Warrnambool Seahawks have finished third on the Country Basketball League South West Men ladder after a momentum-building 58-70 win against Surfcoast Chargers to cap off the regular season.
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Bouncing back from consecutive losses, James Mitchell's side found its groove at the right time with a dominant second and third period after falling behind at the end of the opening quarter.
At one stage the Seahawks were down 14-2 in the first quarter after being jumped by the home team, but clawed back the momentum to sway the game.
Mitchell said the comeback was a sign of growing maturity and confidence.
"It was the perfect tune up for us, they jumped out quick, so we knew we had a ball game," he said.
"But we did really well, we limited them to 38 points in the last three quarters.
"We found some energy, and it was a good sign of our maturity. We got behind and didn't panic.
"We settled down, got our game plan up and running and did what we had to do.
"We also had guys coming off the bench that gave us really good energy."
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The Seahawks had plenty of winners across the court, with Mitchell scoring 18 points, while Riley Nicolson (13 points) and Mojwok Akoch (11 points) were strong contributors.
Ashley Keen was also important late with a couple of three-pointers as the home side made another charge.
The win sets up a massive semi-final clash on Saturday against Portland Coasters, who finished in second on the table but only by percentage.
"We're really looking forward to it - Portland's always been a bit of a bogey side for us, they've given us some handy defeats," Mitchell said.
"We always look forward to the challenge against those guys, it's always a tough match-up.
"We want to show how far we've come since the start of the season."
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