THEY may have been beaten by 35 points, but the Dubbo Rams showed a great deal of heart to bounce back from a much heavier defeat the previous week to push Queanbeyan in their Waratah League match-up at Dubbo Sports World on Saturday night.
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The Rams were beaten 105-70 by the Yowies, a vast improvement on the 132-36 loss suffered at the hands of Wagga seven days earlier.
With a good crowd on hand thanks to a curtain-raiser between the local police and ambulance crews, the Rams matched their bigger opponents in the opening quarter, but let them get away to a decent lead in the early stages of the second term due to some sloppy offence and Queanbeyan's ability to convert on transition.
At half-time the margin was 20 points but Dubbo took some momentum into the main break as their effort was rewarded late in the term.
With coach Tim Griffith sporting a pink cap and the players decked out in various shades of the colour in support of the Pink Angels breast cancer charity, the Rams were again slow to start the third term but rallied, and while they were outscored 27-17 for the term they again finished well as Queanbeyan's big squad slowed down late in the period.
With the game all but gone by that stage the Rams enjoyed the fourth term as Luke Griffiths, Matt Buckley and Mark Willis showed glimpses of the form the team is capable of.
Some of the interchange of passing, particularly from Griffiths, was first-rate while Willis pushed hard into the key and troubled the Yowies and Buckley was strong from beyond the arc.
The Rams saved their best for last as they scored 23 points in the final term but it wasn't enough to stop Queanbeyan extending their margin from 30 to 35 at the end of the match.
Earlier, some good money was raised for the Pink Angels when the local emergency services teams battled it out.
While the basketball wasn't pretty the scoreline was close, helped by the fact that after half-time players from both sides were able to buy points for their team courtesy of donations made into the Pink Angels' buckets.
In the end though, it was the police team that came out on top as the ledger was squared 1-1 in the fixture, which looks set to become an annual event on the Dubbo calendar.
"A big thank you to all those involved in the charity game last Saturday, where approximately $600 was raised on the day," Dubbo Basketball's Peter Hargreaves said.
"Although unable to play and juggling other civic commitments, thanks to Mayor Mathew Dickerson for turning up to get the ball rolling. The police came out on top in a very close result but I'm sure the ambos will be keen to reverse the result next year.
"As for individual performances, who could go past Ian Todd-Hunter for the ambos and Rob Jackson for the police, whose efforts in attempting to score were outstanding and we're looking forward to seeing these athletes in action again next year.
"Also a big thanks to our referees Ru Hunt and Kenny May who made sure that both teams stayed within striking distance of each other."