A third win for its division one men’s Big V campaign means the Gators have elevated off the bottom of the table after an offensive explosion secured a nine-point win over Altona on Saturday.
Both sides nicknamed the Gators had high shooting percentages in the first term, but it was Altona that looked to run away early as it took an eight-point advantage in the first few minutes.
However, Shepparton would grind its way back into the contest and draw within two points before the quarter-time buzzer sounded.
The visitors continued to make a charge on Altona in the second term, with an unanswered nine-point scoring run that provided Shepparton the lead at half-time, a two-possession advantage of four points.
It was following the main break where the Gators produced their best work though.
With a scoring avalanche that saw Shepparton shoot at a ridiculous 64 per cent clip from downtown, the Gators at one stage had a 15-point scoring run to blow Altona out of the swamp’s water.
Shepparton’s defence held firm also, limiting the host to one score inside the paint in the quarter, as the Gators found avenues to score inside the arc also, notching 12 in the key.
Shepparton coach Sam Gebauer said the third quarter success was off the back of the Gators exposing Altona’s weaknesses that the club had scouted in the lead-up, allowing for fluent counter-attacks.
“We took some time to get into the game, but we had done a lot of scouting on how they play and the third quarter was where we really found them out,” Gebauer said.
“Altona like to shoot a lot of threes, they don’t shoot them super well, but if you leave them to get comfortable they can light you up.
“If we played through the on-ball screens and forced them to take lower quality shots we felt we could get them on the counter-attack, which plays to our strength of offensive transition too.”
Additionally, it meant spectators were blessed with the Josh Kooiman show.
The Gators captain stunned the home crowd with five threes in the term off seven attempts, plus a lay-up added into the mix also.
“Kooiman is an elite IQ player and can create for himself or for others,” Gebauer said.
“He was key in creating scoring opportunities for us and mismatches for them defensively.”
Bench player Isaac Jones made the most of his minutes with two threes, a tip-in and a floater in the third term alone, assisting in taking Shepparton’s score from 51 to 90 in 10 minutes.
Altona had been death rolled by a fellow Gators outfit and desperately sought a pause in play to stop Shepparton’s momentum.
Yet two timeouts did not help its cause and Shepparton waltzed into the final huddle with a swagger only a 39-point quarter can give.
Leading by 21 at three-quarter time, perhaps a touch of complacency kicked in as Altona more than halved the lead by the final buzzer, but it never came close to threatening Shepparton again – the Goulburn Valley’s Gators marching to the tune of a 97-106 victory, their first score in triple figures this season.
In the division two women’s Big V competition, Shepparton fell by 14 points to Mornington.
The Gators battled commendably for three quarters, trailing by two at the final change of ends, but a 19-7 last quarter saw the Breakers blast away for their fifth triumph of the season.
Shepparton faces Coburg in women’s and men’s on the road in round 15.
Should the men’s Gators defeat the Giants, the pair will draw level on its record and give Shepparton the chance to move up the ladder yet again.
“It’s a must-win for us to get out of the bottom two and avoid relegation,” Gebauer said.
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