A PLAYOFF position in the South East Australian Basketball League season looks a more likely proposition for the Mount Gambier Pioneers on the back of a successful double-header road trip to the nation’s capital.
That scenario came after a stunning victory over Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence Friday night, followed by a more comfortable victory over the Canberra Gunners Saturday night.
Both were tough games, but the two-point win over BA CoE came off a two-point jumper from Luke Jamieson with just seconds remaining on the clock.
From there the Pioneers faced Canberra and controlled the game after taking a 15-point advantage to the final break off a big third quarter of basketball, claiming the honours by 12 points.
Friday night saw Mount Gambier on the back foot from the outset, with Sam McDaniel out injured and Tom Daly’s first game back after injury.
The result was a 10-point deficit at the first break.
Daly opened the term with a three-point play, but CoE hit back with a pair of baskets.
Daly returned serve, as did Lewis Thomas, and when Alex Marzette hit back-to-back twos soon after the Pioneers were just six points down.
Thomas drained a three and when Daly stepped up again for another two, the margin had shrunk to just three points.
A Kyle Tipene basket in the final minute of the term saw the margin at two points, but the home side hit back and the Pioneers went to the long break chasing a five-point deficit.
The third term saw an arm wrestle, with the Pioneers again playing catch up, as the home side slipped out to a nine-point advantage late in the quarter.
However, free throws to Marzette and Kane deWit reduced that margin to five at the final break, setting up an exciting final stanza.
And fans were not disappointed, as the game fluctuated throughout, not decided until the final basket just before the buzzer.
Thomas opened the term with a three-point play, after being fouled going to the hoop for a successful basket.
The home side hit back, but Erik Burdon then stepped up with a pair of successful free throws.
CoE again responded and took the lead out to six points, but then it was Daly’s turn at the foul line and he did not disappoint.
A layup to Marzette had the deficit back to two points, but again the home side responded.
With four minutes to play Jamieson hit a three and when Burdon followed suit just 30 seconds later the Pioneers finally grabbed the lead.
Burdon backed up with another triple soon after and it looked as though Mount Gambier had a handle on the contest.
However, CoE responded with a four-point play, after a foul outside the three-point arc.
The arm wrestle continued and another triple to Burdon had the visitors out by six with just two minutes to play.
But with the home-court advantage and the crowd cheering them on, CoE found a way to tie the game up with just five seconds on the clock.
Pioneers’ coach Richard Hill called a time out, drew up a play, which was executed to perfection as Burdon passed to Jamieson for a successful two-point jumper and the game.
Marzette top scored for the Pioneers with 22 points, ahead of Daly and Burdon with 19 each, while Thomas (14) and Jamieson (10) also reached double figures.
Hill said it was a pleasing game to win with a limited roster.
“They came out of the box and knocked down some shots early,” he said.
“We kept getting back in it and they would pull away again, but we could not quite bridge the gap.
“We caught fire in the last quarter – Eze (Erik Burdon) got on a roll and knocked down a couple of threes, Luke knocked down a three and we made some really big plays.
“They fought back again and made a two to tie it up.
“We were able to advance the ball, the boys executed a pretty good play and Luke knocked down a two to win the game.
“It was one of those we got right in the last little bit.”
From there the Pioneers faced Canberra on Saturday night and controlled much of the game after an early battle.
For half a game the Gunners kept pace, trailing by just six points at the long break.
However, from there the Pioneers stepped up the pressure, with 26 third-quarter points, while holding the home side to just 17.
That would make the difference in the end, with the Pioneers then able to control the contest in the final term.
Daly and Burdon were both prominent in the third quarter, with the former finding 10 points, while the latter hit back-to-back threes early to spark the side up and finish the term with eight points.
The final stanza saw a big defensive effort from both sides, with just 26 points scored between the two.
But by then the Pioneers had done enough to keep their season alive for yet another week.
Daly topped the score sheets for the Pioneers with 23 points, ahead of Marzette with 22, while Thomas rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12.
Hill said the side struggled early in its sixth game in 15 days.
“When you have limited numbers of guys they play heavy minutes and were pretty sore,” he said.
“We were a bit slow to get started and Canberra were up for the game.
“We got away in the third quarter and got it out to 15, but we were running on fumes in the last quarter.
“But we did not stop defending and were able to keep them to a low score.”
While the two wins place the Pioneers one step closer to a playoff berth, Hill said it was likely they would need to win the remaining three games to have a chance.
With the competition so close from fifth place right through to 10th, there was every likelihood of the bottom half of the top eight would all finish on the same number of wins.
Hill said it is simply a matter of winning every game from here.
