NBL1 North Recap | Friday Men's Round 14

Mitch McCarron and Keanu Pinder returned from Australia's FIBA Asia Cup triumph to help keep the Northside Wizards' NBL1 North season alive with a Friday night victory also for the Mackay Meteors.

There were two matches on Friday night to open Round 14 in the NBL1 North competition and that saw the Northside Wizards end up beating Logan Thunder while the Mackay Meteors beat the Cairns Marlins.

The Northside Wizards were able to close the gap between them and Logan Thunder to set up a fascinating race to a playoff position by ending up winning 110-101 on Friday night.

With Mitch McCarron and Keanu Pinder back from being part of the Australian Boomers winning gold at the FIBA Asia Cup, it gave the Wizards quite the starting five with the pair joined by Lual Diing, Anthony Drmic and Kevin White.

That wouldn’t be a bad team to go into an NBL game with but still the Thunder made the Wizards fight right to the end before they ended up prevailing by nine points.

Drmic finished with 30 points for the Wizards with Pinder scoring 25, McCarron 23, White 16 and Diing 12. Jeremy Kendle fought valiantly once again for Logan to end up with 38 points with six three-pointers.

The Mackay Meteors then finished the better on the road to beat the Cairns Marlins 88-78 on Friday night.

Viliami Foketi ended up with 22 points for Mackay with Jaylin Galloway adding 15 points, Biwali Bayles 15 and Kyrin Galloway 14.

Round 14 in the NBL1 North Men's competition continues on Saturday evening with the Gold Coast Rollers hosting the Logan Thunder while the Northside Wizards are at home to the Southern Districts Spartans, and USC Rip City takes on Ipswich Force.

Also on Saturday, the South West Metro Pirates play the Red City Roar, the Sunshine Coast Phoenix take on the Townsville Heat, the Darwin Salties battle the Mackay Meteors, and the North Gold Coast Seahawks face the Brisbane Capitals.

The round then wraps up on Sunday afternoon with Ipswich Force at home to the South West Metro Pirates, and USC Rip City facing the Townsville Heat.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 14 – FRIDAY NIGHT

LOGAN THUNDER 101 lost to NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 110

Just one glance at the starting five of the Northside Wizards on Friday night and it was quite the daunting task for the Logan Thunder even at home, but it turned out to be a terrific contest.

The Wizards arrived at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre to open Round 14 in the NBL1 North competition boosted with the additions of Boomers pair Keanu Pinder and Mitch McCarron fresh off being part of Australia's FIBA Asia Cup triumph.

They joined former NBL captain and 297-game veteran Kevin White, Brisbane Bullets signing Lual Diing and another NBL star and Boomer Anthony Drmic in a superstar-laden starting group for the Wizards.

However, the Thunder weren’t daunted even though the Wizards finished the first term on a 9-0 run to lead 22-18 by quarter-time.

The Thunder caught fire sparked by their own former NBL import Jeremy Kendle to put up 35 points to 26 in the second term to go into the half-time break leading 54-48.

It was the Wizards' turn to catch fire in the third quarter in remarkable fashion. With McCarron setting the pace, Pinder showing his all-round talents and Drmic a dominant force, Northside piled on 34 points to 15 to take over the contest.

At one point they were able to score 18 consecutive points to open up a 15-point lead. That grew to 16 in the fourth quarter and they went on to win 110-101.

The result keeps the Wizards in playoff contention currently in 11th position at 8-8 while the Thunder are sixth at 9-7 so it's going to be a fascinating final week of the regular season.

Adelaide 36ers NBL signing Anthony Drmic had a terrific night for Northside finishing with 30 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Keanu Pinder put up 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists as well for the Wizards while shooting 9/13 from the field, 3/5 from downtown and 4/6 from the free-throw line.

Mitch McCarron added 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds, Kevin White 16 points, and Lual Diing 12 points, eight boards and three assists.

Jeremy Kendle had a huge night for Logan finishing with 38 points, five rebounds and four assists on the back of shooting 14/22 from the field, 6/9 from downtown and 4/5 from the foul line.

Mitch Young added 17 points and 10 rebounds, Rasmus Bach 18 points and five assists, Boston Mazlin 13 points and three rebounds, Michael Cedar nine points, and Obi Kyei six points, 15 boards and three blocked shots.

CAIRNS MARLINS 78 lost to MACKAY METEORS 88

The Mackay Meteors maintained their hold on top spot in the NBL1 North with a hard earned 10-point road win on Friday night against the Cairns Marlins.

It was a battle of two playoff bound teams in the NBL1 North on Friday night to open Round 14 at Early Settler Stadium, and it was the Marlins on their home floor who opened up an early eight-point advantage.

However, Mackay hit back to go on a 9-0 run of their own to grab the 17-16 quarter-time lead. The Meteors then built on that with 24 points to 15 in the second term to go into the half-time break on top 41-31.

Cairns weren’t going away, though, and fought back into the contest with 29 points to 21 in the third term, but the home side lost some momentum with Cairns Taipans point guard Ben Ayre fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Mackay was able to grab the momentum down the stretch and went on a 10-0 run to go up by 12, and end up winning 88-78.

The victory keeps Mackay in top spot on the NBL1 North standings with a 13-4 record with a week of the regular season to go with Cairns now in fifth spot at 11-7.

It was a tremendous shooting performance from the Meteors with 52.3 per cent from the floor opposed to 36.8 per cent from the Marlins.

Viliami Foketi was terrific for Mackay with 22 points on 9/14 shooting with Jaylin Galloway contributing 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals, Kyrin Galloway 14 points and seven boards, and Biwali Bayles 15 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Kody Stattmann ended the night for the Marlins with 16 points and six rebounds with Mirko Djeric contributing 15 points, five boards and three assists, Ben Ayre 14 points, and Lat Mayen 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.