NBL1 Central Recap | Saturday Men's Round 7

There were four matches on Saturday night in Round 7 of the NBL1 Central Men's season with wins for the Norwood Flames, South Adelaide Panthers, Woodville Warriors and Sturt Sabres.

The Norwood Flames improved to a 3-3 record on the season with Saturday night's 102-78 home win against the Eastern Mavericks.

Ray Harding delivered 30 points and 10 rebounds in the win for Norwood while Keouvion McCalop finished with 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Mavs.

It was another thrilling win for Scott Ninnis and his South Adelaide Panthers on the road on Saturday, holding off the late charge of the Southern Tigers to win 83-77.

Jeremy Smith put up 26 points for the Panthers and Alex Starling 20 while Lachlan Olbrich top-scored for the Tigers with 23 points.

The Sturt Sabres made it five wins from seven games so far this season beating the Central District Lions 101-90 on their home court.

Sam Daly finished with 23 points for the Sabres, Joel Spear 22 and Jacob Rigoni 21 with Bijan Johnson putting up 32 points for Centrals.

The Woodville Warriors also produced a 38-point fourth quarter to beat the West Adelaide Bearcats 114-99.

Nick Wurm delivered 24 points and eight assists for the Warriors while Nikolas DeSantis scored 22 points for West Adelaide and Nate Sheppard 21.

Round 7 in the NBL1 Central competition wraps up with three more matches on Sunday afternoon with the Central District Lions hosting the Woodville Warriors, the Norwood Flames taking on the North Adelaide Rockets, and the Eastern Mavericks playing the South Adelaide Panthers. 

NBL1 CENTRAL – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – SATURDAY NIGHT

NORWOOD FLAMES 102 defeated EASTERN MAVERICKS 78

The Norwood Flames had to come from behind at half-time but dominated the second half to beat the Eastern Mavericks at home on Saturday night.

The Flames were back at home to host the Mavericks at The ARC Campbelltown and it was the visitors who started impressively with 22 points to 18 in the first quarter.

They were able to keep the momentum going with another 23 points to 20 in the second term and that saw the Mavericks holding onto a 45-38 advantage at the half-time break away from home.

The Mavericks had thrown the gauntlet right down to the Norwood, but the Flames responded coming out of the half-time break starting with a monster 34-point third quarter.

Norwood continued on with that momentum with another 30 points in the fourth term to have outscored the Mavs 64 points to 33 in the second half to end up winning 102-78.

The win improves the Flames to a 3-3 record on the season while the Mavericks are now 0-6 still despite the improved showing.

Ray Harding was impressive in the second half dominance from Norwood to finish with 30 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Walter McBride added 19 points and four rebounds for the Flames, Luca Barei 15 points and seven boards, Matt Lycett 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Anthony Green nine points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Keouvion McCalop put up 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Mavericks with James Legan contributing 21 points and Thomas Cromarty 12 points and five boards.

WOODVILLE WARRIORS 114 defeated WEST ADELAIDE BEARCATS 99

It took until the last quarter for the Woodville Warriors to overpower the West Adelaide Bearcats at home on Saturday night.

While Woodville was able to put up 31 points in the opening quarter at St Clair Recreation Centre, the Bearcats maintained pace with them with the Warriors leading by just the four points at quarter-time, and only the one point at the half.

It was still just a two-point ball game by three quarter-time, but the Woodville were able to flex their muscles by delivering 38 points in the fourth quarter to end up prevailing 114-99.

The 15-point win improves the Warriors to a 5-1 record on the season so far while the Bearcats are now 2-5.

It was a high quality performance from both teams as they combined for the 213 points with Woodville ending up shooting 51.9 per cent from the field and hitting 13/29 from downtown while the Bearcats went at 52.9 per cent overall and nailed 9/26 from the land of plenty.

Nick Wurm top-scored for Woodville with 24 points, eight assists and four rebounds while nailing 4/8 from three-point range.

Joe Jackson added 20 points and four rebounds, Riley Meldrum 15 points, four boards, four assists and three steals, Devin McGee 13 points and five rebounds, James Boonstoppel 11 points and five assists, Dave Humphries 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and Jawan Stepney 10 points, eight boards and six assists.

Nikolas DeSantis finished with 22 points and six assists for West Adelaide with Nate Sheppard adding 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Andre Washington 13 points, Lachlan Hunter 12 points, and Luke Cadzow 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

SOUTHERN TIGERS 77 lost to SOUTH ADELAIDE PANTHERS 83

The South Adelaide Panthers were part of another thriller in Round 7 of the NBL1 Central competition on Saturday night and this time they held off the charge of the Southern Tigers.

With Scott Ninnis back in charge of the Panthers after having COVID and then the league's break last weekend, they started strongly at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.

After a tight first quarter, South Adelaide worked their way on top with 20 points to 11 in the second quarter to go into half-time leading the Tigers 43-35.

The Panthers extended that advantage to a 13-point advantage by three quarter-time before extending that edge to 14 early in the fourth.

However, the Tigers weren’t done and they soon scored seven straight points and put up 27 in total for the fourth quarter, but couldn’t quite bridge the gap with South Adelaide going on to win 83-77.

The result improves the Panthers to 4-2 now on the season before another clash in Round 7 on Sunday while the Tigers are 2-5.

Jeremy Smith led the charge for South Adelaide with 26 points and four rebounds while shooting 8/12 from the floor, 2/2 from downtown and 8/9 at the foul line.

Alex Starling added 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Panthers, Todd Davies 13 points and five boards, Jarryd Hoppo nine points and five rebounds, and Andrew Barton eight points.

Adelaide 36ers development player Lachlan Olbrich put up 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers, Ricardo Martin 17 points, Jamie Smith nine points and six rebounds, and Machar Machar nine points and five boards.

STURT SABRES 101 defeated CENTRAL DISTRICT LIONS 90

The Sturt Sabres continued their impressive form this NBL1 Central season with a home win against the Central District Lions on Saturday night.

The Sabres were back home at Springbank Secondary College and they ended up opening up a four-point advantage before turning that into a 59-43 half-time lead on the back of scoring 30 points in the second period.

It was an even second half between the two teams but the Sabres had done enough to open up that handy advantage and went on to record the 101-90 victory.

The win improves Sturt to a 5-2 record on the season while Centrals are now 1-5 with the defeat.

Sam Daly ended up top-scoring for the Sabres with 23 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals while shooting 8/12 from the floor but going just 6/13 at the foul line.

Joel Spear added 22 points, five assists and four rebounds, Jacob Rigoni 21 points and 13 rebounds, Hayden Meakes 10 points and two boards, and Devin Haygood 10 points and seven rebounds.

Former Adelaide 36ers development player Bijan Johnson was impressive for Central Districts with 32 points, seven assists and five rebounds on shooting 11/18 from the field and 9/10 at the free-throw line.

Nathaniel Koko added 19 points and nine boards, Nate Deer eight points and 10 rebounds, and Ayual Garang eight points.