The Seahawks clawed a two-point win over the previously-undefeated Mount Gambier Lakers, to give their top-four hopes a much-needed boost.

Warrnambool’s third win of the season ended a run of three losses and stopped Mount Gambier’s string of triumphs at seven.

A slow start — a Seahawks’ bugbear — had them trailing 20-12 at quarter-time.

They were as much as 10 points down in the second term but steadied to be within two points at the main break.

Warrnambool levelled the scores at 48 apiece at three-quarter-time and edged home in the last, winning 67-65.

Seahawks stand-in coach John Wormald said his team showed great character.

“The kids did unbelievable. It was an excellent team effort,” he said.

“We had four guys who scored double figures — Jake O’Flynn, James Mitchell, Jeremy Bolden and Jack Evans.”

Wormald, who filled in for coach Shane Smith who had minor surgery on Friday, said Warrnambool backed its fitness against a Mount Gambier side which travelled to Portland for a Saturday night fixture.

“We thought we’d try and full-court man (on man) all game to try and wear them down in the last quarter,” he said.

“We rotated our guys every four minutes.

“But in the last minute-and-a-half we had all three talls (Liam Killey, Mitchell and Bolden instead of two) on to protect the ball.”

Wormald said the Seahawks’ defensive pressure was paramount.

Ed Christie and Sam Gray combined to keep Lakers playmaker Simon Berkfeld to 15 points.

“I think he has averaged high 20s or maybe even early 30s,” Wormald said. “Our rebounding made a big difference today.

“They might have only had five or six offensive rebounds.”

Portland Coasters rebounded from a 91-68 loss to Mount Gambier Lakers with a 83-61 victory against Timboon Taipans yesterday.

Coasters guard Joel Mirtschin drained 21 points and his Taipans counterpart Jarryd Watene sunk a game-high 34 points, including four three-pointers.

In the women’s competition, Warrnambool Mermaids suffered a nail-biting one-point loss to Mount Gambier Lakers yesterday.

It was a game of two halves — the Mermaids had a 12-point lead at half-time but the Lakers took control after the main break, to win 57-56.

Experienced duo Katie O’Keefe (20 points) and Renee Tuck (11) led the way for the Mermaids. 

The win made it a double for Mount Gambier, which edged out Portland 60-55 on Saturday night.