Eastern Mavericks 73 | West Adelaide Bearcats 85

 

A huge 29-point debut from import Dee Oldham has led West Adelaide to a 12-point victory over the Eastern Mavericks at the Adelaide Hills Recreation Centre on Saturday Night.

 

The match was a physical affair, with plenty of strong hits and some gigantic dunks providing more than enough entertainment for those packed into the centre.

 

With just the one victory last season, the Mavericks were looking to match that tally with a good performance in Round 1, and Zachary Lovell had the hosts off to a brilliant start, burying an early triple to put his team on the front foot. The lead did not last though, as Oldham (29 points, 11 rebounds), laid down a substantial dunk and a three in quick succession to take his side to a 14-21 point lead at quarter time.

 

An impressive alley-oop finished by Oldham highlighted his presence, but the Chattanooga recruit had no support as Eastern made their move. A livid McLean blasted his contingent after his side let their lead slip, finding themselves down by eight at the half, 38-31.

 

Eastern were beginning to show signs of consistency, as their female counterparts had shown earlier, but Lucas Valk (14 points) changed the outcome of the match with some brilliant three point shooting in the all-important championship quarter. Valk had three consecutive buckets from the arc to restore his side’s advantage. West Adelaide were beginning to take control of the match, and a huge collision between Oldham, Sbroiavacca and McGee (14 points), did nothing to slow the momentum shift, as the visitors built a 53-62 lead at the final break.

The hosts desperately required a hero to get anything valuable from this game, and Lachlan Barker’s four triples in the fourth term came close to influencing the result. But a lack of communication, coupled with untimely inexperience, proved to be the downfall of the Mt Barker outfit. A layup and one for Harold Ridgeway (12 points) sealed and stamped the result, with the favoured Bearcats proving too strong for a valiant Mavericks side, who showed plenty and are sure to surpass their atrocious 1-20 record last season.

 

Fresh off their success, the West Adelaide Bearcats will return home to Port Adelaide next Saturday Night, whilst the Mavericks travel to Starplex to battle the Central Districts Lions.