Chargers break title drought

HOBART proved all season long it had the offensive firepower to win the SEABL championship but it was a defensive stranglehold that delivered the 2018 title back to Tasmania last night.

Mathiang Muo controls the ball during the SEABL grand final. Picture: Jason Edwards

HOBART proved all season long it had the offensive firepower to win the SEABL championship but it was a defensive stranglehold which delivered the 2018 title back to Tasmania last night.

The Chargers ended a decade-long drought by out-grinding Nunawading 72-58 at the State Basketball Centre, ending the year with a 10-match winning streak to win its first league championship since 2008.

With a famed “big three” of Tre Nichols, Craig Moller and Mathiang Muo, the Chargers were equipped with the best offensive arsenal in the league but against a Spectres side renowned for slowing down the pace, they had to win the hard way and the side duly delivered.

Hobart kept Nunawading to a dismal 22-80 shooting performance from the floor (27 per cent), including 6-37 from long range to suffocate the home side.

The visitors also won the crucial battle on the boards 49-45, with player of the final Muo hauling down 14 to go with his 20 points, and skipper Moller also finishing with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Hobart Chargers after winning the SEABL grand final. PICTURE: Adam Smith

With the scores locked at 32-apiece at half-time the Chargers broke free in the third period, using a 13-0 run to set up what would eventually be a title-winning advantage.

The Spectres started the fourth stanza with back-to-back threes to cut the gap to seven points, and when 2017 MVP Simon Conn completed an easy lay-up a short time later the hosts were threatening to charge home.

Muo stepped up to knock down Hobart’s first points of the quarter from the foul line after a time-out and when Moller scored off an in-bound baseline pass order was restored and the Chargers hung on to complete the victory.

“I looked at the score and thought how the hell do we win that, I would have said that is a Nunawading score, not a Hobart Chargers score,” coach Anthony Stewart said.

“Credit to these guys, the defence tonight was by far the best I have seen all year.

“They competed unbelievably well, led by Craig and Tre and Muo was unbelievable on the boards.

“They wanted it bad, and they bought it home, it is back in Tassie.”

All five of Hobart’s starters ended in double digits on the scoreboard, while teenager Jack Stanwix — son of former Charger, Hornet and Devil Brennan — stepped up in some crucial moments off the bench to prove he is a star of the future.