SYDNEY - Townsville are seeking a front-court monster to address their rebounding deficiencies after suffering the rare occurrence of an NBL import asking to leave.
Townsville (6-5 record) farewelled American Gabe Freeman after their 91-86 home win over struggling Gold Coast (3-7) on Saturday night.
The victory consolidated fifth spoton the ladder, but proved to be Freeman's swansong after the club earlier granted him a release. The forward averaged a modest nine points and six rebounds over his 11-game stint, but signed off with a flourish, hitting an NBL career-best 17 points.
Not happy with his form and offered the opportunity to return to the Philippines, where he has enjoyed success before, Freeman proved that rarity - an import who asked to leave rather than being cut.
"If you are not happy here you are not going to play well, so we released him after the game," Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson said. "He really showed some character. Sometimes they dog it and just go through the motions, but he played his butt off, which is great."
With Townsville last in the competition in rebounds, Gleeson wanted another big body to take some pressure off towering centre Luke Schenscher.
"He [Schenscher] is coming in for a lot of attention and defenders have been physical, so we need someone to help him out, someone to stand up when other teams try to push us around and we need some help in rebounding," Gleeson said.
Against Gold Coast, Schenscher scored a team-leading 21 points and evergreen guard Peter Crawford notched 20, including three vital late three-pointers.
The victory was a pleasant end to a tough week for Gleeson, who had earlier been found not guilty by the NBL tribunal after being charged with shoving a match official and unsportsmanlike behaviour following an alleged incident in Perth last week.
"I thought it got blown out of proportion, but full credit to the guys to block that aside and not worry about it and get on with the job," Gleeson said.
Elsewhere, the Hawks looked like suffering their first home loss in over a year, but star import Gary Ervin scored 12 of his 31 points in the last six minutes to foil the visitors.
Adelaide import Troy DeVries struggled again, contributing just three points on 1-of-8 shooting in what proved his final game.
The Sixers released DeVries yesterday, saying he was suffering hip and leg problems.
