The Mandurah Magic men’s side suffered a pair of narrow losses in a double-header of action against Stirling and Geraldton over the weekend.
Following on from a pair of heart-breakers against Perry Lakes and Rockingham last weekend, the Magic were unable to turn the tide in round 10 despite playing a fiercely competitive brand of basketball.
Mandurah went down to Stirling by nine points on Friday night before being dealt a similar fate with a three-point loss to Geraldton on Sunday.
But despite the Magic’s record, their improvement in form across the past three weeks has been remarkable.
Prior to their breakthrough win over the East Perth Eagles in round eight, the Magic had an average losing margin of 16 points across their first seven games.
Since the Eagles game, the Magic have lost all four of their matches, but all by single-figure margins.
Across the four games, their average losing margin is six points.
Coach Aaron Trahair said their improvement was evident, but it didn’t take the sting out of their nail-biting defeats.
“I think the last three weeks has shown that when we play our best basketball we can play with anyone in the competition,” he said.
“Unfortunately that probably makes it more disappointing when you lose. We’ve let a couple of big runs go in each of our close games that probably decided the match.
“But overall I think we’re getting better and our guys are getting more comfortable.”
Senior trio Will McNeill, Rick Kreklow and Taylor Mullenax led the way for the Magic over the weekend.
McNeill posted 31 points, nine rebounds and four assists against the Senators and backed it up with 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists against the Buccs.
Mullenax recorded 25 points, 13 rebounds against Geraldton while Kreklow notched back-to-back 20-point games with 24 on Friday night and 20 on Sunday.
“I think Rick and Will especially are finding their way in the league,” Trahair said.
“They know how the games are officiated now, and they know their opposition a bit better.”
The Magic will be able to test how far they’ve come over the season when they take on Joondalup and Kalamunda in another double-header this weekend.
It will be the first time Mandurah has got to play against repeated opposition this season.
“We haven’t played any teams twice so far this year, so it will be good to measure ourselves against our early results and hopefully turn them around,” Trahair said.