WARRNAMBOOL Seahawks coach Bobby Cunningham labelled his side flat, despite clawing an 11-point win on Saturday night.
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The Seahawks bounced back from their round two Big V defeat to record a 90-79 win against Altona Gators at the Arc.
Warrnambool was three points adrift at quarter-time but a dominant second term swung the momentum its way.
It outscored Altona by 13 points to have a 10-point buffer at half-time.
The Seahawks extended that advantage to 17 points at the last change before Altona pegged the deficit back in the final term, outscoring Warrnambool 34 to 28 in a high-scoring finish.
Cunningham said he was rapt the Seahawks had produced their second win of the season.
But the first-year mentor admitted his roster lacked spark, with American import Sai’Quon Stone again forced to watch from the sidelines.
Stone has missed the opening three games of the regular season awaiting approval from the immigration department.
“It was a little bit flat in terms of people’s expectations — ours, the crowd’s, everything,” Cunningham said.
“We won the game and were up by 25 points (at one stage) but it still didn’t feel right.
“(There was) expectation and angst of everyone wanting to see Sai’Quon play.
“The only thing that is keeping us from writing a letter is a few teams in the Big V and a few teams in Perth going through the same thing.
“There may not be enough people to process applications.”
Justin Wallace’s emphatic start to the season received another tick, dropping a game-high 20 points.
Liam Killey (14 points), Damian Gray (12), Tim Gainey (10), Joel Mirtschin (10) and James Mitchell (10), all hit the scoreboard in an even team performance.
Gainey had nine assists and Simon O’Keefe seven steals and 10 rebounds.
“It was a good win. We had people step up,” Cunningham said.
“We had five or six guys in double figures and if they weren’t in double figures they had about eight or six.
“The ball was shared around. Tim was the play-maker and set everyone up. They won the first quarter and then we turned the screws up a bit.
“I think the guys are playing hard and trying hard as a team.”
The Seahawks host Geelong Supercats at the Arc on Saturday.
Tip-off is 7pm.
justine.mc@fairfaxmedia.com.au