THE bar has been set higher for the Werribee Devils since their shotgun start to the Victorian Basketball League Big V men’s division 1.
Honourable losses are no longer acceptable in the make-up of the youth-driven Devils and coming up empty, albeit by four points in a close encounter, away to the Chelsea Gulls in Patterson River on Saturday night was not going to please coach Paul Jones.
“It’s very disappointing,” he told the Weekly.
“It wasn’t a good performance considering where we’ve been [this season].
“If you look at the stats and you look at the scoreboard, you would see we won most of the statistical game, but didn’t put enough score on the board at the right time. We had 20 more shots and about 14 more rebounds but we really struggled to finish.”
The Devils had a red hot go but were sadly lacking in their finishing at the offensive end.
They fought back from a seven-point half-time deficit by restricting the Gulls to just six points in the third quarter and took a two-point lead into the fourth period.
Down the stretch, however, it was the Gulls that were the more level headed, and that had plenty to do with their new American import RB Clyburn, who made his debut on the night.
Clyburn scored 31 points on a sizzling 11 of 16 from the field and his efficiency with the rock further highlighted the Devils’ inability to land shots at crucial times.
Cirkook Riak was the standout for the Devils, finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Josh Oswald was a ball of energy en route to 15 points and 15 rebounds.
“We just didn’t have enough contributors,” Jones lamented.
“We weren’t good on the night and didn’t play to our game plan.”
The Devils (4-2) need to regroup and do it fast for their blockbuster with ladder-leader Mildura Heat (7-1) at the Werribee Sports and Fitness Centre on Saturday night.
They will have to back up a day later for part two of their double-header weekend against Melbourne University on the road on Sunday.
The Devils will be raising awareness for the McGrath Foundation on Saturday night.
The women’s team will wear specially made pink singlets and donations will be taken to support the foundation, which aims to place breast care nurses in communities right across Australia and increase awareness of the importance of regular check-ups for young women.
BIG V SCOREBOARD: Men’s division 1: Chelsea 71 d Werribee 67; Women’s division 2: Coburg 77 d Werribee 53.
