BENDIGO Braves coach Ben Harvey has set his team a goal of being 4-2 at the end of round four.
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The target follows a flat 11 point loss to the Geelong Supercats at Bendigo Stadium on Saturday night.
A tired-looking Braves trailed the Supercats by only three points at half time, but slumped to their second loss of the season when they could not work their way back into the contest.
The loss leaves the Braves with a 2-2 win-loss record heading into the Easter break.
Back-to-back matches against the Albury-Wodonga Bandits in Bendigo and Nunawading Spectres (away) lie ahead for the Braves on April 22 and 23.
While Friday night's win over the Sandringham Sabres could not have been any better for a team missing its leading scorer Dyami Starks and co-captains Chris Hogan and Taylor Bell, the Supercats could not have been more disappointing for Harvey.
"We didn't shoot the ball well, being five from 26 from the three-point line wasn't great," he said.
"We just ran out of steam. Both teams played the night before, but that's no excuse for us.
"We were just flat, Geelong basically started well and we could never peg it back.
"The frustrating thing was only being down by three at half time and I thought we hadn't played well.
"We had our opportunities, but they had 19 offensive rebounds."
The Braves were led by import C. J. Aiken, with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Point guard Adam Doyle backed-up his impressive game against Sandrigham to contribute 13 points, four rebounds and five assists, while Kevin White had nine points, eight rebounds and five assists in what is anticipated to be his last game for the Braves this season.
For Geelong, captain Nathan Herbert scored 25 points, while import guard DeMarcus Gaitlin had 15 points and nine rebounds.
While the Braves continued to be undermanned, Harvey said he and the playing group were continuing to remain positive.
While unwilling to use injuries as an excuse, he was hoping for some better news on the medical front.
"I think Chris Hogan and Dyami Starks will be back for that weekend double header, but I'm not sure about Taylor (Bell)," Harvey said.
"There's no doubt we're missing (an average) 43 points per game, but I'm not the type who goes looking for excuses.
"We have other guys who need to step up and take opportunities.
"We were just very lethargic. The guys didn't give up, that something the Braves always prides themselves on, but we just had a lot of lapses."
Hobart leads the Braves' South Conference with three wins from as many games.