The South West Slammers men’s side have suffered a devastating ten point loss at the hands of the Stirling Senators, seeing them fall outside of the top four.
The Slammers were slow to start at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday night, unable to keep up with the accurate shooting of Corban Wroe and Cody Ellis, and consequently trailing by nine points at quarter time.
South West trimmed the margin by three points in the second term to 48 – 54 at half time with an impressive three-point shot made by Ty Harrelson.
With Brian Voelkel and Tre Nichols both on four fouls early in the second half, forcing Harrelson to pick up the pace in defence and Michael Lay in offence.
The whole team picked up the intensity and held strong, managing to lead Stirling three minutes into the last term.
But the foul trouble only got worse for the Slammers with Voelkel and Nichols both benched in a tight last quarter, and Harrelson, Clive Weeden and Christopher Douglas all treading the line with four each.
The home side were unable to pull themselves back into the game and went down to the Senators 105 – 95.
Clive Weeden finished the game on a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds, while Nichols finished with a game high 28 points and Lay with 24 points.
Meanwhile Senators’ Wroe and Ellis finished with 23 points each, Rhys Vague with 18 and Ash Litterick brought home 12 rebounds.
The South West women were also unable to secure a win at the weekend, despite a strong first half and a tight one point lead at the main break.
Hitting just 29 per cent of their field goals and sealing only three of their 22 attempted three-pointers, their lack of accuracy ultimately cost the Slammers women the game.
Stirling’s American import Jasmine Martin scored a game high 24 points, compared with only 19 points from Slammers’ top scorer Brittany Hodges, and 16 points from captain Courtney Bayliss.
The home side had more rebounds and assists as well as more shots at goal but having scored just 19 points in the second half, the Senators took home the win.
Kate Fielding finished the game with ten assists, while Bayliss managed a double-double adding 11 rebounds to her 16 points, meanwhile Hodges and Georgia Denehey toed the line with four personal fouls each.
Stirling stars Amber Land recorded a double-double for herself with 16 points and ten rebounds along with Kisha Lee who sealed 17 points and 14 rebounds.
The loss marks the Slammers’ 14th for the season and leaves them in ninth place on the SBL ladder, with just two rounds to go for the year.
Unfortunately, even if the women were to win both of their remaining games, they will not qualify for the finals series.
The Slammers now look to next week’s round 19 fixtures when they travel to Bendat Basketball Centre on Friday night to take on the Perry Lakes Hawks. The women will play at 6.30pm while the men will start at 8.30pm.
The South West men’s side will then return to the Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday night to host the Goldfields Giants with tip off at 7.30pm.