May 31: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 114 (N. Herbert 28, B. Bridgewater 23, S. Myers 22) defeated Knox Raiders 99 (L. Strong 23, S. Carroll 22, C. Massingale 15) at the Geelong Arena.

The St Laurence Geelong Supercats have prevailed in an extremely high standard contest against SEABL East Conference leaders the Knox Raiders. Six Supercats players scored in double figures in the comprehensive team victory.

The Raiders 201cm forward Lester Strong made his intentions known early in the first quarter with an impressive dunk. Geelong quickly returned fire as Brad Bridgewater dropped in a dunk of his own and the level of competition did not nook backwards from there. Shawn Myers two 3 pointers in the first quarter, along with Nathan Herbert containing Raiders danger man CJ Massingale, helped the Supercats to a seven point lead at quarter time.

In the second, Jordan Hill came off the bench to take over from Herbert on Massingale and Nick Owusu helped by containing former NBL player Glenn Siegle. A 37 point quarter helped Geelong to a 65 to 55 lead at the half with Hebert on fire with 18 points and Myers with 17.

Herbert was again the go to man in the third scoring ten more points in seven minutes of play to have his 28 by 3 quarter time as the Supercats maintained the ten point margin.

The visitors got the margin back to single figures before Bridgewater started the party tricks for Geelong, blocking a Sean Carroll 3 point attempt, stealing the ball and driving all the way to the other end to slam it home. On the next play it was Myers’ turn with a vicious one handed slam to help the Supercats get the margin out to 20 points. With just over 2 minutes to play, head coach Mark Leader let the rest of the bench have a run and Geelong held on for a 15 point win 114 to 99.

Nathan Herbert had 28 points to be the game high scorer but, more importantly, he helped contain the dangerous Massingale to just 15 points for the night. Brad Bridgewater had 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Shawn Myers had 22 points. George and Jarrod Leonard finished with 11 each and Hill had a solid 10 points. Strong was the best for the visitors with 23 points.

The win ensures that the Supercats will participate in the SEABL finals for the 11th straight year.

The league now takes a one week break over the Queen’s Birthday weekend and the Supercats next game will again be at the Arena on Saturday June 14. The blockbuster against league leader’s Frankston will decide top place on the SEABL South conference ladder.