Creon calls on Heat to step up

Guildford coach Creon Raftopoulos wants his side to step up and get their play-off chase back on track, following last weekend’s disappointing home loss to Mersey Tigers.

The Heat lost their one win cushion in 8th place, with Cheshire Jets joining them on five wins, while Sunday’s result also re-ignited Mersey’s play-off push.

A sloppy first half performance was ultimately the catalyst for the 82-77 home defeat, and Raftopoulous was not happy.

He said: “We might have only lost by only five to the Tigers but this was probably our flattest performance this season.

“The Tigers wanted it more and it showed in all the hustle columns on the stat sheet. Our first quarter shooting display of nine percent from the field was a succession of missed lay ups.

“We also made rookie mistakes by not playing to the whistle when we felt obvious fouls were not called.

“Our fans deserve a lot better and we know we need to step up big time to make the play-offs.”

Guildford travel to Sheffield on Friday (7.30pm) with both teams hoping to put disappointing weekends behind them.

Heat can move within one win of the Sharks if they are able to pick up the points on Friday night.