The Penrith women were on the road in Dubbo and lost a close game by 13 points to the third-placed Lady Rams.

Penrith's existing injury worries in their men's team were well known, with Ben Hawkesley and Ryan Boyd both out with injuries suffered in last Saturday's loss to the Springwood Scorchers, while Adam Peterson and Bruce Wells carried niggling injuries into the Bruins'

game.

The hosts led 21-10 in the first quarter and were presented with an unexpected bonus offering in the second quarter, as Peterson and Wells limped to the bench after aggravating their respective injuries.

Despit overwhelming odds, the Panthers rallied to win the second quarter, although the Bruins still led 35-26 at half time.

The Bruins surged again to lead 56-40 leading into 'money-time' and although the Panthers won the final quarter, they could not reel in the Bruins' healthy lead and eventually fell by 12 points.

``The Bruins led us by over 26 points at one stage,'' Panthers coach Jeff Cooper said.

``We got it back to 10 but just couldn't get back into the game playing catch-up basketball. Tim Smith was huge for us tonight after we lost Adam (Peterson) and Bruce (Wells) and it was easily his best game of the year. Given our two losses, we may now have lost the

advantage in the playoffs and we need to win our next two games just to ensure we reach the playoffs. If nothing else, the next two weeks will be interesting.''

In other games from the Nepean Valley, the Hawkesbury Jets lost 83-69 to the Sutherland Sharks, while the Springwood Scorchers lost 83-77 to the Macarthur Heat.

Penrith Basketball Association hosts a double-header this Saturday at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centrein Cambridge Park.

The Panthers women play the Shoalhaven Tigers at 2pm, followed by the Panthers men against the Bathurst Goldminers at 4pm.

Bankstown Bruins 76 def Penrith Panthers 64 (Steve Gavrilovic 17 points, Josh Morehead 11, Tim Smith 9, Bruce Wells 8)