Geraldton Buccaneers’ coach proud despite loss in NBL1 West to Lakeside Lightning

The Geraldton Buccaneers couldn’t harness the luck of their home court at the weekend, with the reigning State Champions losing to top-five team Lakeside Lightning.

Round six of the NBL1 West competition saw the Buccs struck down 82 points to 60.

Corey Shervill, the league’s top scorer with an average of 26.5 points per game, was brilliant for the Lightning with 29 points after hitting two threes the night before for the Perth Wildcats against the Cairns Taipans.

A late starter on the side, Dylan Myers was named most valuable player after being the Buccs’ top-scorer with 16 points, hitting the court on Saturday night after recently moving back to Geraldton.

But Mathiang Muo struggled to emulate his strong performance from last week and was knocked out of the top four scorers in the league to number 15, which was rounded out by Lightning’s Julius Bowie with a 22-point average.

Geraldton Buccaneers’ buzzer-beating three-point shot reviewed by NBL1 West League

Olympian and NBL champion Damian Martin in line-up for Mid West sport forum in Geraldton

Could women’s Geraldton Buccaneers team make State Basketball League return?

Runner-up MVP and team captain Mat Wundenberg played well up against the 198cm tall centre Jarrad Prue, the league’s No.1 rebounder.

Buccs coach Dayle Joseph said he was proud of the fight his team was able to put up.

“They’re probably one of the teams to beat, we were right in it at three-quarter-time and everything was working for us with our defensive structures,” he said.

“We hoped we could have a crack in the fourth quarter but we had some foul troubles and a few calls didn’t go our way.

“Corey Shervill caught us by surprise, his impact was massive, but I thought we played well defensively as a team.”

The Buccs dropped to 11th on the ladder and will have another challenge at home this weekend against second placed Perry Lakes Hawks.