HUDDERSFIELD Heat were cut to ribbons by a sharp Sheffield Sabres out in their second English Basketball Division III North fixture.
The 90-60 reversal leaves the Heat with a 0-2 record in League play as their tough opening fixture list begins to take its toll.
Sabres began brightly taking a 10-0 lead in the opening couple of minutes before Jason Swaine finally got Heat going and they kept the Sheffield team within reach at the end of the first period, trailing 26-18.
But the second period proved a disaster for Huddersfield, as the home team hit seven three-pointers, four of them for Dmitri Okorie and two from Richard Windle which took the game out of Heat’s reach, leaving them trailing 57-32 at the interval.
The second half began brighter for the visitors as they started to restrict the Sheffield offence, and Swaine continued to score his way to a game-high 36 points, but without ever really making any headway into the South Yorkshire side’s lead.
The final quarter was littered with errors from both teams as changes were made, but Sheffield still maintained more consistency and piled on a further 20 points with four of their men moving into double figures.
Heat’s player-coach Eduardo Perez admitted: “We’ve had a bit of a setback, but we always knew we would face adversity this year after stepping up a level.
“It’s how we respond in the coming weeks that’s important.
“We have had two very successful seasons, so this is very much a new feeling for this group, and we’ll take it on the chin and move on.”
Next up for the Heat, is a home match against fellow promoted team Warrington Wolves at Rishworth on Saturday (5.30pm).
Sheffield Sabres 90: Walsh (4), Connor (6), L Okorie (10), Smith (9), Gordon (17), Wilson (2), Chandley (0), Walwyn (2), Windle (28), D Okorie (12).
Huddersfield Heat 60: Andrew (2), Swaine (36), Woodward (4), Treen (0), Huggett (0), Walker (0), Gray (1), Bigley (6), Allison (2), Kozlowski (0), Stanger (0), Irving (9).
