Bendigo home in a thriller

The Bendigo Bank Braves Men returned to the winner’s list in thrilling style at Red Energy Arena on Saturday night.

Taking on fourth-placed Kilsyth, coach Stephen Black asked for a lift in intensity from his chargers, and he got it from the very first play.

Bendigo set the pace early, jumping out to an 8-2 lead, and all looked rosey. However Kilsyth had other plans, and with just under five minutes to go in the first quarter, Bendigo was down 10-17.

As they would do all game, Bendigo rallied, holding a 25-23 lead at the first break.

Bendigo’s lead eked out to five by half time, but the zone defense of Kilsyth was making it anyone’s game.

Again, Bendigo fought back, pushing their lead out to 74-66 at the final break on the back of an impressive quarter from Lat Mayen, Bijan Johnson, and Adam Pechacek.

However, that lead didn’t last long either, and the game was slipping away from the Braves. With 1.31m to play, Bendigo was down by seven, and all seemed lost.

Then two buckets in a row from Johnson had Bendigo down by only three.

On the inbound, Johnson drew an offensive foul that resulted in a game-tying three from Mayen.

Good hustle defense meant a missed shot from Kilsyth, before a Mayen three-point attempt with three seconds to go was fouled, sending him to the line.

Mayen hit two of this three shots, forcing a long last-second attempt from Kilsyth that finished way short, Bendigo running out winners 94-92 in front of a large and noisy home crowd.

Pechacek top-scored with 27 points and 11 rebounds in his best performance of the year.

Johnson (26), Mayen (17), and Luke Rosendale (10) were the next best. Also of note was quality minutes from young guns Isaac Murphy, Dylan McAuley, and Lachlan Sommerville.

Black praised his team’s intensity and resilience.

“The energy was high from the start. Kilsyth is a very hard working, scrappy, and physical team that has been very successful in the past few years, so we new Saturday would be a big challenge,” he said.

“To be able to match them physically and play as hard as we did for as long as we did was very pleasing.

“We have been focusing on staying together and working through tough times, and we got to see that resilience on show on the weekend.”

Black said both his experienced and young players came through when it mattered.

“Big players make big plays and Lat and BJ (Johnson) did that for us, and a few things went our way towards the end,” he said.

“Lachie delivered on the night with another opportunity. His energy, speed, and pressure on the ball was exactly what we were looking for.

“Dylan also had a great game, with stops and offensive finishes.

“They both see Murph as a role model, they play without ego, and they do everything they need to help the team win.

“They have come ahead in leaps and bounds again this season.”

Photo- Craig Dilks Photography