Ben Louis heads to the basket in Dandenong’s two-point loss to Albury-Wodonga. 96988 Picture: JARROD POTTER
By JARROD POTTER
LAST shot heroics went against Dandenong this week, with their two-point loss to Albury-Wodonga at Wantirna in the SEABL championship match decided in the dying seconds.
THE Rangers lost one of their star imports with two minutes remaining – Daequon Montreal had injured his shoulder following a massive move to the basket and subsequent heavy knock to the floor.
Albury-Wodonga drove the ball back up the court and their star Congolese centre Mohamed Ntumba, pushed hard to dunk over Dandenong centre Tony Lewis, getting the Bandits two points ahead with 14.3 seconds left.
The Bandits had rallied back from an 11-point deficit early in the second quarter to take the narrow lead.
Rangers and Bandits traded baskets before scores levelled with 30.5 seconds remaining.
Dandenong playmaker Andrew Harms was forced wide on the court by Bandits’ guard pair Nick Payne and Jazzmar Ferguson, but Harms found a pass to Dandenong’s star import Tony Lewis who missed the three-point attempt and gave the Bandits a 65-63 victory and their first taste of a SEABL championship.
Dandenong had led for most of the match and forced the Bandits into three-guard defence after Albury centre Ntumba claimed his third foul in the fourth minute of the match.
Lewis (21 points, eight rebounds) and Montreal (14 points, six rebounds) were impressive all match and Harms (five points, 10 rebounds) scrapped out a hard fought battle against Payne and Ferguson.
“It was an interesting match,” Dandenong coach Darren Perry said. “Both teams had advantage at various times and we had some six-seven point leads and tried to make it a 12-14 point lead and probably made some errors trying to do that.
“It comes down to the last shot, sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, but it was a great season for us.”
The result mirrored last week’s amazing last shot win from Dandenong over Geelong, but Perry said it was the best possible way for his side to be beaten, coming down to the final seconds of a fantastic final.
“It’s an exhilarating win when that happens – I expect that Albury Wodonga would be bubbly about being able to defend their lead and stop us scoring,” Perry said.
“If the SEABL season comes down to a play like that with two teams going at it, we’ve got a fantastic product for people to come and see.”
Lewis and Harms made the SEABL All Star Team to cap off an impressive season for both players.
