THE season of Ian Ozolins and his Kennedy's Tours Shoalhaven Tigers has come to an end, despite them winning their final match against the Orange Eagles 78-62.
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Going into the final round of the season, the Tigers needed both to win their match against Orange and hope Sutherland took care of business against Bankstown.
Unfortunately, two hours before tip-off, the black and golds found out the Bruins had upset the Sharks, cementing their spot in the top four, while ending the 2019 Waratah League campaign of Ozolins' troops.
Despite this disappointment, the Tigers went out winning their final ever game at the Den - as the Shoalhaven Basketball Association will move their home matches to the new Shoalhaven Indoor Sports Stadium from 2020.
The opening quarter saw both teams trade baskets for the first five minutes before the hosts closed the period on a 14-0 run, to go into the first break up 27-11.
This advantage stayed consistent into half-time (41-26), before the hosts stretched their lead up to 18 by three-quarter-time.
Despite the best efforts of the visitors to fightback, the Tigers fought hard to secure a 16-point win - ending their glittering career at the Den on a high note.
"Obviously it was quite gut-wrenching to find out our season was over before tip-off but we still had a job to do, as we wanted to end the season with a win," coach Ozolins said.
"The all the boys' credit, they all got stuck in and did their jobs, sealing a comfortable win.
"While we are happy to finish off our time at the Den on a high note, it's still really disappointing to have our season end the way it did.
"For a year that promised so much, to be decimated by injuries and end pretty much identically to the last two years, is very deflating."
In the win, Alex Brown top scored with 18 points, as Bruce Ozolins (16), Tom Ozolins (13) and Billy Campbell (10) also reached double figures.