BOZEMAN BOSSES POWER IN VICTORY
Captain dominates in Mountaineers victory
BASKETBALL: A 49-point masterclass from Damon Bozeman has lifted the Toowoomba Mountaineers to their first win of the QBL season with a 120-90 win over the Gladstone Port City Power on Saturday night.
Bozeman contributed to an incredible shooting effort from the field for the Mountaineers, who were on the second leg of their road trip.
He finished with 16/24 from the field, including hitting eight of his 13 three-point attempts in a clinicial display of offensive intensity.
Thirty-five of Bozeman’s 49 came in the second half.
After a heavy defeat to the Meteors the night before, Bozeman said the team was hellbent on coming out of the blocks and starting the game strong.
“We just really wanted to bounce back from the game against Mackay and come out strong after a disappointing loss,” Bozeman said.
“Coach Danny stated before the game that we didn’t want to play catch up, and we really wanted to let other teams play catch up to us.”
In the Mountaineers’ best shooting performance of the season, the side finished at an impressive 61 per cent from the field.
Bozeman said the vast improvement came down to teammates putting in work during the week in an attempt to turn around their fortunes.
“We’ve been getting up a lot of shots in practice. We struggled as a collective group and really came out in the last couple of practices,” he said.
“Guys were getting in early, getting up shots and getting comfortable.
“It builds trust. Seeing guys in the gym staying late, that’s big if you want to win.”
While Bozeman was the star of the show, forwards Manylok Mayek (20 points, eight rebounds), Harold Ridgeway (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Josh Derksen (13 points, 6 rebounds) all came up big.
Their game-plan worked to perfection, with the team hitting 11 of 22 three-point attempts.
“Guys like Harold, Mayo and Josh, when they get it going it opens up the whole floor,” Bozeman said.
“Danny wants us to go inside, put pressure on their bigs, and work our way out.”
“You really the team and the coach trusting in you to make the right play. If you’re hot, you get the ball. That’s really what we wanted to do, feed the hot hand.”
Morseu was looking for his side to explode out of the gates and they did just that, as they opened up a seven-point advantage after the first term.
The depth of the Mountaineers came to the fore, as Syd Hume, Tito Kwajakwan and Jason Ebneter all provided vital second quarter minutes, helping them to a 58-49 halftime lead.
Ridgeway and Mayek got things rolling in the third, combining for their side’s first 12 points as the lead stretched out to double digits, before Bozeman added 17 of his own to hold an 11-point lead with one to play.
The final term was all Toowoomba, as the visitors held the Power to just 10 points, finishing strong to round out a comprehensive win.
The Mountaineers women showed grit, but ultimately weren’t able to conquer Gladstone, going down 78-51.
Using just a seven-player rotation, Toowoomba was forced to call on their players to contribute big minutes.
Kail Gabriel played out the entire contest and had her best game in a Mountaineers jersey, finishing with 16 points (7/10 FG) and eight rebounds.
Malena Washington continued her good form with 15 points (7/12 FG).