Agony and ecstasy of two weekend thrillers

Basketball is often a game of inches, a cliché the Bendigo Bank Braves Men lived not once, but twice over the weekend.

With less than three seconds to play against the Melbourne Tigers at Red Energy Arena on Friday night, Lat Mayen attempted a three-pointer to send the game into double overtime.

It bounced high on the ring before dropping in with just .06 seconds left on the clock. But much to Bendigo’s dismay, it was ruled a two, the Braves losing by just one.   

At Keilor on Sunday afternoon, Bendigo again found themselves down with seconds to play. This time a two-pointer would win it.

Centre Adam Pechacek drove to the basket, but his shot missed. Captain Isaac Murphy somehow squeezed his fingers between eight opposition hands on the rebound, pushing the ball out to Bijan Johnson for the match-winning basket with less than one second to go.

For coach Stephen Black, it was testament to how even the NBL1 South competition is.

“With the benefit of looking at the video, we made the play to send the Melbourne game into double overtime, but that kind of thing happens in basketball,” he said.

“But did we deserve to win it? Probably not. On Sunday we were up early, they came back, and we were lucky to win.

“With the level of competition in the league this season, we know games are won in the margins.

“It’s the little things we need to focus on, because as we saw this weekend, they can become big things.”

Black praised the work of Murphy in the final seconds against Keilor.

“It wasn’t a surprise Murph got his hand to that ball. He does those kinds of things all the time. It’s why we love him,” he said.

“It was a huge effort and I hope everyone realises how big a play that was.”

Bendigo got off to a slow start at the Red Energy Arena on Friday night, with star import Pechacek returning from injury.

Down 2-8 in the first four minutes, the Braves went into quarter time 21-25 behind.

A 1-10 start to the second quarter saw the Tigers’ lead kick out to 13, Bendigo playing catchup for the rest of the term.

A late flourish cut the deficit to only six at half time, and inside two minutes of the third quarter, Bendigo was leading 42-40.

Bendigo led by two going into the last quarter, and with a minute to go in regular time, the Braves were up by four, before a late flourish by Melbourne took the game into overtime.

Mayen’s buzzer two saw Bendigo go down 82-83.

Luke Rosendale’s great form continued with 17 points, Mayen had 16 for the night, and Smythe finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

On Sunday, Bendigo travelled down the Calder and came away with a vital win.

After going basket for basket in the first quarter, the Braves had a strong second term to lead by 10 at half time.

But the lead didn’t last long, Keilor bouncing back and evening up the score at three-quarter time.

The lead didn’t get out to more than five in the last quarter, with Johnson’s last second shot getting the Braves over the line 89-88.

Mayen was magnificent with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Johnson finished with 17 points, Luke Rosendale 14, and Pechacek 10.

Photo - Craig Dilks Photography