A horror first quarter proved too much to overcome as the Ballarat Miners fell 10 points short of Mount Gambier at the Minerdome on Saturday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Acting head coach Rob Baker described the start of the South East Australian Basketball League clash as “hugely” disappointing.
“We were just asleep on defence, we didn’t execute what we wanted to and we were lazy,” he said.
“We fixed it up, but when you give a team like Mount Gambier a 21-point head start, you’re going to be working hard to catch back up.”
The Ballarat GMHBA Miners did fire up to win the second and fourth quarters and get within six points in the third term, but were unable to close the gap any further.
Offensively, the Miners were kept to their lowest score of the season with 78 points.
But Ross Weightman provided spark off the bench for the Miners, while Peter Hooley (20 points) and Josh Fox (17 points and 14 rebounds) both made big contributions.
Although the Miners did have a small injury scare with the captain hobbling off the court early in the second quarter after scoring, Hooley returned soon after and hit some crucial three-pointers in the second half.
DETAILS
BALLARAT 16 38 58 78
MOUNT GAMBIER 34 50 71 88
POINTS – Miners: Hooley 20 (4 three-pointers), Fox 17, Usher 16 (3), King-Davis 10, Short 9 (1), Pozoglou 6 (1). Mount Gambier: Thomas 20, Jamieson 17, McDaniel 16 (4), Burdon 15 (3), Marzette 9, Tipene 7 (1), de Wit 4.
REBOUNDS – Miners 43, Mount Gambier 48
ASSISTS – Miners 15, Mount Gambier 20
STEALS – Miners 4, Mount Gambier 6
BLOCKS – Miners 2, Mount Gambier 1
TURNOVERS – Miners 11, Mount Gambier 9
FOULS – Miners 17, Mount Gambier 16
SHOOTING – field goals, Miners 28/69 (40.6%), Mount Gambier 33/79 (41.8%); three-pointers, Miners 9/29 (31%), Mount Gambier 8/31 (25.8%); free throws, Miners 13/20 (65%), Mount Gambier 14/17 (82.4%).
