DESPITE a surprise defeat at the weekend to Southampton University Sharks, Swindon Shock still have a chance to clinch the National League South West Division Four title.

Over the weekend, David Colclough’s side faced Bristol Storm on Saturday, before travelling to the south coast a day later.

The Shock were able to claim a narrow win against Storm in a 85-92 victory but slipped to a disappointing 75-73 defeat on Sunday.

While the result hasn’t ended the title dreams of Colclough’s troops, it does mean his side will have to beat league-leaders Cardiff City this weekend.

The Welsh side are two points ahead of Shock but victory would for the Swindon side would see both teams have 24 points.

In this instance, the title would be decided on the head-to-head record between the two teams, making it a must-win for Colclough In the first instalment of the weekend, Shock wrapped up a win over Bristol in a high-scoring 85-92 game.

Colclough was glad his side were able to come through the tougher of the two fixtures, but admits it wasn’t as straightforward as he expected.

“We knew it was going to be tough. We kept exchanging the lead and we didn’t get control of the game until the final five minutes,” said Colclough “It was a good, well-contested game between two teams. We knew their strengths and weaknesses and they knew ours.

“We made the basket in the end, which won the game.”

However, the shock slipped three points short of victory against Southampton in a 75-73 defeat.

Player-coach Colclough rues the chances his side missed, especially from the free-throw line, with his troops failing to convert nine points from 15 feet.

He also highlighted that training has been sporadic from his players, which ultimately hampered their efforts last weekend.

“It was heart-wrenching but that is part of playing sport,” said the Shock chief.

“I never put anything past any team but I thought we would be okay for both games.

“Altogether, we missed nine free-throws. They’re nine free points. All we needed was for two of them to go in and it is a completely different game.

“Over the last few weeks, people were in and out of training and it showed.

“We are a product of our training. When we train hard, we look unbeatable but when it is hit and miss, we don’t look the same.”