By Roy Ward
DANDENONG Rangers coach Darren Perry has applauded his players’ poise after an upset win over Knox Raiders at Dandenong Stadium on Thursday night.
The Rangers prevailed in a special school holidays clash 87-84 but had to fight hard as the Raiders came back from 12 points down to take the lead with three minutes remaining.
After trailing 71-59 going into the final term, the Raiders fought back and took the lead behind the play of John Philip (20 points) and Lester Strong (18 points, nine rebounds, four blocks).
Earlier in the final term Strong had scored a layup as the shot clock expired and was fouled on the play, leaving the Rangers players incensed as the referees gave Strong the points despite the ball appearing to still be in his hand as the shot clock expired.
On another night the Rangers may have lost their composure after such a decision, but instead the side rallied.
Just as the Raiders took the lead, the home side battled back with point guard Andrew Harms (23 points) making a teardrop, then some clutch free throws to give his side a three-point lead with 11 seconds left.
CJ Massingale (19 points, nine rebounds), who had a quiet night, was left with the tying three-point shot, which just missed, handing the Rangers a surprising win. Rangers import Tony Lewis had his best game for the club, scoring 21 points.
Perry said his young side had hung tough and had shown a major improvement from a heavy loss to the Raiders in round 1.
“You want to be in those pressure situations at the end of games against good sides like Knox,” Perry said. “We knew they were going to come back at us and we stayed with it and made shots at the end.”
Raiders coach Graham Longstaff also commended the Rangers on their defence, which limited the usually potent Raiders offence.
“We didn’t have a good night offensively,” Longstaff said. “But credit to Darren [Perry] and his team, they played terrific defence and that was a factor.”
Knox Raiders won their SEABL women’s clash against Dandenong Rangers 65-54 on Thursday night.
New recruit Kelly Wilson, who plays for WNBL side Bendigo Spirit, continued her stellar start to the season with 30 points and nine rebounds while Odette Andrew added 11 points. Rangers forward Clare Papavs led her side with 14 points.
For more pictures from the Rangers-Raiders women’s clash click on multimedia gallery link above right.
