Mohawks dropped to ninth in the table after losing a low-scoring game 65-59 against Worthing Thunder
Karen Brown 
Jorge Ebanks in action for Tees Valley Mohawks against Worthing Thunder
Tees Valley Mohawks coach Steve Butler couldn’t conceal his disappointment after his play-off chasing side dropped potentially crucial home points.
Butler’s side had returned to form in impressive fashion to ignite their bid for a place in the end-of-season EBL National League Division One play-offs.
But they dropped to ninth in the table after losing a low-scoring game 65-59 against Worthing Thunder at Teesside University’s Olympia Building in Middlesbrough.
Mohawks couldn’t seem to get out of the blocks early on as Worthing went into a quick 8-2 lead.
The gap increased to 18-4 after five-minutes but Butler’s side ended the first quarter with the score standing at 18-9 to the visitors.
Missed lay-ups, turnovers and forced shots by the hosts allowed Worthing to extend their lead still further in the second period with Terrell Bell dominating under the boards and scoring around the basket.
Mohawks managed to get to double figures in the quarter only just and they went into the locker trailing 38-19.
They enjoyed a better third period and started to accumulate points but were unable to stop the flow at the other end of the court.
They lost the quarter narrowly 19-18 then started the final session looking like a new team.
They scored freely through Tyrone Nelson, Jorge Ebanks and Alex Greven.
And they finally started to defend well with Worthing rushing and losing their composure.
Their improvement looked like it might pay off with the deficit down to just a single point with two minutes of the game remaining.
Tom Ward hit a big basket for Thunder but with just 24 seconds left Mohawks had the ball to tie it up.
However a turnover cost them dearly as Worthing hit the free throws to win by six points.
“I’m so disappointed as we need to win our home games,” said Butler.
“We played well for 12 minutes. We were terrible in the first half and eight minutes into the second half we looked out of sorts, not like the team that had just beaten the league leaders the previous weekend.
“Worthing played well but we can’t just not turn up for a whole half and expect to win a Division One ball game.
“I know my squad is better than we showed against Worthing but we need to address this in training and get back to what was working well over the last couple of weeks.”
Mohawks have two chances to get back to winning ways this weekend.
On Saturday they visit Bradford Dragons and on Sunday launch their new Middlesbrough College partnership with a home clash against Leeds Carnegie.
Tip-off is 3pm at Middlesbrough College and a carnival atmosphere is expected with music, dance performances and shoot-out competitions.
Four local schools will be attending to boost the attendance.
Ticket prices are £4 adults and £2.50 children with a family ticket discount of £10 for two adults and two children.
There was double disappointment for the Mohawks at the weekend as their second team lost 102-78 at home to Rossendale Raptors in a bottom versus top Division Three (North) clash.
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