Pirates cut ‘Neers down
Second qtr woes sink Toowoomba
BASKETBALL: A disastrous second quarter has cruelled the Toowoomba Mountaineers chances of back-to-back wins after going down 90-75 to the South West Metro Pirates on Saturday night.
A fast start saw Toowoomba take an eight-point advantage into the first break, however a 27-5 second quarter had the visitors on the back foot, and proved too much to overcome in the later stages of the game.
Coach Danny Morseu said his side wasn’t able to match it with the Pirates in that second term, as they scored just three points in the last eight minutes of the quarter.
“They started to pick up on their scoring and couldn’t miss,” Morseu said.
“They capitalised on transition, and we couldn’t get back. We need to give them credit, they played well as a group.
“They killed us inside the paint. We’re bigger and couldn’t stop them defensively and our rotation on defence wasn’t very good.
“We shot a woeful 35 percent from the field. You can’t win games shooting like that. We were out-rebounded as well.”
Despite the defeat, import Harold Ridgeway built on his strong performance against Gladstone with another big showing.
He led both teams in scoring and rebounding with 24 and 12 respectively, and Morseu said he came up big down the stretch.
Damon Bozeman had 19 points and 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season, while Jason Ebneter made the most of being given the start, dropping 13 points.
“I was pleased with Jason’s defence. He shot reasonably well from the field and good from three,” Morseu said.
“We need him to be consistent for us and he has really been stepping up to the mark.”
Morseu has made no secret of the fact strong starts are the cornerstone of what he wants his team to achieve, and they did just that.
A quick 7-0 run towards the end of the first quarter helped them to a 24-16 lead after the first quarter.
From there a dominant middle stretch had the Pirates take a commanding 24-point advantage into the final term.
A spirited comeback saw the Mountaineers reduce the deficit to just eight points with 1.46 remaining, however that is as close as they would get down the stretch.
The fortunes of the Mountaineers women weren’t much better after they suffered a 10942 loss to South West Metro.
Donnaizha Fountain played her first game for Toowoomba and showed encouraging signs, finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
Malena Washington had 14 points before fouling out.
Both sides prepare for another week on the road when they head to Ipswich to take on the Force on Friday night.