Shepparton Gators assistant coach Troy Lundberg described the weekend’s surprise 78-75 loss to Bulleen as “disappointing”, yet still found plenty of positives to take away from the Big V division one encounter.
A stellar seven-game winning streak came to an end at Bulleen-Templestowe Stadium on Saturday night as the home side delivered a shock upset against the ladder-leading outfit.
Bulleen led by as much as 11 points late in the third term, but a spirited comeback had the Gators claw back and gain a slim lead halfway through the final quarter.
In a game that went the distance, not even a late Matt Bartlett dagger from beyond the arc, that tied the game 70 apiece, was enough to hand the title contender victory.
A few brain fades and errors in the final minute proved costly for the Gators as sixth-placed Bulleen handed the number one-ranked seed its third loss of the campaign.
BOX SCORE
Bulleen 78 d Shepparton 75
Scorers
Sam Beks 16, Derek Murphy 15, Matt Bartlett 12, Thomas Frame 10.
Bartlett and Sam Beks were pivotal with their long-range shooting, with the latter posting 16 points at 57 per cent three-point shooting.
Derek Murphy battled hard with a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds), but it was Bulleen’s star talent Peter Deng Jr (25, 12) who reigned supreme.
Lundberg, who stood in as acting coach with Josh Waight away coaching at the under-16 National Championships, was blunt in his assessment of the round 14 defeat.
“That’s definitely not how we wanted the game to pan out,” he said.
“Full credit to Bulleen; I thought they shot the ball very well, their three-point shooting especially.
“We had plenty of opportunities to win the game ... unfortunately we were our own worst enemy and we weren’t able to execute when it mattered.
“Everyone was very flat, we were very disappointed to lose a game that we felt we should have won. But it goes to show if you don’t turn up ready to go sides make you pay.”
Lundberg said although the Gators coughed up “16 too many” offensive rebounds, he was still impressed with certain aspects of the contest.
“There were still plenty of positives to take out of it,” he said.
“Our rebounding, our box outs especially, was great ... and the fact we were down by about 10 or 12 in the third and still found a way to fight back was great to see.”