THE Mount Gambier Pioneers almost squandered a 28-point half-time lead against the Geelong Supercats who clawed their way back into the game and almost ran over the top of the home side in the dying moments at the Icehouse on Friday night.
The Supercats managed to get within four points of the hosts with less than a minute remaining in the Round 12 game of South East Australian basketball.
However, the Pioneers proved why they are a championship team and extended the lead back out to 10 when it mattered most to hold a double-digit lead by the final siren.
Geelong sits third in the East Conference competition, but gave the top team a shake-up with a second-half comeback.
Pioneers’ Erik Burdon stole the show with 27 points, which included six three-pointers and 100pc accuracy from the free-throw line.
Daniel Alexander was also in his usual form, managing a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds for the game, while close behind was captain Tom Daly with 18 points.
Mount Gambier started well with Luke Jamieson sinking a shot from down-town to hand the Pioneers the early lead.
Burdon soon chipped in, making his two free-throws to spark what was an impressive night for the outside shooter.
The ball was put back into the faithful hands of Burdon who had a hot hand, adding another three points to the host’s tally.
Halfway through the opening term the Pioneers held a 10-point lead and looked as though they had control of the match.
They continued to out-play Geelong to sit ahead by 14 in what was a high-scoring first quarter.
The dominance continued into the second term with Kane DeWit making an impact with a score from downtown.
Jack Madgen then chipped into the scoreboard before Jamieson gave the crowd something to cheer about with a dunk.
Burdon made another from the three-point line and Mount Gambier was ahead by 24 points.
The Supercats’ Nathan Herbert was doing his best to keep the visitors in touch, but another shot from down-town – sunk by Burdon – put the game well and truly into the favour of the hosts.
A foul on Burdon from the three-point line with two seconds remaining took him to the line.
Proving his form he sunk all three shots to hand Mount Gambier a 28-point lead at the long break.
Pioneers entered the final half with confidence, but Geelong had no intentions on letting the game slip.
The lead reduced back to 13 – at the five-minute mark – as Mount Gambier was yet to score.
However, Alexander proved his 2017 form, finding his way to the basket to hold off a fast and now confident Geelong outfit.
The Supercats trailed by 15 at the final break.
Mount Gambier held off the charging Supercats for the opening six minutes of the quarter and extended the lead out to 18 before Geelong clawed back.
A dominant three minutes brought the deficit back to four points and the Pioneers’ fans were on the edge of their seats.
Daly was fouled with 35 seconds remaining, but only made one of his shots from the foul line to bring the difference out to five.
But Burdon showed his confidence and drove to the basket to draw the foul.
His accuracy was still on point, sinking the two free-throws in the high-pressured situation.
Mount Gambier’s defensive pressure intensified, while Brad Hill came to play when it mattered, drawing the foul to make three-from-four from the line and take the lead out to 10 by the final siren.
Pioneers’ coach Richard Hill said while the side had a pleasing first half he was disappointed in the final result.
“We played as well as we could in the first half,” he said.
“We had 76 points at half time and I am figuring that is probably a record, well in my time we haven’t done that.
“But on the other hand we also had a quarter where we scored six.
“That is quite a remarkable turnaround and shows there is a fine line between being very good and very bad.”
Hill was proud of Burdon’s efforts in the first half where he contributed solidly to the big score on the board.
“He had a great game, he scored 27 points in 20 minutes of play and defended exceptionally well.”
While the Pioneers’ attacking intensity had gone missing in the second half, Hill said it was pleasing to see the side step up defensively.
Mount Gambier held Geelong to less points in the third and fourth quarter as opposed to the opening half, but could not score itself.
“I think some credit has to go to Geelong, they picked up their defensive intensity and applied pressure to the ball, which had us second-guessing,” Hill said.
“Once we started to get some self doubt we struggled a bit.”
With the season well over half way, Hill said it was pleasing to see his side step up in the dying moments of the game to ensure they took the points.
“The margin was back to four with just 40 seconds to go,” he said.
“We had three defensive possessions in that period of time and we were able to get three stops.
“We were able to execute our play and get the ball to the right people to take the margin from four to 10.
“Regardless of what happens during a game you need to be able to close it out and we did a good job of that.”
Meanwhile, the Pioneers will be in pink this weekend, hosting Ballarat on Saturday night for their breast cancer fundraiser match at the Icehouse for Round 13 of the competition.
