By Marcus Uhe
A bizarre seven-minute stretch where the Casey Cavaliers were unable to score proved costly in their NBL1 loss to Knox on Saturday night.
Despite doubling their opponent’s score in the first quarter, Dave Peters’ side fell 14 points short in the finish, going down 60-74 at the State Basketball Centre.
Casey scored the first seven points of the game, taking advantage of the gaps in the court as Knox’s strategy to pick their opponents up a long way from the basket raised eyebrows.
The offence was humming early, largely due to Preston Bungei and Malcolm Bernard’s shooting prowess.
The second quarter was where things began to unravel.
Knox were able to settle into their half-court offence and tightened the screws on the Cavs on the other end.
Centre, Sidy Djitte’s jumpshot gave the Cavs a 16-point lead with 5.12 remaining in the half.
It would be their last basket for seven minutes, when Bungei broke the drought with a jumper of his own two minutes into the third term.
During their scoreless run, Knox managed 16 of their own to tie the scores at 34.
It proved to be a sign of things to come for the remainder of the contest as the hosts scored 45 points in the second half to Casey’s 26, meaning the 22-11 first quarter was a distant memory come the final buzzer.
Knox had a more even spread of scoring than the Cavaliers, as four players scored in double figures compared to just the two in sky blue.
The Cavaliers will need to work on their rebounding at practice this week, having fallen a monster 25 shy of their hosts.
Significantly, the offensive rebound total read 22-7 in Knox favour, leading to plenty of second-chance scoring opportunities.
Casey’s women also suffered a similar fate, relinquishing a fast start to fall 16 points short, 65-81.
The Cavaliers opened the game on a 12-2 scoring run and shot well from beyond the arc to take a 25-19 lead into the first break.
Stephanie Blicavs was a spark off the bench, nailing three three-point shots of her own for a quick nine points.
Like their male counterparts, however, they closed the half without scoring in the final five minutes as they were stuck on 35.
A three to Taylah Giliam two minutes into the third term ended an 14-0 run for the Raiders, but by that point the home side were rolling.
The scoring disparity across the second and third quarters read 45-23 in Knox’s favour, with the third quarter a particularly stark 27-13.
The Cavs were able to match the Raiders in scoring during the final term, but the damage had already been done.
In similar fashion to the men’s game, Casey’s women also grabbed 25 rebounds less than their opponents, a concerning number for coach Alex Palazollo.
The women are yet to get their first win of the campaign and sit anchored to the bottom of the table, where the men sit 13th at 2-4.
Both sides will be hoping that the familiar surrounds of Casey Stadium will help them return to winning ways when they host interstate visitors from North West Tasmania on Saturday night.
