The Seahawks suffered a heartbreaking double overtime loss yesterday ending their hopes of a grand final berth in the Big V division one men’s competition.
In the third of the three-game semi-final playoff, the Seahawks led most of the game and were up 51-42 going into the final quarter, but Melbourne University surged in the dying minutes to make it 64-all at full-time.
It took two overtime periods for the thrilling game to be decided.
Playing-coach Tim Gainey said cracks began to form in the side as the pressure mounted to win.
Gainey said the Seahawks “battled” yesterday following a game-two loss to Melbourne on Saturday night, but couldn’t get over the line.
“(Melbourne) hit a couple of threes in a row in double overtime and we missed some shots we usually make,” he said.
“We were swinging the ball around and making them work on their defence but we could have taken better care of the ball in the last two minutes.”
Following the Seahawks win a fortnight ago they went to Melbourne University Sports Centre on the weekend needing one win for a grand final slot.
The Seahawks were steamrolled 84-56 on Saturday night and yesterday’s final score was 83-79 to Melbourne University.
The Black Angels suffocated the Seahawks' scoring opportunities across the weekend, keeping Gainey to a season-low nine points on Saturday night and 10 points yesterday. Chad Yates was also restricted to nine and 14.
The Seahawks match on Saturday produced some worrying figures, with three-point shooting at just 13.6 per cent compared to Melbourne’s at 60 per cent. The Seahawks managed to hit just 18 of 70 field goal attempts.
On Saturday Melbourne got away early and by half-time were up by 13 points. A third quarter domination saw Melbourne shoot 25 points to the Seahawks’ 12.
Yesterday the Seahawks won the first three quarters, but were outgunned 22-13 in the fourth quarter.
In the first overtime period, both teams scored six points, forcing another overtime. But in the final overtime, the Black Angels outscored the Seahawks 13-9.
Gainey said the Seahawks would take the loss into the off-season and “get stronger”.
“Most of the guys are pretty young and fit so we will focus on that in the off-season and come back next year and get over the line, into the grand final and win it,” Gainey said.
It was the Seahawks first finals campaign in three years.
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