Gators earn ‘acceptable’ split of games

Round 16 began with the Gators slumping to a 17-point loss against the Warrandyte Venom, but they bounced back in style with a strong nine-point win against the Keysborough Cougars.

Saturday night’s home loss and Sunday’s away win means that the Gators remain in third position on the ladder with three matches left.

‘‘Overall, the weekend result was acceptable, but Saturday night was totally unacceptable,’’ Bathman said.

‘‘That’s the second time this season that we have been taught a basketball lesson by Warrandyte.

‘‘It’s disappointing because we led in both games, but just completely dropped off.

‘‘We just didn’t deal with their pressure and physicality.’’

Shepparton led Saturday night’s match during the first half, but coughed up 27 points in what was a third term onslaught from the Venom.

It was not a good night offensively for the Gators either, with the side going at 41 per cent from the field and recording only nine assists.

However, Sunday’s gritty win was a stark contrast to the previous night’s performance.

Bathman’s outfit recorded 16 assists and shot at 49 per cent from the floor, with Javaan Mumtaz nailing 7-10 from beyond the three-point arc.

Star point guard Carlin Dupree showcased his incredible scoring prowess, lighting up the floor with 38 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists.

Nick Dodd battled through an injury niggle to score 12 important points.

Bathman gave praise to Dupree for his unbelievable game.

‘‘It was one of the better individual performances from an import that I’ve seen,’’ he said.

‘‘For not only his scoring, but his excellent work on defending Calvin Enge.

‘‘Enge is much bigger than him and he contained his presence on the glass.

‘‘And Javaan knocked down two massive, clutch threes and I thought he did a great job of turning things around from Saturday night.’’

Another great sign for the Gators was their ability to withstand a final quarter charge from Keysborough.

Having been 15 points up halfway through the third term, the Gators lost the lead during the fourth.

But an alley-oop from Atem Atem squared the scores at 80, before the Gators went on a 18-9 run to finish off the game.

‘‘Sunday’s game demonstrated that we have the ability to play great basketball,’’ he said.

‘‘We did drop away late with an ordinary patch, but to the boys’ credit, they dug in and got the win.

‘‘The boys stood up under pressure, which is frustrating because we know our best is good enough.

‘‘We just need to work on building consistency over the four quarters.

‘‘Luckily we have a couple of weeks to get it right before finals.’’

The Gators are back at home on Saturday night against the Bellarine Storm.