August 28: SEABL All Conference Championship, St Laurence Geelong Supercats 95 (I. Muhammad 21, N. Herbert 17, J. Bullock 17, B. Cox 13, D. George 12) defeated Bendigo Braves 85 (I. McFarlin 20, L. Meyer 18, C. Hogan 17) at The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
The St Laurence Geelong Supercats have built on their SEABL South Conference Championship last weekend by defeating the Bendigo Braves 95 to 82 to become the Crazy John’s South East Australian Basketball League All Conference Champions at MSAC on Saturday night.
Geelong was slow out of the blocks with Bendigo jumping out to an early lead as Chris Hogan’s hand was hot for the Braves. After 5 minutes Bendigo were up by 8 when J’Nathan Bullock and Nathan Herbert each landed a three as Geelong went on a 9-nil run to seize the lead. The teams went basket for basket for the rest of the term and Geelong held the lead 20 to 18 at the first break.
Both sides continued to play solid defence at the start of the second with Domenic Friend breaking the deadlock after 2 minutes with a three. Isma’il Muhammad and Bullock continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over as Braves import Ivan McFarlin responded. The Supercats built their lead out to 8 points but the Braves had a mini run at the end of the half with Luke Meyer bringing Bendigo back to within 3 points 47 to 44 at the main break.
McFarlin’s strong start to the third quarter saw Bendigo take the lead back but Braith Cox and Daniel George would again swing the balance back towards Geelong with George saving up one of his best games of the year for the Championship. The Supercats steadily built their lead out to 11 points before Bendigo responded again to go on a 10 to 2 run and bring the margin back to 3 points in a couple of minutes. Geelong rallied to by up by five going into the final quarter.
With Herbert being well held in the second half, Cox and Nick Owusu were left open to shoot at will and with Muhammad and Bullock working the inside, the Supercats steadily built their lead out to 14 points. This time the Braves would have no answer as the Supercats pressed for the last six minutes of the game to not let their opponents back into the match again.
The bench was given a taste of the glory in the last 25 seconds of the match as the Supercats were triumphant 95 to 82. Isma’il Muhammad was awarded the Hugh McMenemin Medal as the Most Valuable Player in the Championship game for his match leading 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block. J’Nathan Bullock had 17 points and 6 rebounds and Nathan Herbert had 17 points and 9 rebounds. Cox had a solid captain’s game with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists while Daniel George had 12 points to go with his 9 rebounds. McFarlin had 20 points and an astonishing 17 rebounds for Bendigo.
Muhammad was awarded the SEABL South Conference Most Valuable Player award earlier in the day.
The Supercats will announce their most valuable player and best club man at their annual appreciation night next Friday night.
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