THE Albury-Wodonga Bandits made history on Saturday night.
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Though they fell to the Bendigo Braves in overtime 108-105, they walked away victorious after North-West Tasmania's loss to Nunawading sealed the club's first back-to-back finals appearance since 1988.
It was a wild night for Bandits fans, who were treated to an absolute spectacle against the Braves.
The home team shook off a dicey start to take the fight to the Eastern conference leaders.
Down by six at the half, the Bandits came out with renewed intent in the third quarter.
They ratcheted up the defensive intensity and refused to let the Braves pull away, while cutting the margin back to three at the last break.
The Braves proved why they topped the Eastern conference early in the final quarter, pulling away to a nine-point lead and threatening to take the game away.
But Donte Nicholas, Clay McMath and Greg Mays all stepped up in response, producing clutch plays to trail by three with less than a minute to play.
Enter Deba George.
The fortitude we showed was really pleasing, to fight back after going nine points down and give ourselves a chance was really good.
- Brad Chalmers
The enigmatic guard produced arguably his best performance of the season, nailing a three-point play and then a clutch shot from downtown with three seconds on the clock to force overtime.
While it simply wasn't to be in the extra five minutes, coach Brad Chalmers said the performance proved the Bandits deserved their place in the playoffs.
“We played as well as we could play and I'm really happy with that, it gives us a bit of momentum with our energy levels ahead of next week,” he said.
“We did a lot of things right, so I'm disappointed for them in that sense.
“We stayed with it all night, I thought it was great.
“The fortitude we showed at times to dig in was really pleasing, to fight back after going nine points down, get it close and give ourselves a chance was really good.”
Though satisfied with his team's performance, Chalmers said he was frustrated by a number of big calls from the referees late in the game.
A charge foul against McMath on a shot that would have put the Bandits in front drew the ire of the home crowd with 24 seconds of overtime to play.
“Some horrible calls at the end, to be on our home court and get that sort of thing ruins the game,” he said.
“It's unacceptable, and I'm sick of it really.
“Those guys need to be accountable for it.
“But it's just one of those things, we played as well as we could play and the boys gave it all, so I was really happy in that sense.”
George put some shooting woes earlier in the season behind him to finish with 31 points at 59 per cent, along with eight rebounds and six assists, while Nicholas banked 24 points and Mays finished with 26.
