By Trevor Jackson
THE Mount Gambier Pioneers men were in ominous form on the weekend when they hit the road for two games in Round 3 of the NBL1 South season.
It was a dominant display of basketball on Saturday night, as the Pioneers easily accounted for Casey Cavaliers, with a 117-80 win.
It was the perfect result for long-time Pioneer Erik “Eze” Burdon who racked up his 250th game for the club.
Despite the absence of Tom Daly for another round, the Pioneers were simply too strong in the opening half, with a 32-point lead at the main break.
From there the scoring dried up somewhat but they still managed to win the final two terms for the dominant victory.
Michael Harris was again in fine touch, with 34 points and eight rebounds, while Nick Marshall returned to the floor after pulling up early last round with cramps.
He showed little effect and drained 24 points, plus eight rebounds, while Jordan Rawls also finished with 24.
Tom Kubank rounded out the double-figures scorers with 17 and nine rebounds.
Sunday’s clash against the Dandenong Rangers began in similar fashion, with the Pioneers the dominant side in the opening term.
Marshall was in good touch yet again, with 10 points racked up by the first break, to give the Pioneers a handy nine-point advantage.
The Pioneers struggled to contain the Rangers in the second term, as the home side kept in touch and closed the margin slightly.
Mid-way through the term the margin had shrunk to just three points, with a couple of Mount Gambier errors and three-point bombs that refused to drop.
With two minutes remaining in the term just four points separated the two sides, with the Pioneers up but time out was called by coach Richard Hill to settle the side.
By the long break Dandenong had closed the margin to five points to set up an exciting last half.
The third term went the way of the Rangers, as the home side won the term 30-19.
That put Dandenong up by six points and it began to look too tough for the Pioneers.
However, mid-way through the term scores were level as the Pioneers made a run.
With two minutes to play the margin had stretched out to 10 points in favour of the Pioneers and it appeared the win was at hand.
Dandenong refused to go away and pushed the Pioneers right to the final whistle but in the end Mount Gambier remained undefeated with a 99-89 victory.
Marshall was again impressive with 35 points and 13 rebounds, while Harris and Kubank finished with 17 points each.
Jordan Rawls and Erik Burdon contributed 11 points each.
For coach Richard Hill it was the perfect result but he said it did not reflect the ability of the two sides, with Casey missing three starters due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We played great but it wasn’t a reflection of their team,” he said.
“They were missing some keys guys but we have our share of bad luck this season.
“We were well prepared and ready to play hard.”
In contrast, Sunday produced a win Hill said probably should have gone the other way.
With Kubank fouled out early in the final term, Kane deWit injured, plus Marshall and Harris both on four fouls in the third term, all looked bleak for the Pioneers.
“They were up 11 with about three minutes to go in the third quarter, then we got it back to six,” Hill said.
“We just played an unbelievably good last quarter.
“It’s hard to know why because they were all over us.
“Kurt (Russell) and I were looking at each other and wondering what to do.
“We made a couple of adjustments but really the players just found something.
“It was a very gutsy win.”
After Harris claimed NBL1 South player of the week last round, this week the honours went to Marshall.
Considering the side is still waiting for an import player to arrive, plus with Daly out of action, the results have been quite impressive.
But it does not get any easier, as the Pioneers face another tough weekend ahead, with two games across the border against Ringwood Hawks and Keilor Thunder.
Hill said if the Pioneers can split the weekend and claim one win it would be a good result.
“If we can win them both it will be massive,” he said.
“To be 6-0 for the season would be great.”
