The Canberra Gunners have put themselves right in the mix to break their South-East Australian Basketball League finals drought after outlasting Dandenong 97-93 at Belconnen on Saturday night.
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On the back of a monster game from Ben Allen (23 points, 18 rebounds, 10-17 FG), the Gunners improved their record to 6-7, just one win outside the eastern conference top four.
Canberra set up the win by dominating the rebounding 41-24 and the offensive glass 15-5.
Rangers forward Daequon Montreal (25 points) had a massive third quarter but the Gunners held on to secure a second straight win.
Gunners coach Brad Davidson was pleased to beat a conference rival and leapfrog them on the ladder.
"Getting back close to [a] .500 [record] was a big bonus for us," Davidson said.
"He [Allen] has been saying he hasn't been feeling on top of it lately, but if he gets 23 points and 18 rebounds he can feel average whenever he wants.
"Every game we've won the rebounding count, we've won the game. The boards are always a focus for us."
In the women's clash, Canberra United Academy remain winless after they were outclassed 89-66 by eastern conference leaders Dandenong Rangers.
Maddison Penn led the way for Canberra with 23 points.
SEABL
MEN: CANBERRA GUNNERS 97 (T Coenraad 28 pts, nine reb, four asst; B Allen 23 pts, 18 reb, four asst, D Joyce 16, B Kuol 13) bt DANDENONG RANGERS 93 (D Montreal 25 pts, L Walker 18 pts, L Barker 17 pts)
WOMEN: DANDENONG RANGERS 89 (L Scherf 21, A Clydesdale 20, C Bibby 16, C Papavs 16) bt CANBERRA CAPITALS ACADEMY 66 (M Penn 23, A Coddington 15)
at Belconnen Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
