MAITLAND LOSE HOME SEMI
Mustangs lose home semi
02 Aug, 2010 08:36 AM
The Maitland Mustangs let a home semi-final slip on the weekend when they lost both matches during their double header in Sydney.
The Mustangs went down 95-88 to the ninth-ranked Hills Hornets on Saturday before slumping to an 82-75 defeat against the Parramatta Wildcats yesterday.
The back-to-back losses saw the Mustangs fall from third spot into fifth as they finished on equal points with Bankstown and Newcastle (32).
Under the Waratah ABL rules final placings are decided by for-and-against between the tied teams from their regular season matches.
Mustangs coach Luke Boyle said he believed the Bankstown Bruins had claimed fourth spot following their 91-83 win over Newcastle in June.
The Mustangs wins against the Hunters and Bruins should put them into fifth spot, with rivals Newcastle finishing in sixth.
Boyle said their two losses meant the Mustangs would travel back to Sydney on Saturday night to tackle the Parramatta Wildcats for the second time in six days.
He said their weekend had a horror start when a scheduling mix-up saw Maitland arrive at Hills Basketball Stadium at 5pm, only to have to run straight on and play.
“It was a pretty bad start to the weekend,” Boyle said.
“We thought we played at 7pm but they (Hills) said the game was meant to start at 5pm.
“So the boys didn’t get a chance to warm-up or prepare or anything.”
Things got a great deal worse for the Mustangs two minutes into the game when centre Andrew Mortimer broke his hand.
“It was really disappointing considering we beat that team by 30 the last time we played them,” Boyle said.
“We just couldn’t get into the game and they played well to their credit in their last game of the year.”
Scott McGregor (32 points and 11 rebounds) and Daniel Proctor (24 points, six rebounds and two assists) starred for Maitland.
Boyle said he was pleased with his team’s defence on Sunday against the Wildcats but dissatisfied with their inability to score.
“We kept them below 90, which is what we wanted to do,” he said.
“But we shot at 38 per cent and you can’t win games against teams like Parramatta shooting that low.”
McGregor again top-scored with 28 points while Ken Artist shot 21.
The Mustangs qualified for their first Waratah ABL semi-finals but will play sudden death basketball for the rest of the season.
They will have to beat Parramatta this weekend in Sydney for a chance to play in the semi-final and grand final in Newcastle a week later.
Last Modified on 12/08/2010 08:49
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