NBL1 Central Mens Semi-Finals

Photo By All-Star Photos/Kelly Barnes

Here is the recap of week two of the finals; The Semi-Finals

Rocket-Men fire Eagles out in straight sets

The North Adelaide Rockets have continued their explosive post season as they shot down the Eagles in the final quarter to send them out in straight sets 84-93 at the Nest. Import Tobias Dowdell had a big start as he rolled off 6 points in the opener to give his team a slender lead despite some late quarter buckets to Isaac Atuer 18-20 at Quarter Time. In the second it was the Michael Harris and Verle Williams show as the Frank Angove Medallist and “Red Tornado” went off for 8 points each in the quarter and both teams were locked 39-39 at the half.

Adelaide 36er Sunday Dech returning to the Rockets line-up went off offensively in the third as he and Harris went head-to-head like practice at the Arena with 11 points to Dech for the quarter. Harris also found a likely ally in Atuer who started to find some crucial points as well as gifting Malith Machar a thunderous dunk which kept his side in touch 63-65 at three quarter time. Jack McVeigh fired yet again in the fourth at the crunch time as did several of his accomplices in Williams and Dech while Harris continued to get big buckets down the stretch. Back-to back buckets from Jimma Dau and Dech close the Eagles chances despite a late Harris triple and sent the Eagles crashing out of the second seed and out of the finals in straight sets 84-93.

Dech was elite offensively with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, Williams came off the bench for his 22 points and McVeigh grabbed his double double of 20 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists and to cap it off Dau dropped 18 points and 9 rebounds and showed he’s been one of the pick-ups of the season.  Harris finished with 36 points to cap another incredible season and got support from Greg Mays who chipped away for his 17 points and 7 rebounds and Atuer finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds in arguably one of his best games of the season. 

Turnage-nator too good as Flames deal judgement night on Sabres

The Norwood Flames have now won eight of their last nine and booked the first spot in the NBL1 Central Mens Grand Final with a dramatic and pulsating 69-83 win over the top seeded Sturt Sabres at the Cave. The game begun with a bang with Max Calligeros opening with a deuce opening a 5-0 run before the Flames through the Woollacott Medallist and MVP CJ Turnage and Matt Lycett got cooking to even up the margin. Daniel Webber hit a big triple for the Flames just prior to quarter time to cut it back to 21-20. Runner-up to the “Woolly” Joel Spear dropped two triples including a four-point play to open the second as he sent the Sabres on a 11-0 run. A timeout to Mike Malat’s men saw them respond with fire as they torched the home side 6-14 run led by Turnage as he dropped a triple close to the buzzer to edge the Flames out by a bucket at halftime 43-44.

The Turnage-nator came out breathing fire along with Ray Harding’s back-to-back rejections followed by a no look dime to Webber to spark a 0-7 run halfway through the third. Spear hit back with a triple and back-to-back and1 finishes before a one-handed slam followed by a two handed jam from Green and Turnage respectively lifted the Flames back into the lead. Triples from Nik Fassos and Webber for their teams were bookended by Spear capped his quarter with his 13th point but the Flames lead was not overcome at three quarter time 60-61. Lycett brought up double figures early in the last with a triple as it got a bit fiery between Green and Calligeros as he gave up an unsportsmanlike foul on Green resulting in a couple of free throws; sparking a 0-10 run for the Flames. Turnage then Lycett put another fade away dagger down in front of the Sabre faithful to give them a 63-78 lead with 2:04 to go. Calligeros gave away a second unsportsmanlike foul and hit the showers early as the Flames fired to defeat the home side 69-83. The 22-9 last quarter was the final blow to the home side as the Flames made their first state Grand Final since 2015.

Turnage terminated the Sabres with 30 points and 6 rebounds while vintage Matt Lycett came to play with 17 points and 13 rebounds; Green not far behind with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Spear showed why he strongly polled this season as he clocked a season high 34 points and 4 rebounds while Nik Fassos (9 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists) was the next best as Sam Daly was marred with foul trouble most of the night.          

The Norwood Flames advance straight to the NBL1 Central Mens Grand Final in two weeks while the Sturt Sabres will battle the North Adelaide Rockets next Saturday night with the second seeded Forestville Eagles now out of the series.