Horror opening
SHEPPARTON GATORS START SEASON ZERO FROM TWO MATCHES
Shepparton Gators are winless after two rounds following a 14-point defeat at home to Keilor Thunder on Saturday night.
After a close round one loss at Geelong, the Gators were always going to be tested at Shepparton Sports Stadium against the visitors.
Keilor took in stunning first-up form when it crushed 2015 Big V Basketball division one champion Melton.
In a scrappy contest, the Gators were never able to truly threaten the Thunder and now face a crunch game on Saturday against Sunbury.
Gators coach Leigh Bathman said it was hard to assess the contest with the game played in sweltering conditions.
‘‘The conditions were fairly humid and it didn’t make for great ball handling. The ball was like a cake of soap at times,’’ Bathman said.
‘‘It didn’t make for a great spectacle on both sides and we lost a bit of concentration with some poor decisions contributing to how the game ended up.’’
Like round one, the Gators ran into foul trouble with star import Justin Patton having to be managed after having three fouls by half-time.
After a poor first-up performance which did not yield a point, fellow American Jaleel Williams produced a far better effort with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Patton had 12 points, but six turnovers proved costly, while Brady Neill finished with 10 points.
What cost Shepparton was its inability to make shots from beyond the arc, with the Gators struggling to sink a single threepoint shot by going 0-18.
‘‘If people want to play for individual stats, then they’ll be sticking on the bench and players are looking to do the team things will get those extra challenges,’’ Bathman said.
Kyle Howe-Tipene missed the game because he was attending a wedding, but Neill made a valuable contribution, as did Nick Dodd.
‘‘Nick was good, but we would’ve liked him rebounding more, and Robbie did as much as he could to curtail (Keilor star) Jeff Crowe, who still had a big inf luence on the game, but created a difficult match-up,’’ Bathman said.