THE Kennedy's Tours Shoalhaven Tigers suffered their third straight defeat on Saturday, going down to the Lithgow Lazers 89-85 at the Den.
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Buoyed by the return of Bruce Ozolins, the division one Tiger men leapt out to a 16-11 lead at quarter-time - an advantage they stretched to nine points by half-time.
Despite a spirited display by the visitors in the third quarter, the Tigers clung onto a 56-50 lead at three-quarter-time, thanks to two late baskets by William Ozolins and Ben Morris.
Early free-throws by Billy Campbell in the fourth extended the hosts' advantage to 11 points, with just over nine minutes to play.
But from that point, the Lazers stepped it up a notch.
The visitors levelled the scores at 67-all with 5.14 remaining before outscoring the Tigers by four in the final five minutes to secure them a come from behind win - with Michael Johnson's 32 points securing the Lazers their fourth straight win.
In the loss, which drops the Tigers to 9-5, Alex Brown (21) and William Ozolins (20) led the way.
The Tigers will look to end their four-game skid against Illawarra this Saturday from 6pm at the Den - which is part of the club's Indigenous triple-header round.