Kilsyth Cobras’ Adam Jackson scored an impressive 18 points but couldn’t push his team over the line.
By Ben Turner
KILSYTH Cobras suffered a 108-97 loss at the hands of the Brisbane Spartans in round two of the SEABL season.
The sky opened up for Chris Goulding and the Spartans as a series of long threes rained on the Cobras home opener.
In front of big crowd on Hugh McMenamin Court, the Cobras were looking to repeat the success of first round match and in a closely contested first quarter, showed positive signs.
Chris Cameron (20) and Joe Werner (15, 9 rebounds) connected from downtown early as the Cobras took the early lead 30-27 in a high scoring opening term.
Cobras junior Ash Cannan (14) returned to the Snakepit with the Spartans and showed his class early but after he got into foul trouble it was his team mate in the middle that caused the Cobras problems.
Greg Vanderjagt (19, 13 rebounds) proved to be a tough match up for the Cobras as Quincy Henderson and Joe Werner were both forced to sit with foul trouble.
Adam Jackson (18, 5 rebounds) provided a much needed spark off the bench during the second term and kept the Cobras in the game as they took a 56-55 lead into the half.
It was all Goulding (33, 7/11 3pt) in the third as he rained on the Cobras with four three-pointers to break the game wide open and allow the Spartans to build a 15 point lead going into the final term.
Kilsyth battled hard in the fourth quarter to pull back the margin as it fluctuated between 11 and 18.
A Chris Cameron three on the full time buzzer made the margin 11 and handed the Cobras the first loss of the 2009 season.
Brisbane moved to 3-0 with the win that signalled their intentions for 2009.
Coach Grant Wallace was disappointed with the result but highlighted the quality of the Spartans line up.
With the team shooting at just 57 per cent from the free-throw line he will be preaching to his players about the importance of free throws in the coming weeks.
The Cobras return to the court next Saturday night against their arch-rivals the Knox Raiders as both clubs battle for the Cystic Fibrosis Cup at Knox Stadium.
The women are scheduled for 6pm while the men will take to the court at 8pm.
The Cobras will return home for the Tasmania invasion on Sunday 5 April taking on the reigning champions Hobart Chargers from 2pm.
