With a finals position effectively out of reach, the WheelKings struggled to muster the performance necessary to compete with the impressive Wollongong outfit. Australian representatives Tristan Knowles and Brett Stibners clinically exploited Wenty's defence and scored 35 and 22 points respectively. Stibners also added 17 rebounds and 13 assists for his triple-double. Bill Latham played a solid hand for the WheelKings even though he was getting double and triple-teamed throughout the game. He had 25 points and 22 rebounds.

More than anything, the preparation for this game defined the problems Wenty has had this season. The team hasn't had one practise session with all players in attendance since training began in March. For this game, Coach Hewson and his 3 Gliders players - Tesch, McKenzie and Gauci - were at the AIS all week playing tremendously well in a 5-0 sweep of China as part of their preparation for Beijing. They'd been working really hard all week, interspersing the China games with intense training sessions, and then they travelled to the Hawks game directly from their camp in Canberra. Full credit to those three for still having the energy to get in and mix it with the Hawks. With Jansens still overseas and Van Asperen out injured, the remaining WheelKings played their hardest but just couldn't get it done.

The season wraps up next weekend with a home double against Brisbane. Expect Wenty to have a good couple games as they try to end their season on a high note. Saturday's game will be at 7pm at Auburn Basketball Centre and Sunday's will be at 11am at Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre.

A full report of the Gliders v China series can be seen at http://www.basketball.net.au/fs_newsitem.asp?id=80312&orgID=1&Oname=BA&O1c=8&O10c=3

Photo courtesy of S23PIX. See their excellent array of shots from the game at http://www.s23.com.au/pix/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72:wollongong-roller-hawks-vs-wheel-kings&catid=37:basketball&Itemid=72