The lead changed all night in a seesawing affair but it was the Gunners who finished on top at Bolton Park Stadium.

It was another cruel blow to the Heat, who went down to defending champions Bankstown Bruins by two in the opening round.

Heat captain Zac Maloney said the Gunners proved a little too good in the end.

“It was a real close game, the biggest margin was six. It was a good tussle...a really good game of basketball,” Maloney said.

“Canberra brought a few of their SEABL players down. That comp hasn’t started yet and they always stack their side when they come to play us.

“A few of their SEABL players played really well for them.”

Maloney led the way for the Heat with 21 points.

Connell Crossland, the Heat’s US import, showed plenty of promise. He scored 13 points and registered a triple double.

Jayden Oliver scored 12 points, while Josh McPherson and Shaun Carter, played some important defensive roles.

Maloney said it is in offence where the Heat need to improve.

“Defensively, we’re happy with our last two weeks,” he said.

“Offensively, we had 23 turnovers and allowed a lot of offensive rebounds. If you take a few of them away well then it’s a different result.”

With two losses to start, it’s not the way the Heat hoped to start the season.

They recognise there is plenty of positives after going desperately close to beating two of the best teams in the Waratah League.

“We had a debrief after the game and basically said we need to turn our season around right now,” Maloney said.

“I’m really confident we’ve got a team who can challenge for the championship but the competition this year is really, really strong.

“We’ve played last year’s champions, Bankstown, and Canberra, who finished on top in our pool last year, in the first two weeks and gone down by a combined total of six points.

“We always knew it was going to be tough, we just need to work on our offence so we can turn around our season pretty quickly.”

The Heat will now travel to Shoalhaven next week to take on the Tigers on their home turf.

Maloney said it was imperative that Wagga get the win on the road.

“We can’t afford to be zero (wins) and three (losses),” he said.