Wagga Heat coach John Norman was disappointed but not disheartened as his team slumped to a second consecutive loss on Saturday night.
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The Heat went down to a red-hot Lithgow Lazers 100-85 at Bolton Park Stadium, leaving them with just one win from their opening four matches.
Lithgow's imports Michael Johnson (37 points) and Drelan Tripplett (30) turned it on and proved impossible for the Heat to contain.
"Obviously we were hoping for a win, particularly at home but their two imports played really, really well and hit some ridiculous shots," Norman said.
"One of their guys had seven threes, five of which were contested. You've just got to say well done to that.
"I couldn't fault our effort and improvement with how we turned it around in a week from the Queanbeyan game. It was a credit to the guys."
Heat import Matthew Brunell led the way for Wagga with 22 points, while Shannon Klein impressed when he came on off the bench.
Norman was happy with the way his team shared the points with five players scoring 10 points or more.
Ahead of another big game at home this Saturday against Bankstown, Norman is confident the Heat are headed in the right direction.
"Absolutely, it was a massive improvement and we were able to unlock the key offensively," he said.
"That's the big thing. We've been struggling for points all year and to score 85 is a sign we're on the right track.
"We've still got to tidy up some other stuff like turnovers, and we let them have too many offensive rebounds but the upside is they are things we can control."
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