Jaguars continued their league season tonight with a thought fought game against the Aberdeen Masters. Jags were looking to finally get their first win. The game started a nightmare for Jags as they were sloppy on both ends. Jags rushed the offence as they settled for contested shots, and their shot selection was poor. On the defensive end, Jags gave away easy baskets under the rim as they switched off on backdoor cuts made by the Masters. Masters in minutes were up 10-0. Shaun Heer’s willingness to finally attack the rim saw Jags get points off free throws from drawing fouls, and off of drive and kicks for shots. A disastrous start left Jags down 23-7.
Jags rotated the bench, and it seemed to work as the subs came on to good use. Aldwin Villareal made his return from a 6 month injury layoff, and his driving to the rim and link up play saw Jags begin the catchup. Jags took the game to within 9 points and it stayed this way for the majority of the quarter. Despite this, an awful end to the quarter in the final few minutes, saw Jags go into half time down 23-41.
Jags knew a big second half was needed, but knew they were more than capable. Craig Campbell ran riot against the Masters defence as they failed time and time again to find a way to deal with him. His post play and offensive rebounding saw him gain a quick 8 points. Fergus Cran gave Jags a string of points as he showed excellent vision on cuts from his teammates. The Jags gained momentum of the game as they went in the fourth confident, but still with a job to be done down 46-65.
Jags confidence and momentum of the game continued over into the fourth as Matthew Blackwood proved tough for Masters to deal with on the fast break, as he had done all game. Fergus’ defensive rebounding dominance gave Masters absolutely nothing easy in the paint and his outlet passing gave Jags plenty of opportunities to attack the rim on the other end. Just as Jags looked to finally take the game back in their teach, former Panthers Dane Anderson and Nick Ruta came up clutch when it mattered as they hit the all important baskets to stretch the Masters lead, a lead Jags could not catch up with. It was a tough lesson learned by the Jags, as they found out the hard way that a very poor start can come back and haunt you. Nevertheless, the boys gave it their all from start to finish.
FINAL SCORE JAGS 60-77 MASTERS
Jags Top Scorers:
Craig Campbell – 14
Shaun Heer – 13
Jordan Ross – 10
Matthew Blackwood – 8
