By ADEM SARICAOGLU
ALTONA Gators coach Randy Shanklin was confused about a number of key fouls called during his side’s tense eight-point loss to Blackburn on Sunday.
In a physical affair at Altona Sports Centre, the Gators fought hard to keep up with the Vikings for the entire day, but couldn’t hold on to a 71-67 lead with two minutes on the clock, going down 71-79.
After the game, a disappointed Shanklin said there were some key foul-calls that heavily impacted the final outcome.
“No doubt they (Blackburn) took advantage of their opportunities to score when they got them,” Shanklin said.“But sometimes they were afforded a couple of extra opportunities or a trip to the free-throw line, and in a game like that every single point counts.
“Some of the stuff I just don’t understand.“If there was a consistency to how they were playing the game then that would be fantastic, but from one call to the next, one call’s a really aggressive foul that they let go, and they’d call one on the other and it’s pretty much a touch foul and didn’t affect the play.“Then they found them unsportsmanlike fouls, and I don’t even know where they came from.”
Despite that, Shanklin is aware his side’s poor execution in the clutch moments of the game was the main reason why the Gators weren’t celebrating a win against a fellow middle-range Division One Big V club.
“We had some really good opportunities towards the end where we missed a couple of short shots right in front of the ring,” Shanklin said.
“That execution we didn’t have probably hurt us towards the end as well.
“We could have extended that game a bit, but credit to (Blackburn). They actually executed when they had to and we just didn’t at the end of the day.”
While Joey Mausar was impressive again for Altona, Shanklin was keen to point out the impact of Shaun Phelan.
“He got in foul trouble, and even then, a couple of them were phantom fouls, but I thought we did enough to help ourselves while he was out, because he does provide a lot of offense for us around the basket,” Shanklin said.
Earlier in the day, Altona’s women enjoyed their second win of the season with a comfortable 23-point victory over the Hawthorn Magic.
