TWO hundred and eighty-seven seconds is a long time to go without scoring in a basketball game.
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The Albury-Wodonga Bandits paid dearly for such an offensive debacle against Canberra at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre last night.
Not bothering the scorers for almost five minutes to open the game, the Border club was forced to play catch-up against an improved Gunners outfit.
And while a 28-point margin was pulled back to eight in the second half, the damage had been done in an eventual 95-69 defeat.
It leaves the Bandits teetering at 2-6 with a tough trip to Ballarat tomorrow that could well decide its playoff hopes.
The home side never came to terms with Canberra’s triple threat of Daniel Joyce (31 points), former Bandits star Jeff Dowdell (23) and import Camontae Griffin (15).
Eric Vann top-scored for the Bandits with 25 points but had precious little offensive help, with only Alex Opacic (15) getting into double digits.
Nick Payne, in his record-equalling 302nd Bandits match, missed all 11 of his shot attempts, finishing with just seven points, all on free throws.
Bandits coach Brad Chalmers said such a poor start — and a poor finish — was inexcusable.
“It just sucks the life out of you,” Chalmers said.
“We had patches where we fought to get back in the game but then another two-minute spurt at the end where we had poor defensive transitions and it’s all over.
“It was disappointing at the end, there was a bit of quitting going on, dropping heads and guys getting selfish about who’s doing what.
“Tonight showed a bit about them, we’ve got some guys right now who aren’t playing well, horrendous shooting and the 1 per cent things just aren’t getting done.”
The Gunners started the game in blazing fashion, racing to a 12-0 leadand finishing the term with an unfathomable 38-13 advantage.
The Gunners finally cooled off in the second and the Bandits grimly worked their way back, reducing the margin to a more manageable 56-41 by the main interval.
The margin was back to single digits in the third but trailing 71-63 with under 10 minutes to play, the Bandits inexplicably fell asleep defensively, allowing Canberra to extend out to 79-63 and slam the door shut on any hopes of a miracle comeback.
