Toowoomba Mountaineers fall short in weekend double header

The Toowoomba Mountaineers men left to rue costly mistakes after a big weekend of action. Here’s our look at the talking points from the QSL team’s massive weekend double header.

Jacob Davis made his long awaited return for the Toowoomba Mountaineers at the weekend. Picture: Capture The Dog Photography

The Toowoomba Mountaineers men’s side will be left ruing what could have been as they suffered two defeats in their double-header on the weekend.

The Mountaineers have now lost four games in a row and face a crucial match next week in order to turn the early season slide around.

Check out the biggest talking points from the clashes here.

Foul trouble

The Mountaineers were their own worst enemy in both games as they made countless fouls, sending their opponents to the line on several occasions.

In the first game against Southern Districts, the Mountaineers scored the exact same amount of field goals as their opponents, yet amazingly, lost by 18 points.

This ultimately came down to their poor discipline as the Spartans attempted 29 free throws in the contest, while Toowoomba attempted a mere nine.

Foul trouble haunted them again on Sunday and was the catalyst to their downfall in the second half as they were often into the bonus with more than five minutes left in quarters.

The gap was not as big in the second clash as the Pirates only had eight more free throw attempts than the Mountaineers, but it was still just as costly.

New look line-up

The Mountaineers had a new look to them on Sunday, with Adam Gehrig and Mitch Davis both out due to injury, while Jacob Davis made his long-awaited return from injury and import Jordyn Perez played his first games in the double-header.

The absence of Gehrig and Mitch Davis was definitely felt in some of the key moments down the stretch, while Jacob Davis showed some positive signs in his first game back.

Perez also showed flashes of what he had to offer, particularly in the game against South West Metro, where he dished out several impressive assists and made some handy buckets as well.

The import was not able to have quite the same impact down the stretch and ended up sitting out the final few minutes of the clash but there were plenty of positives to take from his first weekend with the side.

Sam Wall hit a massive three to give the Mountaineers a shot at victory on the weekend. Picture: Nev Madsen

Stunning Pirates turnaround

For the most part of three quarters, Toowoomba was well and truly the better side in the clash on Sunday afternoon, however, they were made to pay for taking their foot off the gas in the closing stages.

After leading by more than 10 points late in the third quarter, a handy run from the visitors meant they were within just six points of Toowoomba with one quarter to play.

From there, South West Metro slowly clawed back at the deficit before eventually claiming a thrilling 78-76 win.

Chaotic finale

With less than 30 seconds on the clock, scores were tied with both teams on 73 points, what happened next was simply astonishing.

With 14 seconds left in the game, Mading Magot hit a clutch three to give the Pirates a 76-73 lead.

However, despite the offence stuttering in the final quarter, the Mountaineers found a way to hit back with a perfectly designed play which left Sam Wall wide open in the corner.

The point guard took the opportunity and answered back with the massive shot to tie the game with 4.3 seconds left to play.

However, there was still one more twist left in the tale as Patrick Lesigues drove along the baseline and made a stellar floater to put his side back in front with just over one second left.

The Mountaineers had one final shot to try and equalise or win the game but the shot from Ben Toohey was off and the visitors came away with a sensational victory.