National Finals Recap | Men Day 2

Image credit: @jcpphotovideo

The hometown heroes from the NBL1 East, Canberra Gunners, have set up a tantalising NBL1 National Finals championship game on Sunday against NBL1 West powerhouses Geraldton Buccaneers after both won strongly on Saturday in Canberra.

NATIONAL FINALS RECAP | MEN DAY 1

Geraldton Buccaneers (92) defeated Sandringham Sabres (84)

The shorthanded Sandringham Sabres put up a good fight to be on top for almost the first 35 minutes but the Geraldton Buccaneers wore them down in the finish to book in a place in the championship game at the NBL1 National Finals with the 92-84 win.

Both teams came into the National Finals having won their respective conference championships and had mixed results in Canberra on Friday ahead of their battle for a spot in the Final.

Geraldton won the NBL1 West Grand Final at RAC Arena in Perth last Saturday night before then opening their National Finals campaign with the 25-point victory against the undermanned West Adelaide Bearcats.

Sandringham won the NBL1 South Grand Final against the Melbourne Tigers two weeks ago but were well short of full strength coming into the National Finals with Ben Ayre, Fabijan Krslovic, Dane Pineau and CJ Asuncion-Byrd all unavailable.

Despite that, the Sabres put in a strong showing on Friday before giving up the last four points to lose by one to the Canberra Gunners, but as the loser with the smallest margin they still stayed alive in the race to Sunday's Final.

Geraldton were also missing their three-time championship winning hero Liam Hunt, but were closer to full strength including the presence of new Illawarra Hawks development player Johny Narkle who had another 29 points on Friday against West Adelaide.

Despite the Sabres playing with a seven-man rotation that included playing-coach Dave Barlow, they started well to be leading 29-24 by quarter-time on the back of shooting 11/22 from the field to the 9/19 from the Buccaneers.

That lead for Sandringham got out to 11 points in the second quarter as well and the NBL1 South championship were still leading by the half-time break 42-41.

Again the Sabres managed to open up a 10-point lead in the third quarter but the Buccaneers did manage to fight back with a 9-0 run with Sandringham clinging to the 65-63 advantage by three quarter-time.

Akeem Springs then continued his big performance for Geraldton by tying scores up to open the fourth quarter and while the Buccaneers had the more bodies available, the Sabres just refused to lie down with a spot in Sunday's Final on the line.

Malith Machar pulled the Sabres back within a point with 2:30 to play when he hit a three ball, but Sandringham wouldn’t score again as Geraldton took control including five free throws from the dynamite Verle Williams was aggressive attacking the basket.

Joshua Keyes also had a nice finish on the back of an offensive rebound and the Buccaneers secured the eight-point win thanks to scoring the last seven points in the final two minutes to book in a place in the championship game at the National Finals on Sunday.

Akeem Springs was the star of the win for Geraldton with 30 points, five rebounds and two steals including hitting 4/8 from three-point territory.

Fellow import Joshua Keyes also had 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots with the dynamic Verle Williams producing 14 points, three assists and two boards.

Ryan Blanchett is playing a key role in the absence of Liam Hunt and he had 12 points and six rebounds with Johny Narkle delivering another 10 points, nine boards and eight assists.

Three-time championship winning 544-game NBL1 West veteran enforcer Mat Wundenberg also had 12 rebounds for Geraldton.

It was a brave performance from Sandringham missing so many of their stars and while they lost both games at the National Finals, they led for the majority of both appearances against Canberra and now Geraldton.

Malith Machar finished with 29 points and four rebounds with 5/13 three-point shooting with Tom Koppens delivering 17 points, 12 boards and two assists, Elliott Brown 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, Dave Barlow nine points and two assists, and Sammy Cartwright eight points, nine rebounds and three assists.

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 92 (Springs 30, Keyes 22, Williams 14)

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 84 (Machar 29, Koppens 17, Brown 13)

Illawarra Hawks (106) defeated West Adelaide Bearcats (97)

The West Adelaide Bearcats were able to make it interesting late after being down 23 points but the Illawarra Hawks did enough in the finish to hold on for the 106-97 victory.

Both teams were out of the running for the championship game at the National Finals on the back of losing first up on Friday but it was still a chance to make sure they left Canberra on a winning note.

After losing the NBL1 East Grand Final two weeks ago, the Hawks still got to compete at the National Finals when the two-time defending champion Knox Raiders were unable to take their place.

They were without NBL1 East MVP Todd Blanchfield on Friday in the loss to the Southern Districts Spartans before then also not having the services of point guard Kobe McDowell-White on Saturday up against the Bearcats.

West Adelaide, meanwhile, were without Lat Mayen, Keanu Rasmussen, Cameron Huefner and Jacob Tryon from the team that won the NBL1 Central championship, and they lost to the NBL1 West's Geraldton Buccaneers by 25 points on Friday.

Even without their two stars McDowell-White and Blanchfield, the Hawks worked on top of the Bearcats to be leading 26-21 by quarter-time.

It was another 29 points to 26 in the second term that saw Illawarra go into half-time leading 55-47 and then in the third quarter they pulled away further.

The Hawks put up 26 points to 16 for the frame including going on a 12-0 scoring run to open up a 23-point lead.

Illawarra were still leading by 23 points with 7:30 to go but the Bearcats had nothing to lose and suddenly they went on a stunning run beginning with a three ball to Riley Real.

Sean Stock hit another three a minute later to bring the margin back to just 18 before Real hit another to make it 15, and when Joel Spear landed another it was just a 13-point ball game with 4:30 to play.

Things then really got interesting with another three-pointer each to Spear and Stock in the final minute to make it a seven-point game. West Adelaide coach Dean Nyberg then pulled out something different with two players defending the inbounds pass and Illawarra had a nightmare getting the ball in.

It didn’t quite pay off with Illawarra holding on for the nine-point win but it sure made for an interesting finish to the National Finals for both teams.

Christian Maran delivered 21 points, 14 rebounds and three assists in the win for the Hawks with Matthew Mims adding 19 points, six assists, five boards and three steals.

Kyle Leslie also had 16 points and seven rebounds, Dante Bruton 14 points, Lachlan Dent 12 points and 11 assists, and Toby Campbell 12 points and eight rebounds.

Sean Stock top-scored for West Adelaide with 21 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals with Riley Real adding 17 points, and Joel Spear 11 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Josh Kelly also had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, Carter Truslove 11 points and seven boards, and Hamish Staude 10 points and six assists.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 106 (Maran 21, Mims 19, Leslie 16)

WEST ADELAIDE BEARCATS 97 (Stock 21, Real 17, Spear 11, Truslove 11, Kelly 11)

Southern Districts Spartans (83) lost to Canberra Gunners (113)

Imposing and ever-reliable captain Glenn Morison again stepped up when it mattered for the Canberra Gunners and then the next generation of Brutons, Brooklyn, also shined as the home town team beat the Southern Districts Spartans 113-83.

The Gunners have the home crowd advantage for the National Finals this year on the back of winning the NBL1 East championship with the Grand Final win two weeks ago against the Illawarra Hawks.

They then came from behind to snatch a one-point thriller to open the National Finals on Friday against the Sandringham Sabres to set up their clash with the Spartans with a spot in the Final on Sunday against the Geraldton Buccaneers on the line.

The Spartans won the NBL1 North championship two weeks ago and then started their National Finals campaign with the nine-point win against the Illawarra Hawks on Friday.

A spot in the Final went on the line on Saturday afternoon at Southern Cross Stadium and it was Southern Districts with the crowd against them who started well with the 27-23 lead by quarter-time.

The Gunners, though, produced a standout second quarter where they put on the afterburners with 30 points to 15 on the back of shooting 11/18 from the field to 6/17 from the Spartans including 4/8 from downtown to 0/4.

That saw Canberra leading 53-42 by half-time and then the Gunners rode the momentum from their home fans and having a fully stocked roster to dominate the second half.

Canberra produced another 31 points to 23 in the third quarter, and 29 to 18 in the fourth on the way to the dominant 30-point victory to book in a place in Sunday's Final against the Geraldton Buccaneers from the NBL1 West.

Glenn Morison has now led Canberra to championships in 2022 and 2025, and was outstanding to get his team to the National Finals championship game with 25 points, six rebounds and five assists on 12/14 shooting including a rare three-pointer.

Will Mayfield also had 17 points, nine assists, four rebounds and four steals, Brooklyn Bruton 16 points, four boards and three steals, Derek Emelifeonwu 15 points, five rebounds and five assists, Edwards Bigg-Wither 14 points on 7/7 shooting, and James Toohey eight points and three assists.

Tamuri Wigness wrapped up his remarkable 2025 season with Southern Districts with another 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists despite his team losing by 30.

Max Kerle also had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, Blake Jones 10 points, five boards and three assists, Ben Hastings nine points and four rebounds, and Jean-Luc Morel eight points and six boards.

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 83 (Wigness 33, Kerle 12, Jones 10)

CANBERRA GUNNERS 113 (Morison 25, Mayfield 17, Bruton 16)