IAN Ozolins and his Kennedy's Tours Shoalhaven Tigers division one men's side bounced back from just their second loss of the season by recording an impressive 105-78 win at Lithgow on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite falling away against Sutherland the week before, the Tigers raced out of the blocks against the Lazers at the Lithgow Basketball Stadium to lead 27-19 at quarter-time - made more impressive by the fact they lost star Bruce Ozolins to a serious knee injury in the opening exchanges.
The Tigers continued to fire away and were rewarded with a 53-31 lead at half-time.
That 22-point advantage grew by three points at the end of the third quarter before the Tigers ran out winners by 27 points.
"It's always a good sign for us when we start the game with two open three-pointers made by William [Ozolins]," coach Ozolins said.
"They were really was a sign of things to come for us, as we got in a rhythm and really took off from there.
"We got back to playing the free-flowing basketball we played in the first half against Sutherland, where the defensive intensity was up and everyone was sharing the ball.
"It was great that all 11 guys got on the scoresheet and contributed - when we get a balanced offensive effort like that, we are hard to beat.
"In the same vein, we were helped massively by Lithgow continuing to foul us and put us on the line, where we converted 28 of 32 free throws, which is an exceptional effort."
In the Waratah League win, William Ozolins led all scorers with 29 points, as Alex Brown (19), Tom Ozolins (13), Billy Campbell (12) and Joel Smith (11) all reached double figures too.
Next up for the Tigers is another trip out west, this time to face the Orange Eagles, who are 2-6 on the season, from 6pm Saturday at the Sir Neville Howse Stadium.
"We will look to build on this win against Orange on Saturday," Ozolins said.
"With the bye the following round, it's important we carry some momentum into the break, before heading out to Dubbo in three weeks."