12 months ago, La Trobe University's Big V mens team had just beaten old rival, Monash Uni and moved on to face Warragul in the hostile Drouin Stadium. In that game, the Eagles were bullied from pillar to post and were eventually sent back to Melbourne with their tails between their legs. Fast forward 12 months to Saturday night and the Eagles once again had to travel to Drouin, this time to face Warragul in Game 1 of a best of 3 elimination series.

Same freezing cold stadium, same taunting opposition, same taunting crowd. But not everything was the same. The 2007 LTU team is a year older, wiser, stronger and more determined. Determined not to let Mike Santo get in their heads. Determined not to let the crowd affect them. Determined to go out and play the brand of basketball that gave them an 18-2 season. Determined they were and it showed.

Both teams started a little cold but LTU showed that with patience, opportunities would present themselves. Neville Chivhanganye opened the account for the Eagles and never looked back. The Big Ticket dominated the paint putting fear in his oppoents as he helped himself to 27 points on 54% shooting and a whopping 23 rebounds, showing why he has been the premier centre in Big V Division 2 this year.

Peter Leimonitis, who is never cold, displayed his deft touch from all over the court, hitting some big triples in transition. His only blemish on the night were 2 techs in the final quarter that gave him his 5th and 6th fouls. He was unlucky with his 2nd tech as the Warragul players pounced like a pack of wild dogs after his first T, following him up the court, goading and baiting him until he replied and was subsequently T'd up. The refs clearly lost control of that situation to LTU's detriment.

The positive out of that incident was that the Eagles stood up for themselves and for each other. Last year the team was intimidated by the Warriors taunts. This year, there was no backing down. Leimonitis teammates rallied around him in a display of comradeship exemplified by Davin Sgargetta who stepped up to chief protagonist, Mike santo, and reminded him that LTU don't crumble.

To his credit, Santo played almost a lone hand for the Warriors on his way to 36 hard earned points. Under enourmous pressure, he was able to penetrate and hit some unbelievable off balance shots. LTU bailed him out a few times with some reaching hands that let him get to the line more than the Eagles would have liked. Naz O'Brien was solid for the Warriors without standing out, and his 22 points kept Warragul just in touch.

However the Eagles depth was on display, and where the Warragul team were unable to step up to help Santo, the Eagles team could. Tim Sturrock had a pretty ugly night despite having 26 points on 48% shooting. He missed 4 or 5 shoots close to the basket that would normally be gobbled up. It was fortunate for Warragul as Sturrock could well have had close to 40 otherwise. The player whp stepped up for the Eagles big time, was Paul DiMarzio. The energizer bunny, who is now firmly entrenched as the teams emotional leader was electric. DiMarzio was able to come in off the banch and provide the energy that the team needed during some flat spots in the game. When the team needed a lift on the court, DiMarzio was there to take the ball to the rack or to knock down a much needed 3. He spent much of his time guarding Santo but also made sure Santo had to work on D. DiMarzio's 25 points were invaluable and was able to cover a subpar shooting night from Neill McCormack. Off the court, DiMarzio also stepped up, and his time out speech during the 4th quarter, now known as the "Killer Instinct" speech, was well timed and achieved the desired result. The Eagles came out refocused and withstood the late charge of the Warriors.

By fulltime, the Eagles had achieved a 16 point victory but it was much more than that. The Eagles showed that they had what it takes to beat Warragul on the road in a final. They know that the series is far from over. The next step is to show that they can beat the Warriors in a finals series. It will take guts, determination and focus. Most of all it will take a belief in themselves to achieve as a team. It is a belief that they have in spades.

STATS THAT MATTER

Neville Chivhanganye  27 points 13/24 FG (54%)  23 rebounds (9O 14D)

Peter Leimonitis 26 points 8/13 FG (62%) 5/7 3pt (71%) 13 rebounds

Tim Sturrock 26 points 12/25 FG (48%)

Paul DiMarzio 25 points 5/10 FG (50%) 2/3 3pt (66%) 13/19 FT (68%)

FULL MATCH STATISTICS

Game 2  Saturday 11th August 7pm @ Darebin

Game 3 Sunday 12th August 1pm @ Darebin (if necessary)