The NBL1 East regular season came to a close on Saturday, July 13, as the Central Coast Crusaders hosted long-time rivals the Manly Sea Eagles.
The final round was a special one as Central Coast Basketball honoured members past and present who make basketball on the Coast a possibility.
The women got things started at 5pm against a Sea Eagles team they would likely see at some point in the post season.
Hoping to retain their fifth seed, the Crusaders needed a win against the third-seed Sea Eagles and it was an especially tall order considering the Crusaders were down some crucial players going into this one.
The Crusaders looked uncharacteristically lost on offence scoring just 19 points in the first half as shooting woes plagued the whole squad.
Both Sara Matthews and captain Jasmine Forcadilla were able to go off for 20 points each on the night but it wasn’t enough with the Crusaders taking an 86-59 loss at home.
This gave the Sutherland Sharks an opportunity to steal the Crusaders’ spot on the ladder right in the nick of time as the Crusaders dropped down to the sixth seed.
The women’s squad will have home advantage next week when they take on the Sydney Comets in the Elimination Final.
The Crusaders and Comets have met twice this season with both teams stealing a win at each other’s home courts.
Both games came down to the wire with just five points between the two teams in the end, which most likely means Crusaders fans will be in for quite the game this week.
The Crusaders men’s team played their final game for the season with their matchup against the Sea Eagles tipping off at 7pm.
The Crusaders were in fine form out of the gate but it seemed as though the Sea Eagles had an answer for everything.
This changed in the second quarter as the Crusaders managed to pull away and get some space between them and the away side going into half-time.
They kept this momentum going off the back of some hard work on the boards from Ben Stevens who pulled down 19 rebounds to go along with his 20 points.
Luke Cassidy was the floor general for the Crusaders as he racked up 10 assists to help the Crusaders glide to a comfortable 92-73 win over the Sea Eagles in their season closer.
The men finish in 13th spot as they look to next season with hopes of building off the squad they’ve assembled this year.
The Elimination Final for the Crusaders women against the Sydney Comets will take place this Saturday, July 20, at Breakers Indoor Sports stadium with tip off at 6pm.
A win would see them move onto the Qualification Final to take on the winner of the Newcastle Falcons v Albury Bandits game.
Stefan Kataric