THE Kennedy’s Tours Shoalhaven Tigers suffered their second straight Waratah League division one defeat on Saturday, losing 81-70 to the Bankstown Bruins.
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After losing to Canberra the week before, Ian Ozolins’ troops were keen to return to the winner’s circle at the Bankstown Basketball Stadium – but as hard as they fought, they couldn’t get over the line.
“We started strongly, jumping out to a 8-nil advantage early, forcing them to a call a time-out,” Ozolins said.
“We managed to keep that margin for most of the match, playing some of the best team basketball we’ve played together all year.
“That was until the last two minutes, which is up their with the most frustrating basketball I’ve ever been apart of.”
During this period, the Tigers struggled to score but that wasn’t the main issue.
The black and gold were constantly called for fouls, including four contentious unsportsmanlike fouls, handing the Bruins free points at the line.
“I guess the referees just had a different interpretation on certain calls in the final two minutes,” Ozolins said.
“It was a crazy end of to the game and I’m still unsure how it all played out like it did.
“But as angry as we are, we need to put it behind us and look ahead to next week, while taking the positives from the game.
“They include Leighvi Dennison having his best game of the season for us, as well as everyone playing their role superbly.”
In the loss, Kieren Corbyn top scored with 19, while Bruce Ozolins chipped in 12.