April 27: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 114 (S. Myers 26, N. Herbert 23, B. Bridgewater 23) defeated Bendigo Braves 105 (D. Bremmerman 34, C. Rigby 18, C. Hogan 18) at the Schweppes Centre, Bendigo.

April 26: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 107 (B. Bridgewater 25, N. Herbert 17, D. George 16) defeated Canberra Gunners 92 (Z. Todorovski 19, J. Holden 19, J. Richardson 15) at the Geelong Arena.

The St Laurence Geelong Supercats have successfully won both their matches over the weekend albeit with a depleted squad for Sunday’s game in Bendigo. The win now takes the Supercats to 11 wins from their 14 matches played to be outright second but with two games in hand of first placed Frankston.

The St Laurence Geelong Supercats controlled the game against Canberra at the Arena on Saturday night from the opening tip off. Geelong went into the match without captain Jarrod Leonard who was unavailable due to being interstate and Nick Owusu got his chance in the starting five.

The Supercats jumped Canberra to get away to an early lead thanks to a couple of Nathan Herbert three pointers and some solid work inside. With the score at 20 points to 6 in favour of the home side, Jordan Hill and Brad Bridgewater were rotated into the game, however, Hill’s night was to be cut short when he was accidentally kneed to the back of the head in a contest under the basket and suffered concussion causing him to take no further part in the game.

With Bridgewater controlling the centre, Geelong opened up a 34 to 16 point lead at quarter time. Without Hill coming off the bench, head coach Mark Leader used bench guards Dane Bow and Kris Van Parreren to great affect in short bursts for the remainder of the match in order to rest Braith Cox and Owusu and keep them fresh for the Sunday clash against Bendigo.

Gunners’ captain Zlatko Todorovski was leading his team from the front and his three pointers helped the visitors stay with Geelong in the second quarter as Geelong increased their lead to 22 points at the main break. Canberra narrowed the lead by three points during the third quarter but the damage had been done. Veteran Geelong forward Shawn Myers flew through the air for a Jordanesque dunk with just over 9 minutes to play and that was the signal for Canberra coach Frank Arsego, to rest Todorovski for the Gunners second fixture and let both benches contest the remainder of the match.

Geelong ran out comfortable victors 107 points to 92. Six Supercats scored in double figures led by Bridgewater with 25 while Nathan Herbert had 17 and Daniel George 16. For the visitors, Todorovski and Holden shared the honours with 19 points each while Joel Richardson had 15.

On Sunday afternoon the Supercats backed up with a game in Bendigo, however Hill was not sufficiently recovered from his concussion to make the trip. With Leonard still absent, the Supercats went into the contest with just nine players.

With the same starting five from the previous evening, Geelong made a solid start and their speed up and down the court saw Braves big man Chris Novak get into early foul trouble with three in the first quarter. With Shawn Myers on song combining with Nathan Herbert, Geelong added 30 points for the first quarter, however, a couple of late three pointers from young Braves guard Kevin Probert saw the home side wrest the lead by three points.

The Braves restricted combination of Cameron Rigby and import Dean Bremmerman piled on the points for Bendigo in the second but Bridgewater, Myers and Herbert for Geelong were equal to the task as the margin was maintained at three points at the half.

Continued close defence in the third by Bendigo led to frustration on the Geelong side, which earned Braith Cox a technical foul, with the resulting free throws giving the Braves a 10 point advantage. Geelong then regrouped to score 12 of the next 13 points to take the lead, from this point they were never headed. Geelong held a five point lead at the last break and, despite some spirited offence from the Braves and the Supercats tiring, having played their 10th match in 28 days, Geelong held on for a classy 114 to 105 win.

Shawn Myers top scored for Geelong with 26 while Herbert and Bridgewater had 23 each. Bremmerman top scored for Bendigo with 34.

The Supercats return to the Arena next Friday night to play the North West Tasmania Thunder.