The play-off aspirations of the Ballarat Miners were dealt a blow when they suffered a home defeat, 85-75, against the Hobart Chargers in the SEABL competition (South East Basketball League) on Saturday. The Miners dug themselves a hole in the first half, trailed 40-32 and failed to extract themselves in the second half and have slipped to an 8-8 record.
Everard Bartlett had enjoyed a couple of extremely productive outings of late but Saturday night was a disappointment for the Tall Black’s shooting guard connecting with just 2 of 9 attempts from beyond the arc.
His 9 points were supplemented with 3 rebounds and 6 assists.
Bartlett will return to Auckland this week to participate in the Tall Blacks trials.
Dyson King-Hawea, recently signed from the Taranaki Mountain Airs, contributed 4pts/5rebs/2steals and can expect greater court time if Bartlett is absent from the Miners line up on Tall Blacks duty in the coming weeks.
LACEY LOWDOWN 