Featured image: Taylor Earnshaw
The Knox Raiders dug deep to produce a huge second half fightback inspired by young big men Austin Rapp, Kyle Bowen and Anzac Rissetto to overrun the Mackay Meteors 87-84 to win back-to-back NBL1 National Championships.
Knox arrived on the Sunshine Coast a month after their season ended in the NBL1 South in an elimination final loss to the Dandenong Rangers, but motivated to defend the national title they won in Perth last year.
Mackay had booked their spot on the Sunshine Coast with a dominant NBL1 North season to secure that championship two weeks ago.
Then even without NBL stars Isaac White and Todd Blanchfield, they won into the championship game on Sunday with wins over the Mandurah Magic and Forestville Eagles.
Knox won through with wins against the Maitland Mustangs and Eltham Wildcats, but it was Mackay who produced a standout first half to lead by as much as 12 points on the back of 74 per cent shooting with a focus of going inside.
However, Knox wore them down and eventually with captain KJ Feagin delivering once more, and the big man trio of Kyle Bowen, Austin Rapp and Anzac Rissetto coming up huge, they overpowered Mackay and then held on in a thrilling finish to become back-to-back champions.
RECAP SATURDAY NBL1 NATIONAL FINALS | MAITLAND V MANDURAH
RECAP SATURDAY NBL1 NATIONAL FINALS | MACKAY V FORESTVILLE
RECAP SATURDAY NBL1 NATIONAL FINALS | KNOX V ELTHAM
Knox went from being down seven midway through the third quarter to leading by 12 with three minutes to go, and then just held out Mackay at the death with Bowen named MVP.
The Melbourne United forward produced 24 points, 15 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.
Fellow young big man Austin Rapp continued his superb form with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Anzac Rissetto then provided quite the second half cameo.
After just seven points in 17 minutes in the first two games, he fought through a back injury for 10 points and five rebounds in 20:35.
KJ Feagin was captain of another championship team for Knox and was tremendous with 20 points and seven assists on 4/8 three-point shooting.
Malith Machar also had 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks for Knox, and Brody Nunn seven points, nine assists, four boards and two steals.
Mackay went ever so close to a first National Championship with Emmett Naar having another dazzling triple-double made up of 21 points, 18 assists and 10 rebounds.
Aiden Krause had 19 points and eight rebounds, Amarco Doyle 14 points, five boards and three steals, and Jerron Jamerson 10 points, two steals and two blocked shots.
Luca Yates also flew in for the championship game after playing with the Illawarra Hawks against the Shanghai Sharks the night before, and had 11 points, 10 boards and two blocks in over 38 minutes.
Mackay came into the championship decider with momentum and with the addition of Luca Yates, and they did start well to be up 5-2 early before three balls to Austin Rapp and Malith Machar gave Knox the lead.
It was only brief with Mackay taking charge the rest of the first quarter starting with a couple of inside buckets to Aiden Krause.
Kye Medhurst then hit the Meteors' lone three-pointer of the first half and they finished the period with a 16-5 run to be on top 25-15 heading into quarter-time.
Even with Kyle Bowen, Rapp (two) and KJ Feagin hitting three-pointers early in the second period for Knox, Mackay was dominating on the inside up the other end and with Emmett Naar running the show and Krause a powerful force, they maintained the 49-42 half-time edge.
The Meteors took just two threes the entire first half and focused on the inside and shot 74 per cent from the field as a result with Naar having 15 points and eight assists, and Krause 13 points and five rebounds at the break.
Knox was shooting at just 34 per cent but Bowen and Rapp had combined for 28 points and 12 rebounds to keep their team within striking distance.
Bowen and Malith Machar then combined to give the Raiders the first five points of the second half but Jerron Jamerson and Yates answered back with the next five for Mackay.
Triples from Feagin and Brody Nunn did keep Knox in touch, though, and Mackay were only clinging to the 64-62 advantage by three quarter-time.
Knox had picked up the momentum and when Feagin hit a triple early in the fourth stanza the defending champions had a first lead since briefly hitting the front during the first quarter.
Anzac Rissetto had a purple patch with an individual 7-0 run with strong inside finishes to push the Raiders out to a six-point lead.
Another 7-0 run that included a triple to Feagin saw Knox up to a 12-point lead and they did appear to have one hand on the trophy, but nobody told Mackay that.
The Meteors one more big run starting with a triple to Amarco Doyle, just their third of the contest. Jamerson and Doyle then helped them to score nine straight points to turn that 11-point deficit into just a two-point one.
Rapp answered with a tough finish at the rim for Knox, then he made a free-throw too but Mackay still didn’t give in. Krause scored going to the hoop, and the Meteors forced a turnover but Krause just ran out of time to get off the attempted game tying shot.
Knox held strong and become the first team in the NBL1 National Finals to win back-to-back championships.
KNOX RAIDERS 87 (Bowen 24, Feagin 20, Rapp 16)
MACKAY METEORS 84 (Naar 21, Krause 19, Doyle 14)
MVP: Kyle Bowen (Knox)
