Raiders shine in statement win over Bearcats (Original Piece by NBL1)
The NBL1 South champion Knox Raiders might only have seven players for the National Finals, but they are going to take some stopping after opening up with a 114-61 win in Perth against the West Adelaide Bearcats.
Both teams were fresh off securing the conference championship last Saturday night with the Raiders securing the NBL1 South title in spectacular fashion beating the Sandringham Sabres in the Grand Final.
Meanwhile, the Bearcats made it two NBL1 Central titles over the past three years with the Grand Final triumph against the Forestville Eagles.
Neither team has arrived in Perth with full rosters available with Knox having just the seven players including being without Deng Acouth and Mason Peatling.
West Adelaide also had just two of their championship winning starting five available with the absence of NBL trio Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic and Lachlan Olbrich.
However, with Ke'Jhan Feagin, Wayne Stewart Jr and Bailey Nunn leading the charge, the Raiders weren't going to be denied and have clearly come west on a mission to add the national title to the NBL1 South championship in 2023.
The Raiders scored 12 consecutive points to open up a 10-point lead already by quarter-time and then continued to dominate making it a 14-0 run to start the second term.
Eventually Knox would outscore West Adelaide 26 points to 11 in the quarter to lead by as much as 28 points and go into the half-time break in control leading 54-29.
It was more of the same throughout the second half including some spectacular finishes at the rim from Madut Akec. The Raiders would end up outscoring the Bearcats 25 points to 14 in the third quarter, and 35 to 18 on the way to the 53-point win.
That victory will put Knox in a strong position to play for the championship game now on Saturday night while the Bearcats will look to hit back against their next opponent in 24 hours.
Bailey Nunn was named Grand Final MVP last week for Knox in the NBL1 South championship triumph against Sandringham, and the 19-year-old who is heading to Sacramento State continued that form to open the National Finals.
Nunn finished the game with 24 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals on the back of knocking down 4/6 from three-point territory.
Ke'Jhan Feagin came up huge in the championship too and kept his form going with 25 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and five steals while knocking down 5/9 from behind the three-point line.
Wayne Stewart Jr came up huge as well for Knox with 29 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks on 12/13 field goal shooting while Madut Akec contributed 19 points, four boards, three assists and three steals.
Austin Rapp also ended up with eight points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
It was tough going for West Adelaide without three of their championship stars with Fraser Roxburgh top-scoring with 12 points, four assists and two rebounds.
Nik DeSantis added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists and Matthew Trandafil eight points but it was Lachlan Hunter who top-scored with 18 points and five rebounds on 7/13 shooting from the floor and 4/4 at the foul line.
