The St Laurence Geelong Supercats have locked in a South East Australian Basketball League playoff berth for the 13th straight season on the back of a solid win against the Canberra Gunners at the Arena on Saturday night.

With Nick Owusu (back) and Domenic Friend (ankle) still out injured for Geelong, the Supercats rotations would again be challenged against the experienced Gunners. The Supercats had the best of the early going with import duo Isma’il Muhammad and J’Nathan Bullock each hitting a three to open an early 10 to 2 lead. Canberra stayed with Geelong for the rest of the term but Geelong held a comfortable 9 point advantage at the first break.

Muhammad combined with Nathan Herbert to pile on the points in the second adding 7 before the Gunners had scored. With Braith Cox shooting well and Matt Hardiman and Keith Harrison taking it in turn to be effective replacements for Owusu, the Supercats blew the game apart with the 28 to 15 second quarter giving the home side a massive 22 point lead at the half.

Canberra’s Daniel Jackson and veteran shooter Zlatko Todorovski got the Gunners back into the match in the third chipping away at the lead and capitalising on some poor shooting from Geelong to bring the margin briefly back to single figures before Seb Loader stood up to secure some big rebounds and put-back shots to give Geelong a 13 point lead at three quarter time.

The Supercats maintained the pressure in the last quarter and slowly built their lead back out to 20 with some consistent good play from Jamie Medved, celebrating his 187th appearance for the Supercats to eclipse Jordan Hill as the third longest serving player behind Jarrod Leonard and Herbert. With the game under control it was time for Jamie O’Loughlin to let rookies Michael Rebula and Lachlan Headlam have a run. The under 20s did themselves and their coach proud as the Supercats held on to win by 19 points 88 to 69.

The win gives Geelong its 16th victory for the season and momentarily Geelong hold second place on the ladder on percentage from Sandringham. Sandringham will play Canberra on Sunday afternoon. With Hobart also on 16 wins, the teams are clear of fifth place North West Tasmania with only disaster causing the Supercats to miss playoff action at this stage.

Muhammad had 23 first half points and finished with 32 points and 12 rebounds. Herbert had 22 points and Bullock 15. Glenn Baird was the best for the Gunners with 18 points.

The Supercats will face Dandenong in a Thursday night clash at Rangers Stadium before travelling to Frankston on Saturday next week. Geelong returns to the Arena for the final regular season game against Kilsyth on Saturday 31 July.

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