A spirited fightback late in the game wasn’t enough for the Mandurah Magic’s men’s team to grab its first win of the season as they went down to a South West side led by all-star guard Tre Nichols on Saturday night.
The Magic cut the lead to just three points with four minutes, 32 seconds on the clock, but were unable to take the game down the stretch falling to the Slammers 87-71.
Mandurah felt the pinch of the South West defence early, with the Slammers restricting the Magic to just 32 points in the opening half.
They found more a rhythm in the second, scoring 39 in the second half and getting themselves back into the game.
But Nichols proved too much for the young Magic to guard, as he piled on 30 points to will his side to the victory.
Magic head coach Aaron Trahair was pleased with his side’s overall effort, but admitted lapses in games were costing them.
“I think we played better basketball than the South West did in patches but those lapses that come and go throughout games hurt us,” he said.
“I think we are improving and those lapses are getting shorter, but they’re still there and we’ll continue to work on that.”
The game did provide an opportunity for the Magic’s younger players to take on a bigger role in guarding Nichols, who sits in fourth among the league’s leading scorers.
Trahair stressed the importance of giving Mandurah’s youngsters the chance to play on the stars of the competition.
“I think the best way for our guys to learn is from a sink-or-swim mentality. If they can play on the best guys in the comp then they have the best chance to learn quickly,” he said.
“We’ve got Joondalup coming up who have been the benchmark of the league for a ridiculous amount of time so it’s another chance for our guys to grow.
“Hopefully in a few years other teams will be saying ‘crap we’ve got Mandurah this week’ and it’s our guys who are some of the better players in the league.”
Will McNeill continues to grow in his role as the Magic’s starting point guard, as he chipped in with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Rick Kreklow led the scoring for the Magic with 19 points to go along with his three rebounds and two assists.
The Magic will now move their focus to their match against the Wolves this Saturday.