THE Wallan Panthers men endured a see-sawing final period against Melton to claim a gritty one-point win on Saturday night.
Following an even start to the match which saw Melton break away to a four-point lead, the Panthers put 10 straight points in a two-minute stretch to take a 26-21 advantage into the first break.
They held onto the lead throughout the second quarter thanks to 13 first-half points for Luke Cairns, and he added the Panthers first five of the third period to maintain their slight lead.
With the margin reduced to just two with one quarter to play, Melton charged out to go up by seven, but player-of-the-game Cairns threw a dime to Nathan Aikman and then followed up with his fifth three-pointer of the outing to leave things even with three and a half minutes to play.
Wallan held its nerve as best as they could. Melton had an opportunity to steal it right at the end, however they weren’t able to, the Panthers winning 78-77.
Back home at RB Robson Stadium on Sunday, the Panthers hosted a Breast Cancer Network Australia fundraiser for Pink Round, with both their men’s and women’s youth sides taking the court.
The men got it done convincingly against Whittlesea to move to 5-3 for the season, while the women fell to their eighth consecutive loss, going down to Wyndham 68-41.
The senior men continue their extended road trip next week, travelling to Collingwood to take on the All Stars, while the women return from a bye in an away match against Coburg.
The women’s youth side will have another home game, this time against Cragieburn. The men’s youth team will make the long trek up the Hume to take on the Bandits in Wodonga.
