I can't accept a lack of effort or teamwork.

'But we live to fight another day and what is important is how we react to this defeat. We can only put things right on the practice court. I take my hat off to Rocks, we were lucky to be only 10 points down at half-time considering they'd had 16 more shots than us and we'd had 15 turnovers.' The evening had started so well for Jets and there was no sign of any deficiencies when Ryan Huntley's spectacular three-pointer opened the scoring just seconds in from Mike Nurse's pass after Calvin Davis had won the tip.

All six of Smith's regular rotation hit the mark early on and the hosts enjoyed a 13-7 lead and were still looking good at 25-22 up at the end of the first quarter.

But Rocks started to take control in the second and a series of long-range bombs from Terence McGee and David Kruse - who hit six from downtown on the night - put them 51-41 ahead at the interval.

A 22-3 tear either side of the break put the visitors out of reach and Jets' frustrations were showing as Nurse picked up an 'unsportsmanlike' foul.

Rocks led 71-53 going into the final period and the groans echoed around the arena when Nurse's attempted trey rimmed out - which summed up the night.

With less than two minutes left on the clock, James Hamilton finally grabbed his solitary bucket from open play but the verdict was already beyond doubt, with visiting coach Steve Swanson having already introduced his shadow squad.

Jets' scorers: Nurse (24), Davis (17), Singleton & McCord (both 10), Huntley (8), Hamilton (4).