Altona Gators were monstered under the basket by conference-topping Geelong Supercats in a 104-87 loss in Big V men’s division 1 basketball at the Altona Sports Centre on Sunday.
There was a massive rebound discrepancy between the sides, a fact largely attributed to the absence of Gators starting centre Wilson Arob with a hand injury and an over-reliance on power forward James Guljas to go one-out.
Gators coach Des Radoslovic said it was almost impossible to win with a lopsided rebound count that favoured the Supercats by 23.
“We got annihilated on the boards,” he said. “We gave up too many easy baskets and too many second chances.”
The Gators have been one of the form teams over the past two months and are back in the playoff mix.
They struggled with a horror draw earlier in the season – with eight of their first nine games on the road – but if they can regain the touch that eluded them against the Supercats, they remain a top-four chance.
“We won six out of eight before today to put us back in contention, but it’s getting really tight. There’s four teams going for two spots,” Radoslovic said.
“We’ve got five games left, four at home and one away against the bottom-of-the- ladder team, so it’s in our own hands.
“If we win five out of five, we’ll make it, and if we win four out of five we still should make it.”
Arob is in doubt for Saturday night’s huge home clash with Warrnambool.
He will have scans this week to determine the extent of his hand injury.
Should he be unavailable, Guljas will need to get some help from his teammates under the hoop.
Brent Radoslovic was the Gators’ best in the loss to Supercats.
He finished with 29 points on the back of five three-pointers to go with four rebounds and three steals.
Guljas scored 19 points to go with three blocks; Joey Mausar had 18 points and six assists.
The Gators made it four successive wins in the women’s youth league with a 69-52 win over the Whittlesea Pacers.
Alysha Carden-David scored 17 points and reeled in 21 rebounds.
