WERRIBEE Devils hit a rare flat spot in the Victorian Basketball League Big V men’s division 1 on Saturday night.
You can’t afford to do that when up against the red-hot Camberwell Dragons in the clash of the conference leaders that is player-coached by former Australian Boomers star Chris Anstey.
The Devils were duly punished for their lethargy with an 82-68 loss that burst the bubble of the home fans at the Werribee Sports and Fitness Centre.
“We were very disappointing on the whole,” Devils coach Paul Jones said. “We didn’t play well at all. They outplayed us and we struggled.”
The good news for the Devils is they remain on top of the Terril Group.
They also maintain their buffer at the head of division 1, albeit by a game over the Dragons.
A troubling aspect was their slow start – they were blown apart in a short space of time.
Jones said it was a worrying trend that they had to quickly nip in the bud.
“We’ve had a few slow starts,” Jones said. “It’s just every time we’ve had a slow start we’ve been able to get away with it.”
Jones was critical of the Devils lack of attention to detail on the defensive end. They were particularly outhustled on the boards.
Tips Silver was the exception. Despite limited minutes, he made his presence felt to help stem the bleeding.
Josh Oswald had a strong game at the four spot.
He showed his versatility by working hard under the rim and on the perimeter with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Jordan Hughes, the go-to man of the Devils this season, was down on his usual output with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Kristian Rocci and Cirkook Riak, valuable contributors in recent wins, played limited minutes.
The Devils will need to sharpen their pitchforks for a big double-header weekend.
They host Melbourne University at Ballan Road on Saturday night, followed by a trip to Hawthorn on Sunday.
The Devils are back on a streak in the Big V women’s division 2, but not of the unwanted kind.
After going 13 straight games without a win, the Devils enjoyed the winning feeling so much they decided to make it two in a row.
The Devils produced a miraculous last-quarter comeback to win 50-47 over Melbourne University at home on Saturday night.
Trailing by 13, the Devils mounted a spirited fight back to snatch victory with a 24-8 last period.
Tenielle Brown (15 points and five rebounds), Jacqui Silcock (10 points) and Tarhnie Brown (eight points and six rebounds) were the stand-outs on the stats sheet.
SCORES:
Men: Werribee 68 lt Camberwell 82.
Women: Werribee 50 d Melbourne University 47.
