THE margin may not have been huge, but the significance of the victory certainly was, as Portland’s men’s basketballers took down a previously undefeated Horsham opponent 75-67 on Saturday night at Portland Basketball Stadium.

The game was a grinded out affair from the first tip, with neither team able to break the game open.

But while the Coasters would have liked to hit the scoreboard harder through two quarters, they would’ve been pleased to have once again showcased their dominance on the defensive end.

Perimeter defenders Davey Denboer and Flynn Chapman were locked-in, as was Toby Jennings, who seemed to latch onto any Hornets pass within a five-foot radius, while big men Nathan Hardingham and Brad Clark provided a strong inside presence.

But the Hornets were still able to keep pace, producing some excellent defensive possessions of their own, and the game went into the half knotted at 32 apiece.

Player-coach Hayden Annett had his say over the contest throughout, nailing some massive triples throughout the game, especially in the second half, which kept the Coasters just ahead of the eight-ball.

As per usual, the offence flowed through Hardingham, who was able to get to his own spots – finishing with 14 points – and also work within the scheme to find teammates including Jennings (12 points) and Chapman (10 points), while Clark was unstoppable on the interior, finishing with 15 of his own.

But the game was still there for the taking down the stretch, with the physicality only going up to another level as players from both sides managed foul trouble.

But, in almost poetic fashion, it fell to the best player of the night in Jennings to finish off the deal, as he made back-to-back buckets, including the dagger – a deep fadeaway three at the end of the shot clock – to put the game to bed.

Annett said after the game he was very pleased with the performance his side had been able to put together, especially against such a quality opponent in Horsham.

“I think it was a pretty convincing win, the game was on our terms for a lot of it,” he said.

“We wanted to make them uncomfortable, as a 6-0 team coming in, they were pretty confident in what they were doing so we were looking to disrupt that.

“I’ve said it many times, but I believe our identity is on the defensive end and I think we came in with the mindset of wanting to protect our home court.”

Annett said having a player of the calibre and skillset of Jennings who can pull off miraculous plays at both ends of the court is a phenomenal asset to the side.

“His ability to read the play is second to none… sometimes he can overstep a little bit and get himself in foul trouble, but you just have to ride that wave with Toby because the benefits far outweigh the negatives, his instincts are just so good.”

Annett said the side’s ability to quickly get themselves back in the swing of things after a week off had been fantastic.

“We did have a proper week off, we thought it would be good to have a week away from the game, we went out for dinner one night, it was really just about building that connection off the court and getting to know each other.

Coasters captain Denboer said Annett’s elite shooting from long range had been huge in some key spots for them.

“He’s a big-time shooter and he makes big time plays, we just tried to get him the ball as much as we could in that last quarter… when you need buckets, he’s your go-to guy.”

He added that the game had been a real back-and-forth affair which came down to the Coasters being able to make the last run of the game.

“Yeah, it was a bit like that for a lot of the game, it really just came down to us being able to outlast them a bit and make the run at the end,” he said.