Last night in front of the Frankston basketball community, the South East Melbourne Phoenix took on the touring St Mary’s Gaels.
The sell-out event saw Frankston’s own Ryan Broekhoff return and play at Frankston Basketball Stadium for the first time in over ten years.
The return comes after his time at the Australian Institue of Sport, Valparaiso University, Europe (Turkey and Russia), and multiple Australian Boomers representations, the National Basketball Association (NBA) and most recently in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Broekhoff’s number 45 player introduction was embraced by the crowd including his friends, family and aspiring Frankston basketball juniors.
The Phoenix landed the first blow, emerging 29-17 leaders after the first 10 minutes of play.
Despite being the second night of a back-to-back, the Gaels managed to claw their way back into the contest.
Phoenix led by nine points heading into the final quarter, however, the momentum was shifting in favour of the visitors.
Scoring was hard to come by and Phoenix’s lead slowly dwindled towards the end of regular time, resulting in ‘free basketball’ for the crowd as extra time was required, in overtime.
The Gaels ultimately took a 12-point victory over the Phoenix 86-74.
Box Score HERE