Lithgow Workies Lazers' play-off chances are in the lap of the gods following a hard-fought Spalding Waratah League Division One Men's Basketball competition loss to the Bankstown Bruins in Bankstown.
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The Bruins, boasting several veteran one-time NBL calibre players, ended Lithgow's six-game winning streak with a 103-96 victory.
Bankstown hit the first basket to lead 2-0 but Lithgow's starters, Michael Johnson, Darreon Tolliver, Michael Cox, Adam Marjoram and Fletcher Swift, produced 12 unanswered points to go ahead 12-2 and looked to be doing it easy at 23-13 with three-and-a-half minutes left in the first quarter.
The Lazers seemed to move away from their game plan at that point, and the Bruins were able to reduce the gap to a single digit margin, 26-25, at the quarter break.
Lithgow's bench players, Matt Hughes, Kobe Hunter, Hayden Cox and Mitchell Brain, held their own against the more experienced Bruins, and helped take the lead out to five twice, 32-27 and 36-31, in the second period.
The Lazers still held sway at 42-38 but a 9-0 Bankstown run saw the Bruins starting to get on top at 47-42. A late fightback from the visitors had them down 53-52 at the half.
The third stanza saw the teams slugging it out like two heavy-weight boxers, with the lead changing hands no fewer than 10 times, before the home side carried an 82-78 advantage into the final quarter.
The Bruins maintained the gap at five or six for much of the final period until Lithgow gave themselves a chance of snatching it when they trailed by one, 92-91, with less than four minutes remaining. Bankstown's guile came to the fore though, and they controlled the ball better in the dying moments to pull clear, winning 103-96.
Best for Bankstown were Paul Labua with 27 points, Fletcher Mullen 23 and Svetomir Gavrilovic 22.
The Lazers are currently level with Shoalhaven and Bankstown in fourth place with ten wins. Unfortunately, both of those sides hold the tie-breaker over Lithgow should they finish on equal wins.
To progress, Lithgow must win their last game and hope that Orange pull off the upset of the season away to Shoalhaven, and top side Sutherland account for the Bruins.
The Lazers travel to Queanbeyan this Saturday for their final regular season game, hoping for a win and the other results to go their way. Tip-off is at 4pm.
Result: Bankstown Bruins 103 def Lithgow Lazers 96 (M Johnson 28, M Cox 20, D Tolliver 20, M Hughes 9, F Swift 9, A Marjoram 8, K Hunter 2).
Pool A Standings: Sutherland 14 wins, 3 losses, Canberra 13-4, Illawarra 13-4, Lithgow 10-7, Shoalhaven 10-7, Bankstown 10-7, Queanbeyan 8-9, Wagga 4-13, Orange 2-15, Dubbo 1-16.
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