By JARROD POTTER
SEABL – ROUND 11
ONCE again, as has happened many times before, Dandenong and Albury-Wodonga took their SEABL encounter down to the wire.
The Rangers’ deja vu of last-second defeats against the Bandits was dragged back to the surface after the Bandits’ had a late-game possession only one score down.
Albury-Wodonga’s Deba George had the chance to tie the match with 19 seconds left and his last-second lay-up bobbled and fell … into the hands of Andrew Harms.
The Rangers’ guard clamped down on the rebound and sunk the ensuing free throws from a foul to guarantee Dandenong would take the hard-fought 80-76 win.
It was a match that had it all – power-packed offences going blow for blow and just as oppressive defensive efforts as neither side could really take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Despite pushing the gap out to 10 in the first half, Dandenong couldn’t keep Albury-Wodonga at arm’s length for long as the Bandits’ charged back time and time again.
The first tipping point happened half way through the third when the Rangers’ Dwayne Campbell was sent sliding across the court by Bandits’ star Cory Dixon (15 points, six rebounds). The Northwestern State alumnus was forced from the game with five fouls, taking away one of the visitors’ major offensive weapons.
Fouls would dog the Bandits throughout the clash as George (16 points, eight rebounds) and Donte Nicholas (23 points) precariously fought in the final quarter as the penalties amassed.
The third quarter belonged to Rangers’ forward Lucas Walker (21 points, 13 rebounds) who tested the Bandits at both ends with a spree of score involvements giving Dandenong the edge headed into the last term.
But despite the Dandenong forward pushing ahead and the loss of Dixon, the Bandits levelled the scores 61-apiece through George and Nicholas heading into the last.
Daequon Montreal (19 points, nine rebounds) – from only 7/21 from the field – stood up in the fourth as he smashed down a long-range three in the first eight seconds before rattling off a couple of crucial free throws.
Both sides squandered the chance to finish it from outside the arc in the dying minutes and Montreal missed two free throws to give the ball back with the scores at 78-76.
From there George held the Bandits’ fate, but couldn’t connect on the shot when it mattered most.
“We have lots of times (been in close games against Albury-Wodonga) – it always comes down to it and all those situations remind you of other situations,” Dandenong coach Darren Perry said. “We were in that situation against them up there and they made the plays and we didn’t … so it was nice to turn those tables.”
Perry praised Walker’s mixed offence – staying back to hit his jump shots or attacking the ring – and thinks it’s part of Dandenong’s strong, varied attack.
“He’s hard to handle when he gets a little bit of space going to the basket,” Perry said.
“We’re trying to keep avenues to the basket open and trying to play inside and out – when we do it well it looks good, then we have patches where we go to the perimeter a bit.
“There were lots of things to like about today (Sunday) – as coaches we always focus on things we need to do better, but I thought the guys shared the ball a lot and contributions from the bench again helped us out and it’s great when we get that.”
Dandenong heads to Mt Gambier on Friday night to face the SEABL South Conference’s top-ranked side so taking the win over high-ranking Bandits was worth its weight in gold.
“There are four sides within half a game of each other with a couple of sides still trying to get in there – so it’s great to get these wins,” Perry said. “We’re going to Mt Gambier this week – that’s going to be tough – but a good chance for us to get that win.”
