A LACK of composure on the offensive end has seen the Kennedy's Tours Shoalhaven Tigers youth league men suffer their first home loss of the season on Saturday.
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Despite leading for the majority of their contest against league-leaders Central Coast, Scott Balsar's Tigers went down 84-81.
At the Tigers Den, the two teams traded baskets in the opening quarter, with the Crusaders, who won last year's division one title, holding a small three-point lead (22-19) at the first interval.
The second quarter followed suit, with the lead changing on a number of occasions.
And although the black and golds lost Gavin Costain to an ejection, the hosts stuck with the visitors, to only trial by five (42-39) at the main break.
Whatever Balsar said to his troops at half-time obviously worked, as the Cubs came out firing on all cylinders, to lead by as many as 11 midway through the term - before going into the final quarter with a seven-point lead (66-59).
The back and fourth nature of the contest continued in the fourth, with both teams going on runs.
Going into the last two minutes, Balsar's Cubs held an 81-76 advantage.
Unfortunately for the hosts, costly turnovers and shot selection saw the Crusaders gradually edge closer before Will Cranston-Lown put visitors up by one with 16 seconds remaining.
Balsar then called a time-out and set up a play to win the game for the hosts.
But before the Cubs could get a shot up, the Crusaders stole the ball, leading to a match-winning dunk by Daniel Titus.
The Cubs had one final chance, with less than a second to tie the game, but the siren went off before they could get a shot up - sealing the Crusaders 84-81 victory.
In the win, Luke Cassidy top scored with 30 points, while Titus chipped in with 22, while Kyle Leslie (26 points) and Riley O'Shannessy (16) did all the could for the Cubs, who now drop to 5-6 on the season.
"Our third quarter was great but we couldn't maintain it for the whole second half, in a game of big momentum swings," Balsar said.
"It's definitely a missed opportunity by us, largely due to our silly mistakes and poor execution down the stretch - it's disappointing to also only have three scorers in double figures, one of which was Gavin [Costain] who played half a game.
"I'm sure all the boys will learn a lot from the loss."
Next for the Cubs, who have now lost three in a row, is a clash with Maitland at the Den from 5pm this Saturday, while the division one men's side, who had a bye last round, will head out to Dubbo this Saturday.
The division one women's side had the bye last round and again have the weekend off this coming Saturday.