The Albury-Wodonga Bandits dropped a pulsating, free-flowing contest to the Bendigo Braves on Saturday night, missing a chance to consolidate top spot in the SEABL’s South Conference.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More than 800 fans — Albury’s largest SEABL attendance since the Lady Bandits’ debut game in 2006 — packed the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and both teams didn’t disappoint.
Braves forward Adam Tanner nailed a corner three-pointer with 13.9 seconds remaining to seal a 91-87 win over a Bandits outfit that blew multiple chances for victory.
Jazz Ferguson led the way for Albury-Wodonga with 20 points while captain Nick Payne added an efficient 19.
Coach Brad Chalmers admitted “mental lapses” cost the Bandits dearly, firstly giving up a 15-point, second-quarter lead and then especially with late-game execution.
“There was an element of not closing the deal,” Chalmers said.
“We got back to even at three-quarter-time, went back and forth a little bit and I think both teams made some dumb decisions, but when you’re down by a point, you get one play and one play is it.
“Fundamentally, at times tonight, we just switched off a little bit.
“It’s tough to swallow when you perform and execute pretty well with all your statistical categories and get beaten, they’re the ones that are a tough pill to swallow.”
Braves coach Ben Harvey acknowledged his import duo of Daniel Horton (25 points) and Deilvez Yearby (19), along with NBL forward Tom Garlepp (25), got the visitors over the line.
“Our big three, as we like to call them, were definitely great for us,” Harvey said.
“It was a big game for us; we lost to Geelong on Friday night and we came out hungry.
“It was anyone’s game and it came down to the wire but there was a fantastic crowd here and it’s great to see.”
Defence from both teams was at a premium in the first half as the visitors reeled back a 43-28 deficit to 49-47 before the long interval.
The Bandits opened the second half with a thunderous Momo Ntumba slam but 13 points from Kevin Probert staked the Braves to a nine-point lead with four minutes remaining in the third.
Of greater concern for the Bandits was foul trouble to Ntumba, who picked up a fourth foul late in the period as the Border outfit battled back to a 74-74 tie.
The Braves started the final term more convincingly but consecutive threes from Payne cut the margin to just one, before Ferguson nailed a floater to give the Bandits the lead.
But Yearby hit back twice in succession to reclaim the advantage for Bendigo.
Another big dunk from Ben Hollis got the Bandits back within one point before both teams missed multiple chances, setting the stage for Tanner’s heroics.
