Storm soar to excellent win over the Neptunes

There was little sign of the comfortable win to come in the first quarter as only three-pointers from Michael Darlow and Walid Mumuni kept Storm in touch with the Neptunes, who led 11-10 early on.

A second three by Darlow with three minutes left put Storm in front for good, and yet another bomb inside the last minute of the period – this time by skipper Simon Kearney – gave them a 27-22 lead at the first break.

Halfway through the second quarter, there was just a single point in it as Newham fought back to trail 39-38, before another Kearney three gave his side some breathing space with less than four minutes to go in the half.

Storm now started to really pile on the points and a three by Mumuni, followed by a tip-in right on the buzzer, gave them a 58-47 lead at the interval.

Storm kept up the pace early in the third, with Tom Adorian scoring 10 early points himself, including a huge slam dunk to bring the crowd to their feet.

Yet another Darlow three gave his side a 20-point lead at 73-53 halfway through the third period, and some solid defence by the home side meant they went in at the end of the quarter 85-64 ahead.

Storm were not finished yet, though, as tenacious defence early in the final quarter almost held their visitors scoreless.

Adorian moved to a game-high 26 points with a huge slam dunk before controversially fouling out with seven minutes left.

It didn’t stop his side, however, as a fourth three-pointer of the night for Darlow put them over the 100-point barrier and once again brought rapturous applause from the appreciative fans.

Storm used the last few minutes to give the younger members of their squad some court time, including Nick Allin and Jack Burnell, as they ran out winners by 109 points to 82.

After the game, Storm head coach Steve Darlow paid tribute to his players, saying it was a great performance and a fantastic comeback following a very disappointing loss at league leaders Derby the previous evening.

Adorian notched another 27 points in that game for a huge combined weekend total of 53.

Steve Darlow added how pleased he was with Michael Darlow, who he said had produced “the best performance of his young career.”

Storm’s next home game is at Sportspace on Saturday, December 20 at 7pm against Manchester Magic in a National League Division One game.

Tickets and more information can be found on the club website at www.stormbasketball.net