By ROY WARD
DANDENONG Rangers found their defence mindset just in time to earn a first-up win against reigning South East Australian Basketball League men’s champions Albury-Wodonga Bandits on Saturday night.
The Rangers scored a 96-87 win over the Bandits, who unfurled their 2012 championship banner in front of more than 1000 supporters at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre in Albury.
Daequon Montreal led the Rangers with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists while Brent Hobba had 21 points and Tony Lewis 19 points and 10 rebounds.
New Bandits import guard Eric Vann led his side with 20 points.
Rangers coach Darren Perry said his side defended with great intent after half-time.
“It was 54-53 at half-time. It was just a scoring battle and neither side was getting it done defensively,” Perry said.
“We got our defence going in the second half and making that shift in defence after half-time made all the difference, as every group we put out there did the job for us.”
Perry was also happy his side could score an away win without athletic forward Owen Odigie, who is still recovering from injury and should return after Easter, while point guard Lucas Barker, who is playing division 2 college ball in America, is expected to join the side when he returns home in May.
Odigie is doing non-contact training and could begin full scrimmages this week if he gets the all clear from his doctor.
“It’s going to be a long season so this game was a good starting point to get our shots up and get started,” Perry said.
“We also had 20 assists as a team, which shows we are starting to look for each other in good spots, but overall it was pleasing to be able to clamp down on them in the second half.”
The Rangers men host Mt Gambier at Dandenong Stadium this Saturday at 7.30pm.
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