The Horsham Hornets men's side got their first CBL win on Saturday, against Mount Gambier

Playing at the Nest for the first time in two years, the Hornets were buoyed by the home tome support, taking down a plucky Lakers team.

The day got off on the wrong foot for the visitors, who had issues crossing the South Australian border.

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The tip-off was pushed back to 2.30 pm, giving the crowd time to build energy inside the Horsham Basketball Stadium.

It was a slow start for the home team, who couldn't buy a basket in the opening minutes.

Max Bryan sunk the side's first two-pointer four minutes into the game, kickstarting a scoring streak for Horsham.

The Hornets reached 21-points at the first break and limited the Lakers to just 13.

The second quarter was a much tighter contest as some of the Lakers started to find their range; however, the Hornets kept their cool and extended their lead to 10 points (39-29) at halftime, with Mitch Martin, Matt Lovel and Cody Bryan all impressing.

The third quarter was one to forget for the Hornets, as its opponents found momentum.

The Lakers outscored the Hornets 21-17 to be trailing by just six points with one quarter remaining.

The lead would have been less had Max Bryan not sunk a half-court buzzer-beater reminiscent of Steph Curry.

Fortunately, the home side composed themselves for the final quarter, outscoring the Lakers by seven points to record their first win of the Country Basketball League season - 79-66.

Cody Bryan top-scored for the Hornets with 23-points, while Mitch Martin (17-points), Matt Lovel (16-points) and Max Bryan (12-points) all added healthy contributions.

Speaking to The Wimmera Mail-Times after the match, Hornets coach Scott Benbow was thrilled with the win but said his team didn't give their best showing.

"We slugged that one out, we really did," Benbow said.

"We had a tough game last night in Warrnambool, losing by a point. Some boys had to play some big minutes, and it probably showed a bit.

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"But also sitting there waiting for the game didn't suit us, and I can only imagine how Mount Gambier felt being stuck on the border.

"Not ideal preparation but a win nonetheless and we're away. We'll work on it during the week and hopefully put on a better performance on Saturday night."

Benbow pointed to Cody Bryan as someone that impressed him.

"I thought Cody Bryan stood up once again," he said.

"Everyone had patches where they were good, we also had patches where collectively as a team we were no good at all. We've just got to bridge that gap."

The men's Hornets' next match is their round four clashes against the Terang Tornadoes on Saturday at home and Mount Gambier away the following day.

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