Bacchus Marsh Lions came out on top in a three-point shoot-out against Terang in the Country Basketball League men’s south west competition on Saturday night.
In their first game of the new year, the Lions headed down the freeway to take on Terang, with the sides having previously faced off in round one.
Like the first time the two teams played, the Lions were pushed all the way, coming away with the win, 107-100.
Lions co-coach Jeff Feben said they had expected a hard challenge against the Tornadoes and got exactly that.
“Terang pushed us hard in our first match so this was always going to be a tough re-match and we were quite nervous about the result, needing to keep winning to put ourselves in the highest place coming into finals,” he said.
“Terang is a much stronger team than their win loss ratio might suggest with quality players , so to take this win was really satisfying, but more so given we found our lost mojo on Saturday night, something missing form our previous month’s games.”
Jason Christian got things going early for the Lions with three early three-pointers as the team kicked into gear. It was an even first quarter, with the Tornadoes leading by two points at the first break.
The Lions took the lead in the second quarter and led by five points at the main break. That margin was reduced to a point at the final break.
The Lions found another gear late to get the win.
Feben said Jordan Kirk was strong as usual getting up and down the floor, while Patrick Craig had a strong match competing against Terang’s bigs and worked hard all nigh and was assisted by some strong defensive minutes from Josh Bornikoff.
While everyone stood up at times for the Lions including their bench players, it was Billy Feben that was again the standout for the Lions.
Feben, who is averaging more than 25 points a game this season, shot a career high 53 points, including 10 three-pointers.
The win is the Lions seventh in a row and keeps them sitting in third on the ladder.
This week they face Geelong Supercats, who are looking to work their way into the top four.
The game, which will be held at home for the Lions, is their second last of the regular season.
Jeff Feben said they were hoping to attract a big crowd for this match and their next match the following weekend.
The game against the Supercats starts at 8pm on Saturday night.
