July 3: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 125 (N. Herbert 26, I. Muhammad 22, B. Cox 21) defeated Mount Gambier Pioneers 122 (D. Jeffree 31, A. Rice 26, T. Naqqash 21) at the Arena.

The St Laurence Geelong Supercats have put on a solid all around scoring performance, with six players scoring in double figures, to defeat a gallant Mt Gambier Pioneers outfit at the Arena on Friday night.

Geelong was assisted by the return to the squad for this game of Nathan Herbert and Braith Cox. Herbert missed the last game attending the Australian Boomers camp in Canberra, while Cox has missed four games with a back injury.

Both teams were shooting well in the first quarter with the Supercats on fire from the three point line with Cox, Isma’il Muhammad, Clifton Lee each scoring a three Jason Reardon two and Herbert three with the Boomer scoring 13 first quarter points. Geelong moved to a solid 39 to 30 quarter time lead.

A 13 to 4 run, thanks mainly to Muhammad’s hot hand, had the Supercats out to an 18 point margin early in the second quarter before Dallas Jeffree and Herbert’s former Dragons team mate Tariq Naqqash started clawing back for the visitors. The crowd gasped as Jamie Medved sat the ball up on the rim to meet Muhammad flying through the air Jordanesque style, however he just failed to connect on another show reel dunk.

With the Supercats holding a 10 point advantage a turnover with three seconds left in the half saw Mount Gambier inbound to an unguarded Andrew Rice on the half court wing and he made no mistake with the buzzer beating three point half courter to reduce the margin to 7 points with the Pioneers well and truly back in the game.

The re-invigorated Pioneers continued on their way in the third as the Supercat’s poor defence again began to frustrate head coach Mark Leader. Naqqash now had the hot hand and his two threes saw the visitors draw level at the 8 minute mark of the third. Braith Cox then went on the rampage for Geelong and, with Reardon and George’s assistance managed to get the margin back out to 10 before a late rally from the Pioneers had the margin at five at the last break.

The last quarter was exciting for the fans as the score ebbed and flowed with first one side taking the advantage and then the other. Pioneers import Keith Benjamin had apurple patch at the end of the game bringing the margin within a point with a minute to play before Herbert’s lay up gave the home side a three point margin. Naqqash had an opportunity of another three on the final buzzer to tie it up however the Supercats cam away with the win.

Herbert had 26 for the Supercats while Muhammad had 22 and Cox 21 in a great comeback. Jeffree led all scorers with 31 for the visitors while Rice had 26 and Naqqash finished with seven 3-pointers for 21 points.

The Supercats will be looking for the same scoring intensity but a far better defensive effort if they are to defeat the Brisbane Spartans in Queensland next Friday night. Geelong will again be away the following Friday to Bendigo before returning to the Arena on July 18 against Kilsyth.

Follow @GeelongSupercat on www.Twitter.com