Toowoomba Mountaineers in need of miracle after QSL men’s defeat

The Toowoomba Mountaineers’ men’s finals hopes are now on life support after an agonising defeat to the Gold Coast Rollers. See what they need to do to turn their season around here.

Adam Gehrig in action for the Mountaineers. Picture: Capture the Dog Photography.

The Toowoomba Mountaineers side need a miraculous turnaround and several results to go their way in the final month of the season if they are to return to QSL finals.

The men’s team face massive challenge after they suffered a heartbreaking 86-84 defeat to the Gold Coast Rollers on Saturday.

Check out the biggest talking points from the clash here.

Third quarter stuns Neers

While they may have lost by two points, the Mountaineers managed to win every quarter except for the third - a quarter that will leave the Toowoomba players wondering where it all went wrong.

The Mountaineers started the third quarter with a 50-44 lead but the game quickly changed as the hosts scored the first 11 points of the quarter and Toowoomba didn’t add to their half time total until the midway point .

Despite Gold Coast’s dominance, it only held a three-point lead with less than two minutes to play in the quarter and the game was well and truly in the balance.

However, it was the final two minutes where the game was ultimately won for the Rollers as they went on a 9-2 run to take a 10-point lead at the final break.

Both sides light it up from deep

It has not always been the case this season, but both sides were dangerous from beyond the arc on Saturday night as they both hit nine three-pointers for the contest.

Reigning QSL MVP Adam Gehrig and Hawaiian import Jordyn Perez led the way for Toowoomba with three triples each, while Nevarda Higgins put on a show with five makes from 11 attempts beyond the arc.

New Toowoomba Mountaineers import Jordyn Perez.

Dynamic duos run the show

In the big games, the big time players rise to the forefront and that was the case on Saturday as Higgins and Billy Rigby starred for the hosts, while Gehrig and Perez led the way for the Mountaineers.

Rigby and Higgins combined for 49 points, with the former scoring a game-high 27 points.

For the visitors, Gehrig and Perez scored 31 points between them with Gehrig leading the way on 22.

Neers needing miracle

With Toowoomba currently bottom of the ladder with just three wins from 10 games, it will take an almighty miracle for them to sneak into finals.

With just one win in their last eight games, the Mountaineers will need to win all of their remaining games to finish the season with a 7-7 record.

From there, the Neers, will need to hope they can jump ahead of Rollers, South West Metro Pirates, USC Ripcity and Northside Wizards.