By Marcus Uhe
A 9-0 scoring run in the final quarter has helped the Casey Cavaliers men to their third win of the campaign and end a five-game losing streak on Saturday night.
Still missing Preston Bungei and Malcolm Bernard, a monster stat-line from Sidy Djitte powered the undermanned side to a gritty 64-72 win over Kilsyth on the road.
The offence ran through Djitte at stages early in the contest as he scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds to open the contest.
The big centre played with his back to the basket and used his size to force opponents under the rim, while also bailing the Cavs out of a poor possession with a long jump shot at the end of the shotclock.
The first half was a tight affair, with no side able to build a lead larger than Casey’s of six points during the second term.
The Cavs have been the lowest scoring side in the competition after seven rounds and their difficulty in putting the ball in the hoop was rubbing off on their opponents, as they closed the half at 39-40 in the home side’s advantage.
They opened the third quarter by scoring the first eight points, not allowing the Cobras see the ball hit net until free throws in the fourth minute of the quarter.
But they relinquished their nine-point lead just as quickly as they achieved it, going on a scoreless run of their own in the final four minutes of the third quarter.
It meant the final period begun with the Cavs holding just a three point lead.
A tense opening to the last term saw only two made field goals each in the first three minutes, with Kilsyth even missing a pair of free throws that would have cut the lead to one.
With the game in a precarious position with four minutes remaining, Casey kicked their defence into overdrive.
A Hamish McDonald layup with 4.43 remaining was Kilsyth’s last field goal until 1.20 remaining, while Casey went on the 9-0 run.
A pair of Nathan Frost layups, a three to Mason Perry and two free throws for Djitte pushed the margin to 13 in the blink of an eye, putting the game out of reach for the home side.
Djitte finished the contest with 21 points on 69 per cent shooting and 19 rebounds.
His shooting efficiency reflected the team’s performance, as the Cavs finished with considerable advantages in three-point field goal (29 per cent) and free throw (47 per cent) efficiency numbers.
Significantly, the Cavs played with just seven active members on their roster, compared to the Cobras’ nine.
Where Casey’s men came up big when it mattered, the women did not fare as well.
A neck-and-neck contest all day saw the two sides tied on 60 with 30 seconds left, thanks to a layup to Stephanie Blicavs.
But Kilsyth’s Alisia Jenkins answered immediately to restore the two point lead with 25 seconds left.
On the next possession, Rachel Bell spun and drove to the rim but had her shot blocked out of bounds.
Blicavs was unable to find a teammate on the inbounds pass as Jenkins got her arms into the passing lane to disrupt the play.
Casey’s Taylah Simmons came desperately close to poking the ball away from Alexa Hart on the next play, but her foul gifted the Cobras two critical free-throws that made the contest a two-possession game.
Bell attempted to draw a foul on the final shot heave, but was unsuccessful as the final buzzer sounded, with Casey going down 64-60.
Bell topscored with 22 points but needed more support from her teammates, as only two others scored in double figures.
Despite the win, Casey’s men remain 18th, as do the women.
Ballarat will make the trip down the Western Highway to Casey Stadium next weekend.
