THE Shoalhaven Holiday Haven Coast Tiger men failed to notch their first victory for the 2008 State League season in a controversial night at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Centre.

The Tigers went down 89-71 to the Bathurst Goldminers.

The game was delayed by 30 minutes when a referee failed to show up for the match. The Tigers were only informed of this three minutes before the scheduled tip-off time.

“That fiasco with the refs really screwed us up,” an angry Shoalhaven coach Scott Deakes said after the match.

“We were focused and ready to play.

“We had had a great warm-up in near freezing conditions inside the unheated Bathurst stadium, but then the only ref who had turned up to do the game told us he didn’t have a partner.”

Once the game did get underway, the Tigers paid for losing their focus as Bathurst jumped to a 12-2 lead.

Coaches Deakes and Ray Hannett pulled in the troops and attempted to get them into the task at hand.

Only Brad Fox was willing to put his hand up as he scored the Tigers first seven points.

“Foxy was truly great. He dug deep, maybe it is the Tasmanian blood in him, but the cold didn’t affect him,” Deakes said.

Fox had 10 for the quarter as the Tigers trailed 28-19.

The second quarter was much the same as the first, as the Tigers struggled to find rhythm.

Fox had another five points, while Rick Martin had four points and the Tigers were behind 50-36.

At half-time in the Tigers’ change room was an intense place as Hannett and Deakes tried to resurrect the match for the Tigers.

“We talked about defence, stopping the ball in the fast break and stopping the Goldminers ‘bigs from easy baskets,”

Deakes said.

Shoalhaven was only able to score 13 points in the third period, seven of those from the free throw line.

Only Martin, Matt Goodluck and Brad Scott were able to convert a field goal in the term.

Scott’s fast break lay-up marked the first time he had scored in State League basketball in 20 years.

The third quarter was marked by an unusual circumstance as the Goldminers were penalised for playing a player not named on the official scoresheet.

The player, Harley Smith, was one of the main threats in the first half, recording 18 points.

He was banned from continuing in the match, and the Tigers were given two free throws, which Fox duly knocked down.

Fouls were starting to mount up for the Tigers entering the fourth, as Goodluck, Ned Price and Nathan Eastgate all recorded their fourth fouls early in the term.

Eastgate was beginning to heat up from the field, scoring six points in the final period, which the Tigers won 22-21.

But it was all too late for the Tigers though, losing the match 89-71.

For Shoalhaven Eastgate, Fox and Price fouled out, while Goodluck had four and David Watson three.

In what can only be called a foulathon - 61 fouls were called for the night, far higher than the usual 30-40 per game.

Leading the way in scoring for Shoalhaven was Brad Fox with 22 points.

Rick Martin had 13, while Matt Goodluck chipped in with 10.

Tigers’ skipper Owen Schmierer had 9, and Nathan Eastgate provided a late scoring kick with 8 points.

“We played poorly,” Deakes said.

“We lost it, and we are a far better team than we played tonight. I am extremely disappointed with our performance.

“We need to toughen up, play smarter, play harder, train harder.

“We have a lot of work to do judging by this performance”.

The Holiday Haven Coast Tigers return to the Tigers Den on May 31, taking on local rivals the Moss Vale Magic.