BENDIGO Braves coach Ben Harvey says his side's inability to take care of the defensive glass was a key factor in the weekend's 11 point SEABL loss to the Nunawading Spectres.
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The Braves gave up 19 rebounds to the Spectres, with American import Dain Swetalla and Simon Conn accounting for 12 of them.
Sunday loss at Nunawading, which followed a win against Albury-Wodonga in Bendigo on Saturday, dropped the Braves' record to 3-3.
Hobart Chargers lead the south conference at 4-0, ahead of the Dandenong Rangers (3-2) and the Braves.
In the east, Nunawading (6-0) and the Mount Gambier Pioneers are both undefeated.
Harvey said the disappointing thing about the Spectres loss - and that against the Geelong Supercats pre-Easter - was that the Braves were in a position to grab the game.
"We were good enough to do that, but didn't," he said.
"Our short-term was to be 4-2, but when you lose to Nunawading, that loss to Geelong at home really comes back to bite you.
"We win that we are 4-2 and you are happy where your season is at. We are one game behind that right now.
"We gave up 90 points to Nunawading, we need to keep teams to 76 - our defensive assignment wasn't great."
The Braves broke from tradition on Tuesday and trained in the morning instead of night.
Harvey said the mood in the camp was excellent despite the mixed start to the season.
He praised the weekend efforts of American imports Dyami Starks, who ranks second in the league in scoring, and C.J. Aiken, who is the leading rebounder.
"C.J. Aiken had a brilliant weekend and averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds. He had a big game on Sunday," Harvey said.
"He's really starting to get a good feel of the team and his role and Dyami has come back strong from an injury."
"We're not too far away, there are a lot of good signs at the moment."
The Braves have another two games this weekend, with a block of four to be played in nine games.
They host the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence on Friday at Bendigo Stadium, ahead of a road clash against arch-rival Ballarat Miners.