It was ANZAC Day Eve action at Dreamstreet Lending Arena on Monday night and it was a double win night for the Frankston Blues against Dandenong Rangers in Round 3 of NBL1 South.
The evening began on Frankston's home floor with the Blues women defeating the Rangers 85-76 before their men backed it up also with a 100-72 victory.
WOMEN
Bibby inspires Blues to huge fourth quarter to beat Rangers
The Frankston Blues women produced a massive last quarter to turn a nine-point deficit at three quarter-time into the 85-76 victory at home to the Dandenong Rangers on Monday night.
Frankston came into the game on the back of a narrow four-point win over the Diamond Valley Eagles on Saturday night while the Rangers beat the Melbourne Tigers.
That set the stage for the Monday night contest and the Blues started well to lead 22-18 by quarter-time but the Rangers got rolling in the second period to put up 25 points to 16 and take a 43-38 lead into half-time.
21 points ?
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4 rebounds ?
2 assists ?
2 steals ?
Phenomenal half of basketball for Nyadiew Puoch of the Dandenong Rangers.
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Dandenong stretched that lead out to 62-53 by three quarter-time and it was up to Frankston to find something special in the fourth quarter, and they did with Perth Lynx WNBL star Chloe Bibby leading the charge.
The Rangers piled on 32 points and held the Rangers to 14 in the fourth quarter to end up winning the game by nine points after being down by nine by the end of three.
The win improves Frankston to a 3-3 record on the season at the end of Round 3 with the Rangers now 3-3 as well with the defeat.
Bibby came up huge for the Blues in the finish to end the night with 26 points, two rebounds and two steals on shooting 7/13 from the field, 3/6 from downtown and 9/10 at the foul line.
Louise Brown was also a dominant presence for Frankston with 18 points and nine rebounds with Chelsea D'Angelo contributing 14 points, six boards and five assists, Tori Jackson 10 points and two rebounds, and Micaela Cocks nine points, six assists and three boards.
How did that fall? ?
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Louise Brown with the And-1 ?
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Nyadiew Puoch continued her tremendous form for Dandenong and went so close to leading her team to another win with 30 points, six rebounds, six steals and three assists.
Sarah Boothe added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Amber Smith 15 points and four boards.
Chloe Bibby put on an impressive performance, scoring 26 points in just 24 minutes of play, leading the Frankston Blues to a victory on the eve of Anzac Day ?
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Frankston Blues - 85
Dandenong Rangers - 76
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MEN
Blues flex muscles in big win over Rangers
The firepower of the Frankston Blues was on show once again on Monday night despite the absence of Lachlan Barker to beat the Dandenong Rangers 100-72.
The Blues were able to keep their terrific form going this NBL1 South season fresh off a 16-point win also at home to the Diamond Valley Eagles on Saturday night while Dandenong weren’t able to hit back after Saturday's loss at home to the Melbourne Tigers.
That pass was on the money ?
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It took until the second quarter for Frankston to begin to pull away with 25 points to 16 which saw the home team go into the half-time break leading 46-36.
From there, the Blues continued to get better the longer the game went and 33 points to 19 in the fourth quarter saw them end up winning by 28 to improve to 5-1 on the season with Dandenong now 2-4.
There was a lot to like in the performance from Frankston and they were rewarded with their aggressiveness by getting to the line for 29 free-throw attempts while Dandenong had just one for the entire game.
Lucas Barker at the buzzer ?
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The Blues also forced the Rangers into 22 turnovers for the game and in the absence of Lachlan, Lucas Barker was outstanding running the ship for Frankston with 13 points, seven assists, seven steals and five rebounds.
The experienced Igor Hadziomerovic was also terrific with 24 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds with Daniel Trist contributing 15 points and six boards.
Jordan Evans also had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Brad Newley nine points, three rebounds and three assists fresh off signing on for another NBL season at Melbourne United.
You couldn't question the efforts of Dandenong despite the final scoreline blowing out a little. Jesse Ghee had a strong season in 2022 out west with the Goldfields Giants and is playing well for the Rangers with 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Deng Puoch ended up with 17 points and six rebounds, Jack Roberts 13 points, five boards and three assists, and James Spencer nine points, two rebounds and two assists.
Mike Amius is doing it on both ends ??
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