MELTON will have to win twice on Craigieburn’s home court to advance to the Big V men’s division 2 grand final after a seven-point defeat on Saturday night.
The Thoroughbreds went one-nil down in the best-of-three semi-final series with a 61-68 loss to the Eagles at Melton Indoor Recreation Centre on Saturday night.
Scores were level with 2? minutes remaining but Craigieburn held its nerve to hit the big shots late while Melton couldn’t match it at the other end of the court.
The Eagles got away in the dying stages by converting free-throws as Melton fouled to stop the clock.
The ebb-and-flow was largely Craigieburn getting away and Melton reeling the Eagles in.
Click on the image below for our gallery of the big game.
The game started with Craigieburn getting the jump, only for the Thoroughbreds to peg the difference back to two points at quarter-time.
Craigieburn broke six clear by half-time and kept the lead at three-quarter-time but Marty Pietrykowski led the Melton comeback in the final term.
Shane Moroney (15 points) and Pietrykowski (11 points, nine rebounds) led the scoring for Melton, while key Craigieburn man Rob Toller-Bond scored 16 points to go with 11 boards.
Tip-off at Craigieburn Leisure Centre is 8.15pm on Saturday, while game three if required will be at 1pm on Sunday at the same venue.
– with Sean Dixon
