THE short-handed Albury-Wodonga Bandits lurched to another home defeat on Saturday night, falling 93-77 to the resurgent Mount Gambier Pioneers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sitting dead last in the South Conference with a 3-7 record, the reigning SEABL champions now have an increasingly steep climb to get back into playoff contention.
Without injured all-star centre Momo Ntumba on Saturday night, the Border club struggled to score and was erratic on defence as the Pioneers largely did as they liked for most of the game.
With five NBL-experienced players and a talented import, Mount Gambier played smart, consistent basketball to build a 22-point lead after three quarters as it kept its lead at the top of the South Conference standings.
Bandits coach Brad Chalmers admitted his team was far too passive for too long and paid the price.
“We had some good patches and then we had some more patches where we were just poor,” Chalmers said.
“We had to make some adjustments, but we missed too many sitters.
“As the game progressed, there were patches where it was effort, the intensity wasn’t there.
“And that’s disappointing, we know where we need to be with that.”
The Pioneers were paced by Brad Hill and Erik Burdon’s 20 points apiece, while athletic import Titus Robinson and pivot Ben Allen added 18 and 15 points respectively.
For Albury-Wodonga, Alex Opacic top-scored with 24 points while import Eric Vann was again erratic, misfiring on 14 of his 20 attempts on his way to 18 points.
Forward Ben Hollis was rewarded with a game-high 20 rebounds, including eight at the offensive end.
A fast start from the visitors saw the Pioneers jump out to a 13-4 lead, with the Bandits missing several easy opportunities to stay close.
The insertion of Michael Watson helped the Bandits close the gap but Mount Gambier still looked dangerous as it skipped to a 27-18 lead.
It was more of the same in the second as the Pioneers moved the ball crisply to take a deserved 50-34 advantage into the long intermission.
Whatever the Bandits tried in the third quarter simply didn’t work as the visitors overwhelmed their hosts with superior offensive execution.
The Pioneers took a 75-53 lead into the final stanza and the Bandits had little but pride to play for.
And while the Border outfit won the final quarter, it was too little, too late as the South Australian club ensured the defending title-holder continued its haphazard start to the season.