The Shoalhaven Tigers have started off their season in dramatic fashion with a one-point win over the Orange Eagles in overtime, off the back of a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Down by three with only a few seconds remaining, the ball would find its way into Eli Matic's hands in the corner off of a solid inbounds play.
The young guard quickly turned and fired the three-pointer, tying the match and sending it into overtime where the Tigers would prevail 66-65.
Head coach Paul Lindeberg said it was a tough physical encounter from the jump.
The Tigers would head into halftime with a narrow lead before extending the margin to a high of 12 in the third quarter.
However, Orange would fight back to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, before the Tigers were able to scratch and claw their way into the winning column.
It was all-round strong effort from the Tigers team with six players scoring seven or more points on the night.
Rory Shepherdson and Corey Walker led the way with 13 and 11 points respectively, while Jack Callaghan (9 points), Isaac Dell (9 points), Eli Matic (9 points) and George Buist (7 points), all had strong outings.
![The 2023 Shoalhaven Tigers have gotten off to a strong start. Picture by Greg Turner The 2023 Shoalhaven Tigers have gotten off to a strong start. Picture by Greg Turner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/157749079/b9c59709-2248-417c-adbc-365f14ee6132.jpg/r0_105_1720_1261_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Speaking on the win, Lindeberg said while he was happy to get the win, he believes the Tigers made it a lot tougher on themselves then it needed to be.
READ MORE:
"We shouldn't have let it get that close, we were up by a dozen at one stage there, we just turned over the ball too much in the paint," he said.
"Orange really played old school, protect the rim/zone style defence and we weren't willing to settle for the eight to twelve foot shot and instead we were taking it into a crowd."
"It was a very very physical game, our composure down the stretch was great considering I wouldn't call it overall a very composed game."
While the flow of the offense wasn't ideal, the aggressiveness and focus on the defensive end made Lindeberg very happy.
"The defensive job we did I think was really really good," he said.
The Tigers forced 28 Orange turnovers and a ridiculous 16 steals in the match.
"That is the type of defense I certainly want to play, making the opposition feel uncomfortable gives you a big advantage."
Talking about the full team scoring effort on the weekend, he said that's the type of approach he hopes to see every game.
"I said to the players that I want ten players to get eight points each and I think that's the attitude we'll have each game," he said.
Lindeberg said the play of guard Jack Callaghan really impressed him on the weekend.
"Jack (Callaghan) continues to impress at both ends of the floor, I thought he did a great job on the weekend."
Speaking on that final play, Lindeberg said he drew up the play so they could have several options for a look from three.
"I drew up the play for three options, so we ran a crossover play off the high post, Rory (Shepherdson) went high, Eli (Matic) went low and then there was also an option for the passer Angus (Glendinning) to step in and take the shot," he said.
"We executed that play so well that we still had around 1.8 seconds left on the clock (initially at 2.1)."
"Angus (Glendinning) made such a quality decision as the in-bounder," Lindeberg said.
"The pass makes the shot, the decision making was quality."
He further added that he hopes the team walks away from this match having learned quite a bit heading into the rest of the season.
"With the way the game ended, I hope they walk away with the lessons from it rather than just the euphoria of the win," Lindeberg said.
"We had the opportunity to make it a hell of a lot easier then it ended up being."
The Shoalhaven Tigers will play their home debut at the Shoalhaven Indoor Sports Centre this weekend March 25 against the Inner West Bulls White at 5pm.