By Jackson Russell
Whittlesea Pacers’ men split their back-to-back games this weekend, beating Melbourne University Black Angels 88-80 on the road Saturday night, before going down to Warrandyte Venom 73-68 at home.
Apart from a couple hiccups early, Whittlesea led for much of their trip to Melbourne Uni.
A 14-0 run saw the Pacers take a 13 point lead in the second period before the Black Angels brought it back to within six points at half-time.
A 33-17 third quarter gave Whittlesea a 22-point lead through three quarters but Melbourne Uni fought back hard as a 20-4 run reduced the margin to six points late in the fourth.
Two clutch free throws from Nathan Freeman (10 points, four rebounds, five assists) sealed the game for Whittlesea.
Dominic Bruno led the Pacers with 21 points and three rebounds off the bench while Emmerson Potts-Broughton had 20 points and six rebounds.
With only about 16 hours to get ready for another game, Whittlesea had a tough ask against second-placed Warrandyte Venom.
To the Pacers’ credit, they were right in it for much of the game and only down by double-digits in the fourth period before bringing it to within three points with an 8-0 run late.
Potts-Broughton brought it within five points with a big three-pointer and import Hakeem Simon followed up soon after with a dunk.
It wasn’t enough as Warrandyte sealed the game with two free throws.
Potts-Broughton led the Pacers with 17 points and nine rebounds while Simon was strong inside with 11 points and nine rebounds.After a breakthrough win last week, the Pacers’ women went down to Bulleen Boomers 72-68 at home on Saturday night.
It was a hard-fought game as neither side led by more than eight points until late in the fourth.
Whittlesea was in control with a five-point lead midway through the third but the Boomers chipped away at the lead and took their own four-point lead into the last break.
The two sides traded buckets throughout the fourth but Bulleen was able to knock down shots and extend the margin to 10 points.
A 6-0 run by Whittlesea brought it back to four points but that’s where it would stay as the Pacers ran out of time.
Import Dani Reinwald had a massive game with 21 points and an incredible 24 rebounds while Rachel Bell dropped 31 points for the Pacers.
