The Warriors MMBL teams were back at it in round 16 as both teams head towards the finals race with the Premier Men on the road and Division 1 Men at home.

The Premier Men headed to Waverley to take on the undefeated Falcons who feature BIG V Championship All-Star Ivan Platenik with the last meeting finishing in a 56-56 draw.

While a completely different line-up was on show for the Warriors from the previous contest, the squad started slowly but kept touch in the first term. In the second quarter a concerted defensive effort turned the momentum back in the Warriors favour suffocating the Falcons and headed into the main break with the lead.

As the third began Savin Lopez stepped up offensively, while Jay Richardson and Daniel Stow shared the defensive responsibility on Platenik as both teams were locked in an arm wrestle. With three minutes remaining the Falcons took their first lead since early stages of the first and went into the last change up seven points.

In the last quarter the Warriors continued to chip away at the lead but in the end couldn’t reel in the home side eventually going down 52-56 with all players pushing to the end.

The Division 1 Men were once again shorthanded with some players unavailable and long time Warrior Leon Stapley needing some time to recover from a niggling ankle injury.
The young Warriors line-up struggled to get the scoreboard ticking over early and despite matching the visitors basket for basket in the last, the damage had already been done going down 31-46.

Coach's Comment (Premier Game):
We had plenty of chances to seal the deal but tonight was another good learning curve for the boys at really valuing possession and staying on task for the full 40 minutes.

Defensively we were rock solid all night, holding them to 56 which only one other team has been able to do in 15 games so we take plenty away from the contest especially knowing it was an area where we were very vulnerable prior to Christmas.