THE Kennedy's Tours Shoalhaven Tigers have dropped to eighth on division one youth men's ladder after going down to the Newcastle Hunters 87-74 on Saturday.
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The hosts at the Den struggled out of the gate, seeing them fall behind 20-6 at the end of the first quarter.
But the Tigers eventually found their offensive groove and traded baskets with the visitors in the second term, to go into the main break down by 15 points.
No doubt some choice words from coach Scott Balsar revved up his troops in the second half, with the Tigers trimming the deficit to just to 10 after three quarters.
They continued their fightback in the last term, cutting the lead to just six points following a Riley O'Shannessy three-pointer with 5:32 on the clock.
But that would be as close the Cubs got, as the Hunters held on to win by 12 points - for their seventh win on the trot.
"I think with all the hype around the game, all the boys were a little shell-shocked and overwhelmed by it all - which showed by us only scoring six points in the opening quarter," Balsar said.
"But once we settled into the match and made adjustments, I thought we really stuck it to them.
"We then got within touching distance of them in the fourth quarter but four straight bad shots in the final three minutes ended any hopes we had of a memorable comeback.
"But I'm proud of the way the boys fought back against a side I consider as the benchmark in this competition."
In the loss, which drops the Cubs to 6-7 on the season, O'Shannessy (21 points), Gavin Costain (20) and Kyle Leslie (18) top scored for the Cubs.