The WheelKings went into this second game against Adelaide without big man Jeremy Van Asperen and with fill-in centre Craig Cannane still badly affected by the flu. Coach Hewson was also worried that David Gould could again run riot for Adelaide.

Gaetano Bagnato replaced Van Asperen in the starting line-up and Hewson devised a strategy to keep the ball out of Gould's hands and make the other lesser-skilled ball handlers set up the Adelaide offence. Jon Pollock, Kylie Gauci and Jon Simon were also instructed to press the Thunder the full length of the court and force turnovers. Both plans worked well with Gould in particular having noticeably less impact on the game than yesterday.

That's not to say that Wenty had an easy time of it as they were again slow out of the blocks - something to do with a lack of sleep due to a large, noisy group of girls partying all night above the team's motel rooms!?!? The WheelKings fell behind 7-3 before the trio of Pollock, Simon and Gauci started sharing the ball with each other to good effect on the scoreboard. They got all the points in an 11-6 run and eventually put Wenty ahead 18-16 at the end of the first.

The second quarter started out really ugly with neither team finding the basket on a regular basis. Wenty were up 22-20 halfway through the period but both teams were shooting at just 33% accuracy. However,  just like yesterday, late in the second quarter was where the WheelKings made their run. With the scores tied 27 apiece with under 4 minutes remaining in the half, Wenty put on a 12-0 burst led by Pollock and Bagnato. Adelaide picked up a consolation 2 on the buzzer but the visitors were now in control 39-29.

Yet again, the Thunder's turnovers were the difference in the game as Wenty had scored 10 points directly off Adelaide's 9 mistakes, and it didn't help the home team that Gould had been shut down entirely as he went scoreless for the second period. For the WheelKings, Pollock was playing very well with 16 points and 6 assists, and he was getting excellent support from Simon (11 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals) and Gauci (8 points, 5 assists).

An uneventful third quarter ensued as both teams again struggled to hit shots. Cannane hit a couple and Bagnato took his tally to 9 but it was mostly steady ahead as both teams notched 15 points for the term. Defence was definitely the winner on the day in the third. WheelKings up 54-44.

Well, didn't Adelaide just spark up and decide to do something about that deficit. They hit 4 points in the opening seconds of the fourth to reduce Wenty's lead to 6. The question mark over the WheelKings was whether they had the stamina on the road to hold off the Thunder's bench depth. 5 minutes into the quarter and the only points for Wenty had come from 2 free throws by Pollock. It was looking ominous but Adelaide blew the gifted opportunity by missing 4 shots after that opening spurt and chucking the ball away a few times in an apparent act of self-sabotage.

It was all WheelKings after Bagnato hit a settling shot and took control of the boards. Pollock chipped in a further 7 points for the quarter as Wenty brushed aside the Adelaide challenge and ultimately set up a 71-53 win.

2 wins without Australian Rollers Bill Latham and Jeremy Doyle, and without World Championships MVP and multiple Allstar Koen Jansens, had coach Hewson elated, "it was a great team effort. We did what we had to do in playing at our own pace and controlling the tempo. Shutting down David Gould was the key to today's game and well done to our guys for doing that. 2 great wins that will really help us into the finals."

Jon Pollock ruled the game today with 27 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Jon Simon had an excellent 21 points, 14 rebounds and 7 steals. Gaetano Bagnato showed what he can do with quality minutes by hitting a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Craig Cannane also had 11 boards, and Kylie Gauci showed her class with 8 points and 7 assists - very impressive as she isn't the primary ball handler.

Adelaide got good mileage out of Luke Watkins who had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Former Australian Roller Darren Shutz had 15 boards but only 6 points on 3 of 17 shooting which has been a major problem for him all season. David Gould looked good at the start of the game but was eventually held to 11 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists - a quiet day out for him.

Good news is that Adelaide's British import Ghazain Choudry who broke his collarbone last week may be able to come back for the last 5 games of the season. With David Gould saying that he's preparing to play out the season, that makes Adelaide a formidable foe for future opponents.

On the WheelKings front, Jeremy Doyle has announced that he's made a good recovery from a skin tissue injury and will resume training this week in preparation for next week's Perth double-header. Welcome back, JD!

Box scores and other stats available at http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/17/00/76/38/14xYG9Qv6kjyI/