Bendigo Men split weekend games

The Bendigo Bank Braves Men showed off their full squad over the weekend for the first time this season, splitting their double header and demonstrating the resilience they are becoming known for.

Bendigo started well against Casey at the Red Energy Arena on Saturday night, dominating the paint early.

Koch Bar and Billy Smythe were strong above the ring, with Mitch Clarke and Rowan Mackenzie finding space in the key on both transition and half-court offence.

Bendigo’s 29-20 quarter-time lead came off the back of 18 points to eight inside the paint, and eight points from both Clarke and Mackenzie.

Import Andrew Robison hit six points to start the second term, with Casey swamping the key and slowing Bendigo down with scrapping defense.

Bendigo went into the half 46-42, desperate for more freedom in offence, but keeping Casey under wraps at the other end.

A fourth foul to Clarke early in the third quarter threatened to derail Bendigo’s good work, but their defense stuck tight, not letting Casey get away and evening-up the term.

Key baskets to Clarke and Smythe early in the fourth opened the floodgates for Bendigo, and a key three to Robinson with three minutes to go stretched their lead to 14.

Bendigo was never headed after that, running out winners 81-64, holding Casey to only 24 points in the second half.

Clarke and Robinson finished the night with 19 points each. Mackenzie (16 points), Barr (13) and Smythe (10) were the other players in double figures.

Bendigo then travelled to Dandenong early the next morning to take on the second-placed Rangers.

A 0-10 start wasn’t what coach Stephen Black was looking for, forcing his chargers to play catchup for the rest of the game.

The resilience the Braves have shown this season was on display yet again against Dandenong, cutting a 14-22 quarter-time deficit to 37-41 at the main break.

Dandenong pushed the game out to more than double figures multiple times in the second half, with Bendigo fighting back but never taking the lead.

A 9-0 run towards the end of the game gave Bendigo some hope, but they fell just short, going down 79-72.

Clarke (17 points), Mackenzie (14) and Smythe (10) were once again the main scorers for Bendigo.

 Black said he was happy with the way his team played against Casey.

“We had really great patches of ball movement and our defense got stronger the longer the game went on,” he said.

“Even when they slowed us down, we stuck to our guns.

“That’s what was pleasing about the third quarter. We were defending well even when we couldn’t get the ball in the hole, then the floodgates opened, and we were in a really good position.”

Black said his team seemed over eager to start the Dandenong game.

“I thought we started anxiously. We were trying to make plays and we weren’t focused on the things we did so well the night before,” he said.

“As the game went on, we would make our push and then weren’t able to respond again. We just couldn’t get enough secondary actions.

“It was an extremely physical game, and they did a good job bumping and grinding.

“This is a great group, and they play hard. Even when we’re not playing as intelligently as we like, we always give it a crack.

“We just couldn’t quite get over the line today.”

Photo - Craig Dilks Photography