By Marcus Uhe
Casey Cavalier hearts collectively broke on Saturday night following a three-point loss in overtime to Ballarat.
Trailing by three with seven seconds remaining, Mason Perry found Blake Taylor wide open on the left wing, after a clever play that appeared designed for Patrick Emilien – saw Taylor lose his defender in traffic when the ball was inbounded.
The perfect pass from Perry landed perfectly in Taylor’s awaiting hands, before he turned, set his feet and nailed the shot without any hesitation.
An inventive play after the ensuing timeout saw Ballarat get a great look under the rim, but Tyler Rudolph was unable to make the angles work in his favour and missed the rim entirely, sending the game to overtime with the scores tied at 85.
A poor final minute of the opening quarter saw the Cavs slump to a 10-point deficit, having matched the Minors for much of the period.
Needing a lift in the second, they found an x-factor off the bench in Emilien.
The 23-year-old scored 16 points in the second quarter after coming off the bench to add a real spark to the Cavs’ line-up.
He made four three-pointers and added a huge dunk, after grabbing a steal and running the length of the court.
They finished the half with a three-point lead, setting the table for an enthralling second half.
Both sides remained neck-and-neck with one-another for the remainder of the game, with Casey’s seven point lead midway through the last quarter the largest the margin grew to in either team’s favour.
While Ballarat struggled to make shots from the midrange, they were deadly from behind the three-point line, shooting 63 per cent during the second half compared to 25 from inside.
The Miners finished the contest with a far superior three-point percentage (52.6 to 35.7), and through Rudolph they continued their hot shooting in overtime.
Rudolph scored eight of the Miners’ nine points in overtime, and while he had a steady hand, the Cavaliers were clearly nervous.
They missed their first three shots of overtime and didn’t score until two minutes into the period.
Emilien left his hot shooting hand in regulation time, missing all three shots that he took in the period and committing one turnover.
He missed a floater with 45 seconds on the clock to tie the scores at 93, but a miss from Ballarat at the other end meant they remained in the hunt.
With six seconds on the clock, Taylor drove to his right and missed a layup before fouling on the layup attempt.
The Cavs were forced to foul in order to attempt to regain the ball, but a side-line infraction from Emilien gifted Ballarat a technical foul shot.
The recipient missed the shot, but the next foul finally put the visitors on the free-throw line.
Jack Davidson missed the first but made the second, giving Casey one second on the clock to shoot another three to tie the game.
Jack Perry inbounded to Djitte at halfway but the pass was too tall even for the giant centre, and slipped through his hands out of bounds.
Emilien finished with 34 points and five rebounds on Cavaliers debut on 60 per cent shooting, making the most of his debut in navy blue.
Djitte did what Djitte does, too, recording a huge double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds.
The women’s contest was not as nail-biting, losing by 13 in regulation.
The Cavs were outscored by 10 in the first half and never recovered, losing the rebound battle by 11 and assists by 9.
Rachel Bell led the Cavs in scoring with 19.
A pair of road games await next weekend, as they travel to Eltham and Bendigo.
