Heat limited Lazers with strong defence from the start, winning 69-46.

“We had a slower start to the season, with a few tough games, now we’re coming together as a team, and we’ve got a streak going,” Wagga captain Zac Maloney said.

“We made it tough on ourselves, but now we’re climbing the ladder and starting to show what were capable of.”

Wagga Heat is knocking on the door of the top eight, 10^th from 23 teams, ascending from 15^th in a month with three consecutive wins.

Maloney attributes the considerable difference in results to improved teamwork and offense, and Lithgow’s player availability situation.

“We were hungry to get a win back on them, we knew we could, we just missed a lot of shots in that first game,” Maloney said.

“They were missing a couple of players last night, which was unfortunate for them.”

Lithgow did not bring a full strength squad to Wagga, arriving without import Addison Flynn, who has scored an average of 25 points per game, and a big who was crucial on March 11.

After scoring a Waratah League career high of 35 points last week, Maloney played injured, and hit five three-pointers to score 19 on Saturday.

“I was a little worried about with the ankle injury, I wasn’t too aggressive driving to the basket,” he said.

“Josh McPherson stepped up on both ends of the floor, scoring seven points, and a few assists.

“Shaun Carter played really good defence and Matt (Pebole) did a bit of everything.”

Pebole top scored with 24 points.

Wagga coach Colin Reed worked on defence at training this week, and it showed on Saturday.

“We’re playing good team basketball, getting contributions from everyone,” Maloney said.

“Everyone understands their role.

“We came out and played some great defence, we kept them to one point for four minutes at the start.”

Next Saturday, Wagga Heat plays Sydney Uni Spiders at Bolton Park.

The Spiders come off four straight wins, and have proved they can win on the road, defeating Queanbeyan and Newcastle away from home in recent weeks.