BENDIGO Braves coach Ben Harvey has again heaped praise on milestone man Chris Hogan following his side’s 19-point win against Albury-Wodonga Bandits on Sunday.
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The 93-72 win at Bendigo Stadium was the Braves’ second for the weekend.
They opened the weekend with an 89-75 win against reigning champions Mount Gambier Pioneers on Friday night in SEABL game number 400 for Hogan.
The Braves co-captain, who was honoured by the SEABL and his club on Sunday, scored 20 points against the Bandits and landed five of 10 three-point attempts.
He scored 12 in his milestone game.
Harvey was glowing in his praise of his team’s effort to mark the milestone weekend with a pair of wins.
“For there to be only five guys in SEABL history reach 400 games, it couldn’t have happened to a better guy,” he said.
“I think everyone really stepped up for Chris Hogan.
“He himself had 16 points at half time (on Sunday), he was incredible. He set the tone early and he and Daniel Hansen had 35 points between them.
“For us to be successful this year, we’ve got to bat deep. It’s a good problem to have knowing who you have to put on the floor and that’s what we have with this group.
“Our motto is ‘take one for the team’, last week Chris Adkins had 22 points and won the coaches award, this game he played nine minutes – but any guy in this team can step up at any stage.”
The win against Albury-Wodonga further highlighted the all-round brilliance of 2016 league MVP Jeremy Kendle, who scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
It capped a big weekend for fellow American Ray Turner, who backed-up Friday night’s 25-points and 25-rebounds with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
Indiana Faithfull scored 13 points and chimed in with five assists.
Harvey commended the efforts of centre Matt Andronicos those of his bench players, who contributed 20 points against the Bandits, including 15 from Daniel Hansen, and 16 against the Pioneers.
“That’s an awesome effort,” the coach declared.
“Same today, we had 44 stops and on Friday night we had 43 – our defence has been unbelievable.
“Our aim is to keep teams under 76 points and we did that both games. We don’t want it to be a high-scoring contest, we are built on team defence.”
The win leaves the 4-0 Braves, who head to Canberra next weekend for two games, as one of only two undefeated teams alongside Nunawading Spectres (5-0).
