Braves Men run out of luck in another close finish

Lady Luck was with the Bendigo Bank Braves last week when they beat Casey with the last shot of the game. This week, the Goddess of Fortune must have broken down on the Calder Highway on her way to Red Energy Arena.

An injury in the warm-up to leading scorer Rowan Mackenzie, shots seemingly constantly rimming out, and tough calls during big moments all resulted in a 78-81 loss in overtime to the Nunawading Spectres on Sunday afternoon.  

Superstition aside, it was yet another game when Bendigo impressively dug deep, and nearly pulled off a remarkable victory.

A strong start saw Bendigo up 20-16 at quarter time, with the injured Mackenzie gritting it out for six first-term points and Billy Smythe again starting brilliantly under the rim at both ends.

Bendigo pushed its lead out to eight early in the second, with Nunawading’s intense defensive pressure pulling Bendigo’s lead back to just one at the main break.

The game was physical from the start, with both teams’ defenses making every shot a tough one.

Bendigo’s defensive pressure went to the next level in the third quarter, with Mackenzie again finding the determination to lead the Braves to a six-point lead going into the final change,

Mackenzie’s body finally gave out in the last quarter, as Nunawading took the lead midway into the term.

But, yet again, Bendigo’s young stars, led by Lachie O’Brien, Smythe, and Andrew Robinson, rose to take the game into overtime, before going down in yet another physical stanza.

O’Brien ended the game with 18 points, Robinson 14, Koch Bar 13, and Mackenzie 12 from only 21 minutes.

“That’s the ebb and flow of the season. We got the perfect end of it last week, but this week we didn’t,” coach Stephen Black said.

“At the end of the day we want to feel like we made enough plays, and we think we made enough plays,

“I was incredibly proud of that game and what they put into it.

“I am really enjoying the challenge at the moment, and loving what everyone is bringing, win or lose.”

Black praised O’Brien and Mackenzie, the former continuing his amazing year with key steals and forced turnovers, as well as silky finishing.

“Lachie is one of those kids we said we had belief in, and yet again he rewarded that belief. He is going to be a massive creator for us,” he said.

“When Rowan went down, we put a lot of emphasis on Lachie, and he stepped up to the plate. Lots of players stepped up to the plate today.

 “Rowan is such a great human and wanted to do everything he possibly could for us today

“At the end of the day he physically didn’t have anything left, but I couldn’t have been prouder of his dedication.

“This team is playing with confidence and with dedication to the things we are trying to achieve.”

Photo - Akuna Photgraphy