THE importance of defence was evident as Warrnambool Seahawks split their Big V double-header at the weekend.
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The Seahawks defeated Melbourne University 85-65 at the Arc on Saturday and fell to Bellarine Storm 104-89 on the road on Sunday.
Coach Alex Gynes said his side suffocated Melbourne University but gave a dangerous Storm side too much space.
"(Saturday night) was great, defensively we did a great job and there was a good spread of scoring," he said.
"(Sunday) we put 89 points on the board which would probably give us a win against most teams but we had a few defensive lapses and were a bit sluggish in our defensive rotations.
"Full credit to Bellarine, they shot the lights out."
Gynes, who only suited up against the Storm, said the Seahawks would heed lessons from their loss to Bellarine.
"They are probably a class above Melbourne Uni. They probably showed us up on our defensive rotation and intent," he said.
"We were a little bit sluggish in the third quarter. We won two out of four quarters and the third quarter they got the better of us.
"It was a lapse that put us behind by 12 or so points."
Riley Nicolson - one of the Seahawks' young players - said the Seahawks displayed strong team work to down Melbourne Uni.
The teenager scored 18 points in the win.
"We all chipped in when we needed to," Nicolson said.
"We were able to lock in defensively all night. From the start we wanted to hold them to 12 points a quarter and we kept them relatively close to that which was a really good effort by everyone," he said.
Nicolson said they couldn't maintain consistency against Bellarine.
"We kept it pretty close for the first half but the second half we just slipped up for a couple of minutes here and there," he said.
The Seahawks have more double-headers on their schedule.
"It is a tricky one - you have to take one game at a time and tick a box on the Saturday," Gynes said.
"We try and prepare the best we can for both games but there's no point worrying too much about the Sunday until you get the win on the Saturday."
Former coach Tim Gainey was instrumental against Melbourne University, scoring an equal game-high 18 points along with Nicolson.
Ollie Bidmade was the best-performed Seahawk in their loss to Bellarine, top-scoring with 21 points, while James Mitchell impressed with his hustle.
"We were down a little bit at the end of the third (against Bellarine) and Ollie came out and hit four three-pointers in a row to get us back into the game," Gynes said.
"His energy on defence and his rebounding has been fantastic and James is doing a really good job playing his role, cutting hard off the ball and getting himself to the ring and to the foul line as well."
Mermaids' Molly McKinnon (19 points) and Grace Rodgers (18) were gallant in their 72-62 loss to Melbourne University at the Arc on Saturday night.
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