Slow start costs the Maitland Mustangs in 97-91 loss to Inner West Bulls

Last years' grand finalists, the Mustangs were unable to overcome a slow start against the Inner West Bulls on Saturday, May 13.

The 97-91 defeat was the Mustangs second narrow loss in a matter of weeks, albeit against the top-two teams on the ladder.

Maitland fought back to challenge the Centre of Excellence last week and did the same on Saturday night at the Federation Centre.

The Bulls hit their first nine shots to open up a 30-17 lead at the end of the first quarter as the visitors' import Blake Morrow caused problems for the home side. Morrow ended up with 36 points for the Bulls.

Maitland fought back in the second quarter to get themselves back in the match, trailing 51-48 at half-time.

The Mustangs drew level and had all the momentum with just over seven minutes remaining when Billy Parsons scored for Maitland. The Bulls ultimately holding on for the win.

Will Cranston-Lown was a standout for Maitland, shooting at over 80 percent from the field to score 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

James Hunter was strong again after a good performance last week. He scored 19 points and seven rebounds.

Now at the halfway point of the season, Boyle said the Mustangs need to improve their defence.

"We're scoring enough points to win games, the biggest issue is when you let them score 97 and when they take 40 attempts from the free-throw line, you're practically giving the game to them," he said.

The Mustangs lost Sharif Watson and Terrell Turner in the offseason and Boyle said they are departures the team is still adjusting to.

"The one thing that we lost last year was two experienced hands out of the team," he said.

"Especially with Sharif for instance, he was a guy who you could rely upon at the end of the game to get you a score.

"We need to find out who that guy is on our team now with a lot of new guys, it's a bit of a process to work through."

Boyle was left frustrated on Saturday night by how many times the Bulls visited the free-throw line.

"We've probably being too too aggressive with our bodies and just getting to stuff too late," he said.

"In the first-half we had Kev (Warren) on three (fouls), Dan (Millburn) on three and then Will (Cranston-Lown) got his second.

"We had to sit three of our best guards at the end of the second quarter because we had too much foul trouble.

"Kev only played 11 minutes, Dan only played 10 minutes, which really impacts the team from a performance perspective."

The Mustangs have had a tough draw to start the season in part because of the team reaching last season's grand final.

The NBL1 has a weighted draw with the top teams from 2022 and new sides like the Centre of Excellence drawn to play each other twice.

Boyle knows the side has the ability to go on a winning run.

"My expectation is to win all of them but also there has never been any panic, you've got a long way to go and last year I think we won 13 straight," he said.

The Mustangs play Albury Wodonga at the Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday, May 20. Tip-off is at 7pm.

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