The Mustangs finished their first quarter nine points down to the Bankstown Bruins at the Maitland Federation Centre and coach Luke Boyle said they struggled to overcome the deficit for the rest of the match.

Wins to Maitland in the second and fourth quarters were not enough to close the gap and the Bruins took the match 77-72.

Boyle said slow starts were a consistent weakness for the team.

“We’re going to work on our starting line-up,” Boyle said.

“There’ll be a few changes to make it a bit quicker.”

Boyle said too many players were focused on getting the ball into the hands of former Australian representative Scott McGregor, rather than playing aggressively themselves.

McGregor finished the game as the team’s top scorer, racking up 18 points, including two three-pointers.

Jono Lawler went on a scoring spree in the second quarter, dunking four balls in a row and he finished on 13 points.

Points were also contributed by Dan Proctor (11), JJ O’Brien (10), Butch Hays (6), Andrew Mortimore (5) and Kenneth Artist (4).

Matt Dick (3) added a three-pointer to the scoreboard in the fourth quarter and captain Andy Allen (2) opened the Mustangs’ scoring early in the game.