Bullets annihilate Crocs

The Brisbane Bullets humiliated an exasperated Townsville Crocodiles outfit at the Brisbane Convention Centre last night, winning 128-90.

The Bullets rushed to any early 20-6 lead on the back of stellar shooting from skipper Derek Rucker (20 points) and aggressive rebounding at both ends of the court from Mark Bradtke.

From then on the Crocs never looked like challenging, as their disorganised offence and high error count provided the home side with numerous scoring opportunities, which they swiftly capitalised on.

The Crocs were stung by their lacklustre defence, as Brisbane’s Bobby Brannen (19 points) and Stephen Black (18 points) had no problem out-manoeuvring their opponents to sink a number of uncontested shots at the basket.

The Bullets display was so dominant that Brisbane fan’s stood to cheer their home side as they left for the main break with a considerable 68-35 lead.

In the second half, Townsville import Larry Abney (21 points) tried to reignite the Crocs by netting tough shots under the post, and celebrating wildly. But Abney’s performance fizzled into a one man show, as the Crocs slipped further behind as a result of stagnant offence and half-hearted defence.

Despite the presence of veterans John Rillie and Rob Rose, the Townsville side were unable to build a stable offensive or defensive pattern throughout the entire game, and slid to their eighth worst defeat ever.

While it was a game the Crocs would rather forget, Brisbane Coach Joey Wright was happy with his team’s pre-Christmas win and believes the playoffs are now a strong possibility. He said that, before last night’s win, “We were only three games out of third place. So our destiny is in our own hands.”

The Bullets will take on the Wollongong Hawks next Friday at the Win Entertainment Centre, while the Crocs will host the Perth Wildcats at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on New Years Eve.

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