The Senior Men Panthers opened their local league campaign this afternoon against the Beacon Jazz. Panthers were hoping to get off to a winning start after narrowly missing out on the league title last season.
Panthers started the game brightly with high energy and intense offence which immediately put Beacon on the back foot. Martin Sandison led the offence and his driving to the rim and his three point threat gave Beacon a lot to deal with. Beacon stayed patient and eventually they began to get in the game. The mid range shooting of Beacon was on display as they scored shot after shot, and they dominated the rebounds on both ends. A high scoring quarter ended 25-18 to Beacon.
At the start of the second quarter, Panthers struggled to break down a very calm and organised Beacon defence. Again Beacon dominated the rebounds which frustrated Panthers. The introduction of Teejay finally saw Panthers get their hands on rebounds and this completely changed the game and gave Panthers complete control. On offence, Shaun Heer sank 4 threes which won Panthers the quarter 26-10, and put them up at half time 44-35.
The half time break seemed to breath new life into Beacon as their defence was once again very organised and hard to break down. Beacon’s mid range shooting was again on display. A couple of very impressive individual moves from Izzy Sisayan saw Panthers end the third quarter strong and set the game up for a intriguing last quarter.
A few mid range shots and 2 Beacon threes saw the game tied not long into the last quarter. Panthers gave away some cheap fouls which didn’t help them. Beacon started to really put the pressure on Panthers but Shaun and Martin took control on the offensive end and the Panthers rebounded excellently as a team to eventually see the game out winning by 10. For a mutual spectator it was a phenomenal game and credit must go to both teams for playing some high level basketball. Special mention to Jamie Leese who coached the Panthers for the first time today.
FINAL SCORE PANTHERS 83-73 BEACON
Panthers Top Scorers:
Shaun Heer – 27
Martin Sandison – 19
Mateusz Palczywski – 16
Izzy Sisayan – 11
