HUDDERSFIELD Heat are still top of Division IV of the National Basketball League after a hard-earned 62-59 victory at Burnley Blaze.

The aggressive Burnley tactics in the early opening left Huddersfield having to play catch up, but a 31-25 scoreline against them at half-time resulted in an inspired coaching talk from Eduardo Perez.

That brought an immediate response from his players and once they had taken the lead at 37-35 they never lost the advantage – although in the final seconds Huddersfield’s slender one-point lead gave Burnley extra impetus until Eugene Andrew settled it with two successful free throws with just nine seconds left on the clock.

The usually high-scoring Jason Swaine was heavily marked throughout the game but still finished with 22 points, and while the Burnley tactics were obviously to keep him quiet, the combination of Joe Irving (14), Chris Bigley (11) and Jonathan Woodward (10) proved to be the deciding factor.

This result gives Heat a boost ahead of next Saturday’s home game against Bury Blue Devils in a very competitive league.

Huddersfield Heat play their home games at Rishworth Sport Centre on a Saturday at 5.30pm and there is a warm up ladies league game at 3pm.

There is also half-time entertainment at the games and any further information can be found on the website of Huddersfield Heat Basketball.