THIS was the one that got away from the Altona Gators in the Big V basketball men’s division 1.
The Gators’ hit-and-run mission on the Geelong Supercats was on track at The Arena until a fateful final three minutes.
They were on the verge of victory, leading by nine points and good value for that lead, but three minutes is an eternity in the hoop game.
The Supercats would find an unlikely hero in Simon Evans, who landed two big three-pointers and a pair of match-winning free throws to give the home side a 69-67 victory in a stunning late turnaround that no one saw coming.
“He caught fire,” Gators coach Randy Shanklin said.
“He hit a couple of big threes and it changed everything. Then he went to the line and put the two free throws up to get them ahead.”
The Gators have no one to blame but themselves. They executed on the offensive end for 37 minutes only for it to break down when it mattered.
In the words of Shanklin, the momentum that his side had for most of Saturday’s game changed singlets for the last three minutes.
“Offensively we struggled in the last three minutes of the game and we couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” Shanklin said.
“They made timely shots and we didn’t and that’s really what it boiled down to.”
With both teams entering on the back of a 3-4 record, this was a crucial encounter in the play-off race.
One team would get to a .500 record, while the other would play catch up. The Gators will be that team.
A game changer was the fouling out of Gators forward Shaun Phelan, who had amassed 27 points and 11 rebounds when he committed a fifth foul with two minutes remaining.
“If we have him in the game, he changes what we do offensively, because of his length,” Shanklin said.
Craig Martin (12 points and six rebounds) and Daniel Martin (four points, six rebounds and six assists) were influential on the offensive end.
The Gators will host a red hot Latrobe City Energy at the Altona Sports Centre on Sunday.
Big V
Men: Geelong Supercats 69
Altona Gators 67
