The Reading Rebels earned their sixth straight win, defeating the Lehigh Valley Legends 118-86 Sunday in a The Basketball League game at Alvernia’s Jack McCloskey Court.
Richard McCalop led all scorers with 39 points, 30 in the first half, for the Rebels.
Reading (7-2) was playing its third game in three days, following a 106-87 home win over Montreal Friday and a 128-122 victory on road vs. the Tri-State Admirals on Saturday.
“Our guys came out a little flat,” Reading coach Joe Linderman said. “We knew they were going to come out and give us their best. Our guys understood that and we were able to push the lead in the second quarter, then didn’t let up in the third and fourth.”
The Rebels fell to the Legends 107-104 on March 11, so they knew they had to change their game plan.
The first quarter consisted of both teams trading baskets, neither getting a lead larger than six points.
McCalop made back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Rebels a six-point lead at the quarter’s seven-minute mark. The Legends (4-6) then went on a 12-point run to give themselves a six-point lead. Lehigh Valley led 26-25 after one.
In the final 5:35 of the first half, the Rebels started to pull away. Aquille Carr hit a deep 3-pointer, then threw McCalop an alley-oop off the backboard on the next possession as the crowd erupted.
Those two highlight plays started a 17-3 run that gave Reading a 53-37 lead. McCalop scored 11 points in the run.
“I wanted to be aggressive,” McCalop said of his performance. “I feel like I’ve been relying too much on the 3-point shot instead of getting to my game, which is more aggressive, downhill transition. So, I was trying to change that up tonight, especially against a team like this. It’s a little easier to get transitions on them.”
The Rebels continued to keep their foot on the pedal in the second half, opening with a 14-2 run to tale a 23-point lead.
The Legends did not get their first points of the quarter until 7:32 remained.
Reading continued to swarm the ball on defense and Lehigh Valley had no answers.
The Rebels led 92-65 after three quarters, giving Linderman a chance to rest his starters in the fourth quarter.
The Rebels would lead by as much as 37 points.
“It feels great, the locker room is awesome,” McCalop said of the team’s culture. “Six straight, that’s a step up from last year. Last year we underperformed, but this year we’re clicking more each and every day. We’re looking at 7-2 and I’m loving it.”
McCalop also had seven rebounds Sunday.
Emmanuel Egbuta had 12 points and 10 rebound, and Carr finished with nine points and nine assists for Reading.
For the Legends, Anthony Moe had a team-high 17 points. Timothy Simmons and Lamont Boykins each had 16 points.
“It feels great,” Linderman said on his team’s winning streak. “That group picture you saw them taking right there, that wouldn’t have happened last year. These guys like each other, and love each other. They work hard every day in practice and we have 12 guys that can play. They don’t care who it is (with the hot hand). Tonight was Rich’s night.”
The Reading Rebels will have a 11-day break as The Basketball League will have its All-Star festivities at Lehigh Valley.
Reading’s next game is against the Virginia Valley Vipers at Alvernia on April 13.
Source: Berkshire mont
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