NBL1 North Recap | Friday Men's Round 13

A pair of Cairns Taipans #NBL23 players helped the Cairns Marlins hold off Lachlan Dent and the Brisbane Capitals in Friday night's Round 13 NBL1 North action with the Rockhampton Rockets also scoring an impressive road win.

The Brisbane Capitals and Cairns Marlins put on quite the spectacular show to open Round 13 at Auchenflower Stadium with the visitors ending up prevailing 99-94 following a fourth quarter where they combined for 83 points.

Fresh off signing at the Cairns Taipans officially, Ben Ayre put up 22 points and three assists with his Snakes teammate Lat Mayen hitting two crucial late triples for 21 points. 

Lachlan Dent almost shot the Caps to what would have been the most remarkable of comeback victories to end up hitting seven threes for 26 points and four assists.

The Rockhampton Rockets then put together a strong showing to win on the road 106-91 against the Logan Thunder on Friday night.

Matthew McCarthy finished with 23 points and 18 rebounds for Rockhampton and Kendall Stephens 22 points with five three-pointers. Jeremy Kendle almost delivered a triple-double for Logan with 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Round 13 in the NBL1 North Men's competition continues on Saturday evening at 7pm with the Gold Coast Rollers at home to the North Gold Coast Seahawks and the Northside Wizards taking on the Cairns Marlins.

Then at 7.30pm, the Red City Roar play the Rockhampton Rockets and the South West Metro Pirates are at home to USC Rip City before at 8pm the Sunshine Coast Phoenix face the Darwin Salties and the Townsville Heat face the Mackay Meteorettes.

Then on Sunday, the Ipswich Force face the Rockhampton Rockets with USC Rip City hosting the Darwin Salties and Southern Districts Spartans at home to the Cairns Marlins.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 13 – FRIDAY NIGHT

BRISBANE CAPITALS 94 lost to CAIRNS MARLINS 99

The Cairns Marlins had to withstand a remarkable Lachlan Dent late fight back to end up beating the Brisbane Capitals on the road on Friday night by five points.

The Marlins were beginning their three-game road trip this weekend to open Round 13 in the NBL1 North at Auchenflower Stadium and it turned out to be quite the eventful and exciting evening.

Both teams had their moments throughout the opening quarter but it was an 8-0 run for the Marlins that saw them lead by as much as nine, and to still be on top 24-19 by quarter-time.

The Marlins then went on another 9-0 run during the second period to lead by as much as 17 and by holding the Caps to just eight points in the term they went into the half-time break leading 41-27.

Cairns maintained their control for much of the second half and the lead got out to as much as 21 points when Mirko Djeric knocked down a three ball with two and-a-half minutes remaining.

But incredibly, the game wasn’t done yet. Lachlan Dent hit one three with two minutes to go before Atem Bior added another on the next possession after he forced the turnover on Deba George.

Dent then knocked down another from beyond the arc, then another and then another. And all of a sudden in the space of just over a minute that 21-point deficit was down to nine.

Bior then hit again from downtown for Brisbane, he then scored on an offensive rebound inside and with 45 seconds remaining it was a six-point ball game and the Capitals had all the momentum on their home floor.

The heat was right back on the Marlins and they were feeling the pressure and two more triples from Dent in the space of 10 seconds meant the home team was back within three. They had knocked off 18 points of the deficit in only two minutes.

They couldn’t quite get over that hump, though, and Cairns held on thanks to free-throws from Taipans duo Lat Mayen and Ben Ayre to hold on in the most dramatic and exciting circumstances to win 99-94.

It was quite the way for Cairns to open their three-game weekend and it was their Taipans pair of Ben Ayre and Lat Mayen who stood out. Ayre delivered 22 points and three assists on shooting 4/9 from three-point land with Mayen finishing with 21 points and seven rebounds while hitting 5/7 from deep.

Deba George contributed 19 points, four rebounds and three assists on 5/13 shooting from three-point land with Mirko Djeric adding 16 points on 4/10 long-range shooting. James Mitchell also had 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists, and Kody Stattmann six points, eight boards and three assists.

What a performance late it was from Lachlan Dent for Brisbane. Six of his seven three-pointers for the game came in those last two minutes for him to finish with 26 points and four assists.

Atem Bior added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Caps, Max Mackinnon 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Ben Wilson 10 points and four boards, and Tim Soong eight points, five assists and four rebounds.

LOGAN THUNDER 94 lost to ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 106

The Rockhampton Rockets rode their starting five on Friday night to a strong 12-point road victory against the Logan Thunder.

The Thunder and Rockets opened Round 13 in the NBL1 North on Friday night at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre with the home team starting strongly.

The Thunder went on an 8-0 run during the first quarter and led by as much as 12 early, and were still on top 28-24 by quarter-time.

The Rockets were able to turn things around in the second quarter including scoring 10 straight points to grab the lead and then go into the half-time break still on top 49-46 despite Jeremy Kendle knocking down a buzzer-beating three ball for the Thunder.

It was all Rockhampton for much of the third quarter with the visitors piling on 35 points to 19 to open up a 19-point advantage. 

They continued on with that momentum to build a 27-point lead in the fourth quarter and while the Thunder did fight the game out well from there, the Rockets still ended up winning impressively 106-94 away from home.

Matthew McCarthy had quite the significant impact at both ends of the floor for Rockhampton to finish the evening with 23 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, two steals and his presence was much more than his one credited block suggests. He shot 10/15 from the field.

Kendall Stephens added 22 points and six rebounds for the Rockets while shooting 5/13 from long-range with Damian Prgomet contributing 20 points and eight boards, Kai Woodfall 18 points, three rebounds and three steals, and Jarvis Summers 15 points, 19 assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Jeremy Kendle did all he could to keep the Thunder in the contest with another 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Rasmus Bach added 24 points and five assists for Logan, Boston Mazlin 23 points on 5/9 shooting from deep, and Mitch Young 12 points and six rebounds.