The Maitland Mustangs have now lost four of their last five matches after going down 73-65 to the Bankstown Bruins on Saturday night.
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The Mustangs had the better of the second half, but had already given up 10 points in the opening two quarters at Bankstown Basketball Stadium.
Maitland trailed 38-28 at the main break before clawing back two points in the third, but the spoils were split 19-all in the last.
Mitch Rueter (21) and Goran Veg (16) scored 37 points between them, with the pair also collecting 16 rebounds together.
Fellow starters Matthew Dick, Terrell Turner and Terrance Rone played the majority of the Waratah Basketball League fixture.
Captain-coach Luke Boyle, Jack Edwards, Adi Causevic, Charles Bloeman and Mabior Deng were all used from the bench.
Bankstown centre Alex Opacic was the best for the Bruins with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
This result puts the Mustangs further outside the top six with a 3-6 record from nine rounds this season with Bankstown third behind Manly and Sydney.
Maitland host arch rivals the Newcastle Hunters in an Anzac Day clash on Saturday night (7pm).
