June 25: St Laurence Geelong Supercats 100 (N. Herbert 28, N. Owusu 22, I. Muhammad 17) defeated Knox Raiders 99 (M. Hill 27, J. Philip 18, S. Carroll 17) at The Arena.

St Laurence Geelong Supercats fans have been treated to their second 1 point match in a row at The Arena; thankfully the home side were on the winning side this time round defeating Knox Raiders 100 to 99.

Knox were quick out of the blocks with a three pointer to Sean Carroll in the first 4 seconds and then John Phillip and Michael Hill for the visitors helped them build the lead out to 10 points before Nathan Herbert and Nick Owusu chimed in with a couple of threes to bring the margin back to a respectable level. Knox held a handy three point lead by the first break.

Big Seb Loader wound the clock back to take a strong offensive board and put it back in to start off the second term. Loader was again in the action straight away at the other end this time on the offensive glass and feeding back out to Braith Cox who hit the three pointer to take the lead for the first time. The teams traded basket for basket as Nick Owusu rose to the challenge against Knox long time import CJ Massingale. Geelong built their lead to 4 but gave up the advantage just before the half with some costly turnovers. The sides went into the break locked at 48 points each.

A 15 to 6 run saw Knox take the ascendancy at the start of the second half. Jamie O’Loughlin called a time out to have a chat about it and Isma’il Muhammad, fresh off the plane from his NBA try out in the states, Owusu and Herbert reeled them back once again. Carroll, Philip and Hill kept the pressure on and the visitors held a 4 point margin at the last break.

In the classic last quarter, First Geelong took the lead back and then Knox would regain it. The lead changed 7 timed in the quarter but it was Owusu and Muhammad’s three’s that gave Geelong a six point advantage and some breathing room. Knox again chipped away to tie the scores up but Lester Strong’s fifth and final foul on Muhammad with 8 seconds left but the Supercats’ star on the line. Isma’il made the second of the 2 shots and this led to an extraordinary 3 timeouts from the Raiders before Geelong finished out the game to record the 1 point win.

Herbert followed up his Player of the Week performance in Brisbane 13 days ago with 28 points and 6 rebounds. Owusu was a solid contributor with 22 while Muhammad had a relatively quiet night with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Hill finished the best for Knox with 27 points.

The Supercats play at the Arena again next Friday night returning to their normal 7:30 time slot in the return game against the Brisbane Spartans before they travel up the Hume to Albury/Wodonga next Saturday night.