By Roy Ward
A LAST-quarter fade-out cost Dandenong Rangers men an important South East Australian Basketball League victory on Saturday night.
The Rangers’ 90-73 loss to Kilsyth Cobras at Dandenong Stadium also breathed new life into the Cobras’ season, giving them their third straight win as they battle to climb back into the top four of the SEABL south conference.
The Rangers led by as much as 15 points in the second quarter and again went out to a double-figure lead in the third before the Cobras took control in the last.
Rangers coach Darren Perry was angry with his side after the game as the Rangers went away from their offence in the last quarter, failing to score in the last four minutes of the game. “It’s not that we lost but how we lost that disappoints me. We could never hold onto control of the game.”
Perry said the Rangers now had to step back and work hard on their shortcomings heading into the SEABL play-offs. “You never like to get stung but tonight this loss should sting us.”
Cobras coach Grant Wallace said his side had pulled off a big win but had to stay focused. “We went into this game ranking Dandenong as the best team in the league. They average 95 points a game and we kept them to 73, which is a phenomenal effort.
“What pleased me was that in a lot of our close losses someone would do something stupid like throw the ball away and we would fall like dominoes. This time we stuck together and came back at them.”
Cobras import Garfield Blair was the game high scorer with 23 points and Rangers import Daeqoun Montreal led his side with 21 points. Tony Lewis had 19 points for the Rangers and Andrew Harms had 13 points and 11 assists.
The Rangers will take some success out of the weekend. They beat Mt Gambier 87-70 in Mt Gambier on Friday night.
The Rangers host the Frankston Blues for a special school holidays game at Dandenong Stadium at 8.30pm this Thursday.
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