By Tara Murray
Bacchus Marsh Lions got their season back on track with two wins in the Country Basketball League north-west competition at the weekend.
Coming off their best performance of the season, the Tigers were again in fine form on Saturday night against Maryborough Blazers and then backed it up on Sunday against the Kyneton Tigers.
Now with three wins in a row, Lions coach Jeff Feben said the work they had been doing was starting to show through.
“It’s put our season back on track,” he said. “The last three games we’ve played teams that are above us and they struggled to score.
The first time they scored against us comfortably.
“We’ve come back better after the bye and we’re sharing the ball better. The energy and effort is up and we’ve turned a corner defensively.”
On Saturday night, the Lions beat Maryborough, 64-53.
The Lions led at every break and were 16 points up at three-quarter time.
The Blazers responded in the last quarter, but the Lions held strong.
Billy Feben and Max Beaumont top scored for the Lions with 16 points each.
Jeff Feben said running with three centres in the squad for that match had worked in their favour as they did a lot of hard work.
He said there was some really good energy from the group.
On Sunday, the Lions backed it up against Kyneton with a 24-point win.
The Lions beat the Tigers, 73-49.
Max Beaumont top scored with 17 points, while Jordan Kirk had his best game of the season, scoring 16 points before fouling out.
The Lions got the win despite leading scorer Billy Feben scoring just seven points. Feben said Jordan Kirk and Matt Parker both capped off good weekends and were important in the win.
Taking only two bigs into the game, Pat Craig provided really good support for Sam Byron.
The win moves the Lions into the top four for the first time this season, with four wins and three losses.
It will be another challenge for the Bacchus Marsh Lions this week as they travel to Echuca to face the Echuca Pirates for the first time this season. The Lions will be hoping to get their first win on the road.
“We have to turn our fortunes around when we go on the road as all our wins are at home.
“It will be a tough one for us. If we can bring how we are going at the moment on the road, we should be in with a good chance.”
