ORENA Hume City Broncos sent outgoing coach Lanard Copeland off in style with an eight-point win against Hawthorn in Big V state championship men’s basketball.
The Broncos announced last week that Copeland wouldn’t coach out the season as he had planned due to his commitments with the Sydney Kings.
He will be one of Andrew Gaze’s assistant coaches at the NBL side for the 2016-17 season.
A Broncos statement said: “Copeland identified that he may not be able to do both roles at the same time to the high standard he sets for himself.”
Kelvin Bowers will coach the Broncos for the rest of the year. Bowers has coached several Big V sides, including Bulleen, Warrandyte and Sunbury.
On Saturday night, the Broncos jumped out of the blocks against the Magic, eventually recording an 87-79 win.
Lee Jeka returned to the line-up and starred with 31 points. Luke Egan and Javari Williams also reached double figures.
The win and Eltham’s loss mean the Broncos move back into the top six with four regular season matches remaining.
The Bronco women beat Whittlesea and Eltham at the weekend.
