James Spencer’s best game so far in NBL1-South was not enough to lift Dandenong to a win as his side suffered an 89-91 heartbreaker against Bendigo, Sunday on their home floor.
After averaging just 4.0 points in the Rangers’ first two games, the UP Fighting Maroon had 10 points in the game on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 from distance.
Behind by nine, 74-83, with 3:09 left, Spencer knocked down a booming triple that triggered a 13-6 spurt that knotted the game at 89-all with 28 ticks left.
However, the Braves’ Ray Turner knocked down a clutch bucket to give his side the lead. A desperation triple by Sean Macdonald missed as Dandenong suffered its third straight loss.
Macdonald paced Dandenong with 22 points built on five treys. Declan Soukup added 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Oliver Hayes-Brown tallied 14 points and 12 boards with four steals.
Turner had a monster game for the 2-1 Bendigo with 33 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and an assist.
Brennan Raymer and Javaan Mumtaz had 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Up next for Spencer and the Rangers are the Nunawading Spectres (2-1) on Sunday.
Over in the soon-to-be NBL1-East, Brandon Bates missed Sutherland’s 78-67 win over Inner West, Saturday evening at Netball Central CT6.
The Sharks went up to 2-1.
Bates looks to suit up when they face the Illawarra Hawks on May 8.
