SWINDON Shock player-coach David Colclough was left questioning the attitude of his players after they suffered back-to-back defeats in last weekend’s double-header.

The New College side faced both Solent Kestrels II and Greenwich Titans and despite producing competitive performances in both, finished with no more points on the board.

Saturday’s home game with Greenwich saw them lose 84-81, despite holding a late advantage, while it was a similar story a day later, as they lost 88-84 to Solent Kestrels.

After a late collapse in both games, Colclough says he is scratching his head as to why his team are struggling to close out on a result.

“Both games were really hard fought. We just choked at the very end. We had an eight-point lead with five minutes to go on Saturday and we couldn’t keep it together,” he said.

“I feel for Antonio Wilburn because he was brilliant. We had it, I don’t know what to do when we have these situations in games.

“We are up multiple points and we just turn the ball over. We were arguing amongst ourselves. I get that the guys don’t want that to happen but we have been in that situation before.

“We have a really bad attitude of putting our heads down instead of seeing out the game and getting the win.

“Last year we had so much confidence. We had players who played in big games and they were leaders.

“Now we have players who look for someone else to do it. Outside of Antonio and Matt North, we don’t have anyone who stands up and says they are a clutch shooter.”

It’s now a quick turnaround for Colclough and the rest of his squad as they look to complete five games in eight days.

Shock are back in action tonight, where they take on Oxford Brookes at home in what is a ‘must win’ game according to the Shock chief.

“We have last a few players due to work but we should have a good eight players for the game,” said Colclough, whose team are second-from-bottom in Division Three South.

“Because we played games back-to-back we have done a light session where we have walked through the game, done some shooting and some defensive stuff.

“Relegation is a worry but I think only the team who finish bottom of the pile get relegated. However, if we are able to beat Oxford, that changes everything because they are one game above us.”