THE Bendigo Telstra Braves’ winning streak is over and they are now back on the bottom of the South East Australian Basketball League eastern conference ladder.
The Braves were outclassed 96-85 by the in-form Frankston at the Schweppes Centre on Saturday night.
The 11-point loss brought an end to the Braves’ four-game winning streak, with the defeat sending the reigning south conference champions crashing back to the bottom of the ladder with a 7-10 record.
It was Bendigo’s first defeat since it lost by 15 points to Hobart on May 9.
Despite Bendigo’s winning streak, Frankston went into the game as red-hot favourites.
The Blues entered the battle with the Braves with 10 wins in a row and sitting on top of the south conference ladder.
But the Braves served it right up to their more fancied opponents in the first half.
Bendigo scored the opening seven points of the game, with Frankston taking almost five minutes to register its first points of the match through Andrew Harms, who would prove to be the difference between the two sides.
Bendigo went into the first change leading 19-16, and then made its move in the second term on the back of the brilliant long-range shooting of Dustin Bremerman, who the week before had lit up the Schweppes Centre with 49 points against Nunawading.
After spending the first two minutes of the second quarter on the bench, the sweet-shooting Bremerman ignited the Braves when he returned to the court.
Bremerman scored 15 points for the quarter _ four three-pointers and three free-throws _ to help Bendigo establish a 52-41 lead at half-time.But Frankston proved in the third quarter why it’s the most feared side in the SEABL.
The catalyst for the Blues’ revival was 22-year-old guard Harms, who had scored 21 points in the first half.
Like Bremerman did for Bendigo in the second quarter, Harmes scored 15 points in the third term for the Blues and was virtually unstoppable from three-point range.
Harms connected on five three-pointers in the third quarter _ all in the last 5sfr1/2 minutes of the term _ to help the Blues establish a 73-66 advantage and all the momentum at three quarter-time.
Harms alone scored more points in the third quarter than the Braves did.
Bendigo drew level with the Blues at 75-75 with 9:46 left in the last quarter, but when Harms sunk a free-throw, Frankston wouldn’t be headed for the rest of the match.
Bendigo refused to lie down and was within four points with three minutes to go after a three-pointer from Cameron Rigby, but the Blues then scored nine of the last 11 points of the match.
‘‘Frankston really did shut us down from scoring in the third quarter, which set up a great last quarter where they were able to hold onto the lead,’’ Braves coach Wayne Larkins said.
‘‘I wasn’t disappointed with the effort, we tried our hardest, but were beaten by a better side.’’ Harms finished with 45 points for the Blues, which included 10 three-pointers from 16 shots.
Rigby led the Braves with 29 points, including 12 in the last quarter, while he also did an outstanding job in guarding Blues’ big man David Gruber, who finished with 11 points.
Bremerman, who was defended aggressively by the Blues, didn’t score after half-time to finish with 18 points, while Chris Novak battled hard in the paint, scoring 19.
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