AN undermanned Hamilton Hurricanes squad returned from its South Australian road trip without any points, going down to Millicent and Mount Gambier over the weekend

The locals started their CBL round 12 games at Millicent Stadium with the Magic dominating proceedings to put the Hurricanes on the back foot in Saturday night’s contest.

The home side jumped out to a 30-16 lead at quarter time, before the Hurricanes steadied and won the second period by a point.

With a 37-50 deficit to reel in during the second half, the Hurricanes had to defy the scoreboard and the trend during the season of being blown away in the third quarter.

It was a tough third term for the visitors, as the Magic put on 29 points to extend the margin out by eight points, leading 79-58 at the final break.

The game got going again in the final term, with Millicent leading 8-5 for the quarter, before both teams agreed to end the game prematurely, due to the slippery surface on the court.

Josh Miller put up 17 points for the visitors, while Joel Le Roy and Jack Roberts each added 14 points in support.

The lack of numbers proved costly with only seven players making the trip west for the two games.

Hurricanes co-coach, Scott Miller said co-coach, Dean Le Roy, was required to play with the majority of the starting side unavailable for the weekend.

“We went into the weekend very undermanned, three quarters of our main team unavailable,” he said.

“We went in with seven fit players.

“The way they went about it with an undermanned side, it is a credit to all of them who played.”

The Hurricanes took 16-year-old Jack Roberts as well, who enjoyed plenty of court time and put up 21 points across both games.

Scott said conditions also made it tough for the team during both games.

“We went to Millicent and with the humidity and how hot it was, it made it very tough,” he said

“We probably shouldn’t have even started the game with how unsafe the court was, but you go all the way there and want to play.

“Our guys couldn’t even drive to the basket without slipping over.

“Then for the boys to back up on Sunday, just with seven players, they did amazing

“We actually got closer to them (Lakers) this time around, than we did last time with a full squad.”

Scott also credited Josh Miller and Joel Le Roy for taking on more responsibility, with the pair playing close to the 80 minutes across the weekend.

“The two of them had to step up, we told the two of them they wouldn’t get subbed off unless they were in foul trouble,” he said.

“They both shot half our score across both games, which they had to for us to be a chance.

“We put the pressure on Joel to get some shots up, and he did well.”

The Lakers awaited Hamilton on Sunday at Bern Bruning Basketball Stadium, with the Hurricanes chasing victory to finish the round on a high.

Sunday’s game started in a similar way to the night before, with the Hurricanes falling off the pace in the first quarter, trailing by 16 points at the first break.

The second quarter saw the Hurricanes bounce back and put up 21 points to Mount Gambier’s 16, to narrow the deficit to 11 points at half time.

Once again, the third quarter let the Hurricanes down, as the Lakers got hot and scored 24 points to Hamilton’s 10, putting the result beyond doubt at the final break.

A 21-12 final quarter helped the home side ensure it claimed victory, with the visitors going down, 62-92, at the final buzzer.

Joel Le Roy was the standout with 16 points, while Josh Miller added 14 to his season tally.