Clutch Canberra comes through again

An 88-85 overtime victory against the Sandringham Sabres is just the latest instalment in a series of nail-biting wins for the Canberra Gunners over the past two seasons.

They own a 7-1 record in games decided by three points or less since the start of 2014 and have already been involved in four such games this year.

Sandringham jumped out to a 10 point advantage in the third quarter on Sunday and then led by 6 points with less than four minutes remaining.

A three-pointer from Ben Allen (19 points, 16 rebounds) gave Canberra their first lead of the final term with 24 seconds to go but Alister MacDonald sent the match into overtime with a clutch three of his own.

Nnaebuka Anyaorah then came through in the extra period, scoring 8 of his 22 while finishing 14-15 from the free throw line.

A Nathan Crosswell miss on the buzzer from the Sabres put an end to the match as the Gunners nerves of steel again shone through.

The win follows a Round 2 victory over Dandenong in which Anyaorah’s bucket with 9 seconds remaining became a game-winner. Dan Jackson was then the hero with a buzzer beater against N/W Tasmania in Round 3 before Canberra held off the fast-finishing Albury/Wodonga side to win 86-84 last weekend.

In an extremely tight East Conference where first is separated from last by just two wins, the head-to-head results could come in handy at the end of the year. Canberra are setting up themselves nicely for such circumstances while also giving their fans a thrilling ride every week.