Lemanis left to lament another loss
PERTH LYNX 83 ( S Whitcomb 22 A Ciabattoni 15 A Kunek 12) bt BENDIGO SPIRIT 59 ( G Richards 14 R Banham 11 A KARAITIANA 7) at Bendigo Stadium. TOWNSVILLE FIRE 101 ( S Batkovic 23 M Cocks 17 C George 16) bt ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 78 ( A Bishop 24 L Nicholson 11 R Hamblin 9) at Titanium Security Arena. MELBOURNE BOOMERS 96 ( E Cambage 32 M Garrick 16 R Cole 13) bt CANBERRA CAPITALS 66 ( M Bass 12 L Scherf 11 E Magbegor 9) at State Basketball Centre. DANDENONG RANGERS 80 ( T Lavey 19 S Blicavs 19 K Pedersen 14) bt BENDIGO SPIRIT 70 ( B Laney 17 R Banham 16 G Richards 14) at Traralgon Sports Centre. PERTH LYNX 83 ( C Williams 26 A Kunek 14 A Ciabattoni 13) bt SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 71 ( A Taylor 31 C Boag 18 J Hamson 10) at Bendat Basketball Centre. BRISBANE coach Andrej Lemanis says his side needs to land knockout blows against competition heavyweights after New Zealand claimed a 90- 82 victory over the Bullets in Auckland yesterday.
For the second time in three days, Brisbane went toe- to- toe with a genuine NBL title contender for long stretches only to find themselves on the canvas in the fourth quarter.
An undermanned Brisbane finished the modern- day version of the “Doomsday Double’’ with a 90- 85 defeat at the hands of the second- placed Perth on Friday night and yesterday’s loss to the top- ofthe- table Breakers to be seventh on the ladder with a 3- 6 win- loss record.
But Lemanis said it was too early to count out Brisbane with the NBL heading into an 11- day hiatus due to FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
“There’s no such thing as an honourable loss, but there was a lot of good stuff again in terms of intent, spirit and effort areas,’’ Lemanis said.
Meanwhile, Perth made a significant statement with a 91- 59 thrashing of Melbourne United yesterday.