MALAYSIA Dragons coach Ariel Vanguardia challenged his team to bounce back from a chastening Asean Basketball League 88-72 defeat to Indonesia Warriors in Jakarta on Friday when they face the same opponents at the Maba Stadium today.
The Dragons were never in a game in which they trailed from start to finish as they slumped to their third defeat in eight matches this season.
“I have to credit the win to the Warriors. They wanted it more than us,” said Vanguardia in a team release.
“I’m challenging our team to show a sense of urgency in the next game. We didn’t do well, this performance is unacceptable.”
Avery Scharer led the Dragons’ scoring with 20 points while Chris Eversley had 18 points and 17 rebounds and joined Justin Knox (16 points, 10 rebounds) in registering double-doubles.
The Dragons shot a woeful 33 per cent (28-of-84) and could not get a handle on Treymane Johnson, who poured in 30 points for 2012 ABL champions and last year’s runners-up Warriors.
The Warriors’ win evened the season series at 1-1 after Dragons won by 18 points on home court on Aug 2.