Wagga Heat captain Zac Maloney has called his team out for complacency after a lacklustre performance against Springwood on Saturday.
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The Heat registered a 93-68 win over the struggling Scorchers but needed a halftime serve from their skipper to lift their intensity at Blaxland High School Sports Stadium.
“We were only up by four points at halftime and if we’re honest, there were probably more negatives than positives to take out of the game,” Maloney said.
“Our first half was probably a result of my leadership so I tried to get up the boys a bit during the break.
“We were being a little complacent and I don’t think we really respected our opponents enough heading into the game.”
The Heat started poorly with Springwood putting in an impressive first half on their home court highlighted by a string of three-pointers.
“They pushed us early on and certainly knew their way around their own court,” Maloney said.
“It was a bit of a wake up call.”
Wagga’s tall timber came to the rescue in the second half as Maloney racked up a game-high 24 points.
US import Connell Crossland was another standout and drove strongly through the middle for his 20 points while Scott Hare featured heavily on the scoresheet.
“Scott played a really strong game and stepped up for us in the end,” Maloney said.
“He was positive in attack and I guess every one played their part in the second half.”
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Heat development player Patrick Mecham-Hoare was a surprise feature, tasting his first points at state league level with a late bucket against the Scorchers.
“He’s a good young player and he likes to work hard,” Maloney said.
“He does a lot of extra work during the week with me ... so it’s good to see him going well.”
Despite the scrappy win, Wagga now head into the final six rounds with their tails up after consecutive wins.
Maloney certainly knows the value of momentum in the back end of the season.
“It was good to come home with a win even though we didn’t play as well as we had hoped,” he said.
“We’ve got a string of home games against the top three teams and we’re playing against all of the other sides in the top six before the end of the regular season.
“It’ll be a good run to finish up but we definitely needed that win.”
Meanwhile, the Wagga Blaze enjoyed another week off in their haphazard schedule.
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