May 24: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 115 (N. Herbert 26, D. George 22, B. Cox 20, S. Myers 19, B. Bridgewater 19) defeated Hobart Chargers 104 (C. Long 20, R. Inches 18, R. Browning 15, M. Banovic 15) at the Geelong Arena.

May 25: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 116 (S. Myers 26, D. George 22, N. Herbert 22) defeated  Nunawading Spectres 96 (S. McDonald 24, M. Thorpe 19, J. Todorov 12) at the Nunawading Basketball Centre.

UPDATE: Hobart highlights now on  Geelong's Own TV Channel

A solid all around performance at the Arena on Saturday night saw the St Laurence Geelong Supercats victorious over a determined Hobart Chargers outfit while on Sunday afternoon, the Supercats superior fitness saw them win again over the Nunawading Spectres at Nunawading.

On Saturday night Hobart led out early helped by the athleticism of their new import, 197 cm forward Charleston (Chuck) Long and at one stage led 19 to 11 before Nathan Herbert and Braith Cox began to reel them in with Cox’s three pointer on the buzzer wresting the lead for Geelong by 2 points at quarter time.

Long received his third personal foul half way through the second period and Hobart coach, Dan Krebs, was forced to rest him for the remainder of the quarter. This gave Geelong an opportunity and Geelong moved ahead helped by a technical foul on Hobart’s Mark Banovic which gave Geelong 2 shots and side possession. Geelong pushed the lead out to nine points but Hobart again regrouped to keep the margin to just 5 at the half.

Long returned to the court in the second half and got away from the defence on a fast break. Jarrod Leonard’s foul on long under the basket was judged to be unsportsmanlike and the resulting penalty helped the Chargers tie the score up at 57 each. Geelong scored 21 points to Hobart’s 24 in the quarter with the Supercats holding a 2 point margin at the last break.

Long’s 4th and 5th fouls early in the last quarter took the wind out of the Hobart sails. At one stage the scores were tied at 93 each before Herbert lit up the Arena with 2 consecutive three pointers as Geelong went on an 11-nil run to set up a match winning lead. Daniel George, competing against his old side for the first time, controlled the centre and helped Geelong to win the match 115 to 104

Herbert top scored for the Supercats with 26 points and game MVP George had 22 points and 10 rebounds. Braith Cox was again consistent with 20 points while the import combination of Bridgewater and Myers had 19 points each.

On Sunday, Geelong travelled up the highway to take on Nunawading on their home pine. Nunawading were without veteran forward 201cm David Biwer but still boasted six players in excess of 2 metres tall including man mountain Jason Eversteyn at 213 cm.

Geelong jumped away to an early lead and it was immediately obvious that more structured offence was being played compared to the previous night. Nick Owusu was again the star on the defensive end as Shawn Myers was shooting the ball well at the other. Nunawading got back on terms with Geelong through the quarter and led 28 to 27 at the first break.

The second quarter went basket for basket with a Geelong technical foul perhaps the telling highlight. By half time, the Supercats had wrested the lead by 2 points.

The Supercats superior fitness began to be a factor in the third period as Geelong skipped away to a 10 point advantage with the Nunawading coach continuously substituting players off his bench. Spectres’ centre David Donaldson committed his fifth foul during the term and when he was subbed out, Geelong took control. Nick Owusu’s solid defence all night led to his fifth foul being called with less than two minutes on the clock. Geelong held a twelve point advantage at the last break.

Geelong opened the last quarter with a nine-two run to set up a match winning lead. Nathan Herbert and Daniel George joined in the scoring party along with Braith Cox, who again shot double figures. With six minutes to play Geelong were up by 20 points and head coach Mark Leader afforded himself the luxury of running bench players Dane Bow, Kris Van Parreren and Chris Dunlop who each managed to score so that all ten of the Geelong players got on the score sheet. The Supercats held the 20 point margin until the end and ran out easy victors 116 to 96.

Myers led all scorers with 26 points to go with his 15 rebounds while George was again consistent with 22 points matched by Nathan Herbert. Shane McDonald was the best for the Spectres with 24 points.

The St Laurence Geelong Supercats will be looking for their eighth consecutive win when they return to the Arena next Saturday night to take on the dangerous Knox Raiders.