Despite sitting three wins ahead of the Seahawks on the table, the five-hour road trip to Warrnambool was never going to be an easy task, with the Gators simply overwhelmed by the ferocious intent of the home side.
With head coach Josh Waight missing the trip down south, assistant Troy Lundberg took the reins and said the performance left a lot to be desired.
“We came up against a tough and big group in Warrnambool and to be perfectly honest they just out-hustled us,” Lundberg said.
“They wanted it more than us, they got more rebounds, got more loose balls and shot the ball very well.
“We thought we had prepared well enough for the trip, but obviously that wasn’t the case.”
The Gators showed no signs of fatigue from their five-hour road trip in the opening stages, going toe-toe with the fired-up Seahawks to take a narrow two-point lead into the first change.
But it was the second quarter where things started to go awry for the visitors, as Warrnambool got on top at both ends of the floor to produce a 22-11 run and open up a double-digit half-time margin.
“We didn’t score for the first five minutes of the second quarter which really hurt us and we had a couple of turnovers as well that swung things their way,” Lundberg said of his team’s efforts in the second term.
“We had 10 empty possessions to start the second, so that is just not good enough and brutal in the way the game went along.”
Faced with a hefty deficit and hostile crowd, Shepparton managed to work its way back into the contest courtesy of star recruit Garrett Jefferson, who finished the night with 28 points.
“We did a really good job of getting back into it, led by Garrett Jefferson who after a poor first half came out and took over the game,” Lundberg said.
“It all sort of kicked off with his defence, I think he got three steals in the third quarter which led to fast breaks and stuff.
“We were really happy with what he gave us.”
But whenever the Gators looked like taking control, the Seahawks would step up with some clutch buckets, with the margin reading an even 10 points when the final buzzer sounded.
After a hot-start to the season, New Zealand export Dylan Wilkie was held to just five points, with the Seahawks doing a great job curtailing the sharp-shooter.
“They did a really good job of defending him, they knew what type of shooter he is and did a great job limiting his looks,” Lundberg said.
“Unfortunately for us everybody is on to him, they know what he can do and we didn’t do a good enough job helping him out.”
The Gators will be desperate to respond with a big double-header this weekend, beginning with a home clash against Melbourne University on Saturday night, before making the trip to Corio Bay for a Sunday afternoon fixture against the Stingrays.
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