The race to the NBL1 National Finals championship game turned quite dramatic with the Knox Raiders needing overtime to beat the Sutherland Sharks and knockout the Geraldton Buccaneers to set up a clash with the Rockingham Flames.
The three men's matches in the NBL1 National Finals on Saturday at HBF Arena Joondalup in Perth saw the Geraldton Buccaneers firstly beat the Ipswich Force 120-91 to leave the Knox Raiders and Rockingham Flames needing to win.
The Raiders needed overtime but eventually beat the Sutherland Sharks 124-113 before the Flames defeated the West Adelaide Bearcats 129-96 to set up Sunday's' championship game at 1.30pm local time.
NBL1 NATIONAL FINALS RECAP | FRIDAY MEN
DAY 2 MEN
Buccs keep winning run going against Force
A spectacular second half of 28 points from Grand Final MVP Johny Narkle ensured the Geraldton Buccaneers gave themselves a chance of reaching Sunday's Championship Game by beating the Ipswich Force 120-91.
Both teams were coming off winning their respective championships with Geraldton winning last Saturday night's NBL1 West Grand Final against the Joondalup Wolves while two weeks ago Ipswich beat the Gold Coast Rollers in spectacular fashion after losing the opening game.
To open the National Finals in Perth on Friday, Geraldton made a winning start by beating the Sutherland Sharks from the NBL1 East while Ipswich came up short against the Rockingham Flames in the absence of Grand Final MVP, and Brisbane Bullets superstar Nathan Sobey.
That meant the Buccs needed to win and claim as many quarters as possible on Saturday against Ipswich to put them in a strong position to reach the Championship Game on Sunday with the Rockingham Flames and Knox Raiders to play in the later games.
The Buccaneers started well to open up a 16-point advantage in the first quarter and to still be leading 27-15 by quarter-time, but Ipswich then produced a stunning opening to the second period.
The Force scored the first 12 points of the second quarter and grabbed hold of the lead as a result and in the end they would score 24 of the first 28 points of the stanza.
That suddenly saw Ipswich lead by eight points and Geraldton needed to respond with their chance at the Championship Game on the line.
The Buccs weren’t able to do enough to come back to win the quarter but they did score 20 of the last 23 points going into half-time in a stunning turnaround to see them leading 51-42 by the main break.
Geraldton then kept that momentum going in the third quarter and it was Johny Narkle who was the inspiration. He only had two points on 1/5 shooting going into the half, but he turned it on remarkably in the second half.
On the back of that, the Buccaneers put up 43 points to 25 to lead by as much as 27 points, and then that lead got out to as much as 38 in the final quarter.
The Buccs still needed to outscore the Force in that last period to help make Sunday's deciding game, and it came down to the final shot but Deng Deng's three-point attempt was way short and Geraldton scored the 29-point victory.
Ultimately it wasn’t quite enough for the Buccs with Knox's eventual overtime win over the Sutherland Sharks ending their hopes, but they couldn’t do much more than with their two matches.
After having just two points at half-time, Johny Narkle was outstanding in the second half for Geraldton with 28 points on 10/15 shooting after just the two points in the first half.
Sydney Kings NBL championship winner and two-time NBL1 West title winner Zac Gattorna also had 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win for the Buccs.
Shaun Stewart also delivered 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds on 9/14 shooting with Fletcher Klasztorny contributing 14 points and four boards, and Aaron Ralph 12 points on 4/7 long range shooting.
Malik Meunier also ended up with nine points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Liam Hunt four points, 14 boards, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
Cameron Goldfinch was terrific for Ipswich with 28 points including shooting 6/10 from three-point range with Deng Deng adding 22 points, nine boards, three blocks and two assists, and Jason Ralph eight points, five assists and two rebounds.
Johny Narkle impossible to stop ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 19, 2023
He's up to 2??5?? points going into the fourth quarter ?
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Knox prevail over Sutherland in OT cracker
The fate of not only Knox but also the Geraldton Buccaneers went on the line when the Raiders took on the Sutherland Sharks on Saturday night at the NBL1 National Finals.
On the back of winning the NBL1 South championship last Saturday night, Knox opened their time in Perth at the National Finals beating the West Adelaide Bearcats by 53 points on Friday.
In the end, the size of that win was what ensured Knox made the Championship Game on Sunday but it was only after a wild ride with the NBL1 East champion Sharks putting up quite the fight.
Sutherland put in a competitive showing on Friday against the Buccaneers on the back of winning the NBL1 East title last Saturday, and started strongly with 32 points to 27 against the Raiders.
That denied Knox the point for the quarter and that was good news for Geraldton who were waiting nervously to find out their fate for Sunday.
The Sharks were still leading 56-55 at half-time and that only set the stage for what was to come in the second half.
The Raiders did outscore the Sharks 28 points to 20 in the third quarter but Sutherland weren’t going away and it proved quite the dramatic finish to regulation.
Knox were still leading by seven with 3:15 to play after a three-point play to Wayne Stewart Jr but then the Sharks scored through Geoff Gerlach and Jordan Mitchell to cut it back to a three-point game.
Lochlan Hutchison then hit two free-throws before the Sharks forced a turnover, captain Gerlach scored and Sutherland suddenly were in front by a point with 1:30 to play.
Coming out of a timeout, Ke'Jhan Feagin hit a huge three to put Knox back up two but up the other end, Callum Norris responded for the Sharks to put them back up by a point.
A three-point play from Austin Rapp then returned the Raiders to a two-point lead but Sutherland weren’t going away with Hutchison tying scores back up.
Then with time running down, Feagin was fouled and made one at the stripe leading Sutherland needing a prayer with a couple seconds remaining.
Hutchison caught the inbounds pass and rose for a deep two and the foul was called. The call was reviewed and it stood but he made just the one to leave scores 108-108 and it went to overtime.
The tension was palpable and Geraldton was waiting nervously and watching in the stands knowing they needed Sutherland to prevail in overtime. However, it was all Knox in overtime with the opening six points from Madut Akec, Wayne Stewart Jr and Dylan Hare.
From there the Raiders secured the 124-113 victory in a remarkable contest which sees Knox lock in a Championship Game spot while ending Geraldton's hopes in the process.
Knox will need to rest up for Sunday's afternoon's decider with a roster of just seven players already and six of them playing at least 24 minutes, and Stewart all 45.
From those 45 minutes, Stewart delivered 28 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two blocks on 11/16 shooting.
Austin Rapp added 26 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, Bailey Nunn 27 points, three boards, two assists and two steals, Ke'Jhan Feagin 21 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals, and Madut Akec 16 points, six boards and two assists.
It was an admirable performance from the Sharks who acquitted themselves well this weekend with Jordan Mitchell ending up with 32 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Marquel Beasley added 23 points and six rebounds, Geoff Gerlach 19 points and three assists, Callum Norris 16 points, five assists and three rebounds, and Lochlan Hutchison 12 points, eight assists and three steals.
Wayne Stewart Jr is clutch in OT ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 19, 2023
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Flames cement chance to go back-to-back
The Rockingham Flames secured their place in the NBL1 National Finals championship game no matter what happened elsewhere by winning all four quarters and beating the West Adelaide Bearcats 129-96.
The Flames came into the weekend with a chip on their shoulders after missing out on the chance to defend their NBL1 West championship with a preliminary final defeat to the Joondalup Wolves.
However, they still had the chance to defend the national title they won last year and with a full roster available, they started emphatically on Friday night beating the Nathan Sobey-less Ipswich Force by 18 points.
Rockingham would then be all but guaranteed of reaching the Championship Game with another win over a West Adelaide team on Saturday who lost on Friday to the Knox Raiders without Anthony Drmic, Mitch McCarron and Lachlan Olbrich.
Rockingham started strongly going on an 11-0 run in the first quarter to open up a 14-point lead to still be up 32-21 by quarter-time.
It was another 32 points to 23 in the second quarter and that saw the Flames head into the half-time break leading 64-44.
From there, the Flames outscored the Bearcats 65 more points to 52 in the second half to lead by as much as 36 points and to end up winning by 33 to book in their place in the Grand Final on Sunday with a chance to make it back-to-back championships.
Jeremy Combs had a terrific night for Rockingham with 26 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals on 11/15 shooting with Marshall Nelson adding 25 points, seven assists and three steals on 9/12 shooting.
The Flames had plenty more contributors too with Devondrick Walker delivering 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, Travis Durnin 17 points and five boards, and Justin Beard 16 points and five rebounds.
Tom Jervis also had 12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks with captain Ryan Godfrey adding nine points, three boards, three assists, and two steals.
Nik DeSantis finished with 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals for West Adelaide with Fraser Roxburgh contributing 18 points and five boards, Sean Stock 17 points and three assists, and Matthew Trandafil 10 points and two rebounds.
Devondrick Walker is a bad man ?
— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 19, 2023
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