The visitors fell to Bendigo 96-85 on Saturday after scoring a thrilling one-point win over Geelong on Friday.

The Braves skipped to a 10-point lead at quarter-time, with the teams evenly matched from there.

“We sort of shot ourselves in the foot with early foul trouble, putting themselves on the (free throw) line that first quarter,” Bandits’ Joel Spear said. “I think for the most part of the game we played all right, towards the end we were quite patchy in stretches through the last quarter. It’s a game of runs, and they just made a run at the right time.”

Dyami Starks (28 points) and Charles Aiken (24) proved difficult to stop.

“That’s what happens when players get hot,” Spear said. “They just start taking plays and they’re two good players. We’ve got to have a better effort collectively to try and stop players getting on those streaks.”

The Bandits also struggled with their three-point shooting, hitting only five from 20.

“We’ve got a team full of shooters and the coach wants us to shoot our open shots,” Spear said. “We’re not going to knock back opportunities like we had, so we’re just going to keep letting them fly and if they fall they fall and if they don’t, we’ve got to try and make it up in other areas of the game in defence and try and get possession that way.”

US import TJ Robinson continued his outstanding start with 20 points.

“TJ’s an awesome player, you know what you’re going to get from him night in, night out,” Spear said. “He always crashes the boards hard and finishes a lot under the rim.”

The Bandits now sit fifth in their conference with a two-three win-loss record.

They will host Hobart on Saturday night and, given the club will have then played five of its six games at home, a win is imperative.

“It’s a huge game, we have to get the win,” Spear said. “Three-three would be a good start with the teams that we have played in Mount Gambier, Bendigo and Nunawading, all strong teams, and Hobart’s another strong team. If we get this win it would be a huge step forward for us.”