The Hobart Chargers have held off a determined Australian Institute of Sport side to secure their first victory for the year, winning 103 – 92 at the AIS Training Hall on Friday night.

The Chargers held a 19-point lead on the ‘Tutes’ midway through the fourth quarter, but were put to the test when the AIS got to within seven points.

Ex-NBL veteran Mark Nash, helped steer his side to victory with 28 points and 19 boards, whilst Anthony Stewart contributed 22 for the match.

Chargers coach, Mark Chivers, was relieved to get a win after a rough start to the season losing to the Canberra Gunners and N W Tasmania Thunder in their opening two rounds.

“We feel pretty good (about tonight’s performance) because it was our first win for the season and we really got the monkey off our back,” Chivers said.

“The guys played well, and the really good thing is that we used the whole bench.”

The Chargers coach was particularly jubilant about coming to the nation’s capital and playing against the spirited boys from the AIS.

“It’s exciting to see this young talent and it is exciting to see the facilities they get to play in,” Chivers said.

“It really is a privilege for our team to play against the future players of Australia, the elite.”

The ‘Tutes’ showed patches of brilliance in both offence and defence, but were unable to sustain it for the entirety of the match.

It was this inconsistency that AIS coach Martin Clarke believes his side must overcome if they want to start making an impact in this competition.

“It was patchy at best,” Clarke said.

“When the guys put their minds to it and play with confidence we play well but when we are indecisive, men take advantage of you.”

AIS captain, Jorden Page, inspired his team’s comeback with a masterful 17 points, whilst also proving pivotal in defence causing two turnovers and starting the ‘Tutes’ last quarter attack.

Ryan Broekhoff (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Matthew Dellavedova (15 points) were inspiring in their attempts to bring back the score.

We didn’t bring the intensity we needed and it showed on the scoreboard,” Dellavedova said.

“We played with intensity at the end but it was just too late, so we just have to bring that from the start and we will work through it.”

The first quarter started fiercely as the AIS were keen to make amends for last weeks average defensive display, whilst the Chargers didn’t hold back in offence as they were desperate to secure their first win for the season.

The Chargers soon started to take total control of the game as they rarely allowed the AIS to get an easy basket.

Credit to the AIS, they never gave up. With four minutes remaining on the clock, the bench was roaring and the players were responding as they continued to hustle their opponents for the ball.

Unfortunately for the ‘Tutes,’ the Thunders Robert Inches, landed his fifth-of-seven from beyond the arc and the game was all but lost.

The AIS will be out of action in the SEABL for the next fortnight as they travel to Germany to take part in the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim.

The tournament will act as an opportunity to prepare the players for the 2009 Under 19 World Championship.

The ‘Tutes’ will return to the AIS Training Hall on the 4^th of April to take on the Geelong Supercats.

Australian Institute of Sport 92 (Page 17, Broekhoff 15, Dellavedova 15)

Hobart Chargers 103 (Nash 28, Stewart 22, Inches 19)

AIS Basketball

By Jordan Laing