NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Men's Round 10

Ben Ayre produced a monster night of 43 points for the Cairns Marlins on Saturday night in the NBL1 North while Max Mackinnon, Preston Le Gassick, Jeremy Kendle, Makuach Maluach and Spencer Parker also shone in Round 10 action.

There were Saturday night victories for the Brisbane Capitals, Gold Coast Rollers, Cairns Marlins, Logan Thunder, Darwin Salties and Red City Roar.

NBL1 North Men's Round 10 action got underway back on Wednesday night with USC Rip City defeating the Gold Coast Rollers 96-86.

The round continued on Friday night with the Townsville Heat opening their road treble beating the Southern Districts Spartans 110-85 while the Rockhampton Rockets defeated the South West Metro Pirates and the Cairns Marlins beat the Sunshine Coast Phoenix 93-87.

That led into the action on Saturday night starting with the Brisbane Capitals producing an impressive performance to win a tight affair 93-86 against the Townsville Heat.

Brisbane Bullets development player Max Mackinnon showed exciting signs with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists with Ethan Betts top-scoring with 26 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists for the Heat.

The Gold Coast Rollers then put a hammering on the Southern Districts Spartans with the eventual 126-69 victory on their home court.

Preston Le Gassick finished with 25 points for Gold Coast, Tanner Krebs 22 and Jason Cadee 20 while Jalen Canty finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for the Spartans.

The Cairns Marlins backed up their win from 24 hours earlier with a 93-85 victory on the road against USC Rip City.

Ben Ayre had a remarkable night for the Marlins putting up 43 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Josh Tueta top-scored for Rip City with 20 points and 14 boards.

Logan Thunder kept their winning form going on Saturday night as well with a 100-89 victory at home against the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.

Jeremy Kendle led the charge for the Thunder with 26 points and nine assists with Mason Bragg scoring 26 points for Sunshine Coast and Jamaal Robateau 25.

The Darwin Salties welcomed back Nate Jawai and produced a tremendous home performance to beat the Rockhampton Rockets 99-86.

Makuach Maluach finished with 31 points for Darwin while Kai Woodfall scored 31 points for Rockhampton.

It was a high-scoring thriller which saw the Red City Roar end up prevailing 107-101 against the North Gold Coast Seahawks.

Spencer Parker scored 34 points for Red City, Jayden Hodgson 30 and Nelson Larkins 24 while Alex Mudronja put up 29 points for the Seahawks.

Round 10 in the NBL1 North will conclude now on Sunday afternoon with the Ipswich Force taking on Logan Thunder and the Northside Wizards at home to the Townsville Heat who will conclude their three-game road weekend.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 10 – SATURDAY NIGHT

BRISBANE CAPITALS 93 defeated TOWNSVILLE HEAT 86

The Brisbane Capitals spoiled the chances of the Townsville Heat having a perfect weekend on the road by handing them a seven-point defeat on Saturday night.

Townsville is playing three road games in Round 10 of the NBL1 North and they did start off with a win against the Southern Districts Spartans on Friday, but it was a different story on Saturday at Auchenflower Stadium.

It was a tight contest most of the evening with the Capitals leading by a solitary point at quarter-time before the Heat scored 25 points to 24 in the second term with scores locked together at 48-48 by the half-time break.

The Capitals managed to go on a 7-0 run during the third quarter to lead by that margin but things were still tight at three quarter-time with the home team clinging to the 72-70 edge.

It was a rollercoaster fourth quarter with Townsville initially working their way on top with eight straight points to be up four, but Brisbane responded and did enough to overrun the Flames and end up winning 93-86.

The victory improves the Capitals to a 7-6 record on the season while the loss leaves the Heat at 4-8 with one more road game to go this weekend against the Northside Wizards on Sunday.

Max Mackinnon produced an exciting display for the Capitals with the Brisbane Bullets development player putting up 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Atem Bior added 19 points and six rebounds for Brisbane, Lachlan Dent 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Ben Volkman seven points and eight boards, and Geordan Papacostas seven points and eight rebounds.

Ethan Betts top-scored for Townsville with 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals while Richard Peachey contributed 23 points, five boards, four steals and three assists, Matthew Rees 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Taine Wattie 11 points and five boards.

 

GOLD COAST ROLLERS 125 defeated SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 69

The Gold Coast Rollers turned on a dominant performance at home on Saturday night to defeat the Southern Districts Spartans by 56 points.

The Rollers were back on their home court at Carrara Stadium and ended up putting a hurting on the struggling Spartans which began with 33 points to 22 in the first quarter.

Gold Coast put up another 42 points in a monstrous second quarter which saw the home team on top 75-41 in a remarkable half-time scoreline.

The Rollers produced another 23 points to nine in the third quarter and then 28 points to 19 in the fourth to end up winning 126-69.

The victory improves Gold Coast to a 10-2 record on the season while with the loss Southern Districts remains winless after 12 matches in the 2022 season.

It was a standout shooting performance from the Rollers as they went 56.6 per cent from the floor and knocked down 16/38 from three-point range at 42.1 per cent even in the absence of coach Anthony Petrie.

It was tough going for the Spartans who shot at 37.5 per cent from the field and 25.8 per cent from deep while coughing up 22 turnovers.

Preston Le Gassick produced 25 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for Gold Coast on the back of shooting 5/7 from three-point territory.

Tanner Krebs added 22 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals, Jason Cadee 20 points and nine assists with 4/9 shooting from downtown, Donovan Mitchell 11 points and seven rebounds, and Jaryd Eustace nine points.

Jalen Canty top-scored for Southern Districts with 13 points and seven rebounds while Tom Ammar added 11 points and two assists, Mason Amos 11 points and five rebounds, and Chris Cedar eight points, four boards and three assists.

 

USC RIP CITY 85 lost to CAIRNS MARLINS 93

Ben Ayre sparked the Cairns Marlins to a tremendous come from behind eight-point victory on the road to USC Rip City on Saturday night.

Rip City hosted Cairns at USC Sports Stadium and the home team started impressively opening up an eight-point edge in the first quarter before leading 25-20 after one.

They were able to maintain their edge during the second quarter with another 22 points to 20 and go into half-time on top 47-40.

However, Cairns worked their way back into the contest in the third quarter and then with point guard Ben Ayre in some unstoppable touch, the Marlins overran Rip City with 31 points to 20 in the fourth quarter to end up winning 93-85.

The victory improves the Marlins to a 7-5 record on the season while the loss leaves Rip City 6-4.

Rip City did pull down 56 rebounds to 43 from Cairns including 26 at the offensive end to nine, but the Marlins shot at 46.4 per cent from the field and 38.5 from three-point land while USC went at 37.2 per cent from the floor and 29.6 per cent from deep.

He still hasn’t signed an NBL contract despite the exciting signs he showed late in the season with the Taipans, but Ben Ayre was outstanding for the Marlins with 43 points, seven rebounds and five assists while connecting on 5/10 from the land of plenty.

Mirko Djeric added 15 points and five rebounds for Cairns, Kody Stattmann 13 points and eight boards, Curt Ah Wang eight points, and Aron Farmer eight points and six rebounds.

Josh Tueta finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds for Rip City with Isaih Tueta contributing 14 points and seven assists, Kouat Noi 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Verle Williams 13 points, six assists and four boards. 

 

LOGAN THUNDER 100 defeated SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 89

The Logan Thunder held off the Sunshine Coast Phoenix for an 11-point victory at home on Saturday night.

The Thunder were at home to host the Phoenix at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre and for the first half it was a tight contest.

Logan only led by two points at quarter-time and had only extended their lead to five at the half, but they took over to put the game beyond reach during the third quarter.

The Thunder put up 37 points to 24 in the third term to lead by as much as 18 points, and from there they held out Sunshine Coast for the eventual 100-89 victory.

The victory improves Logan to a 6-4 record on the season while Sunshine Coast is now 7-6 following the defeat.

Jeremy Kendle was once again the star of the night for the Thunder as he finished with 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Another former NBL talent, Mitch Young, also had 17 points and eight rebounds for Logan while Boston Mazlin contributed 15 points and two assists, Michael Cedar 12 points and seven rebounds, Max Kerle 10 points, and Rasmus Bach nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

Mason Bragg top-scored for Sunshine Coast with 26 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds with Jamaal Robateau adding 25 points and seven boards, and Jonathan Janssen 18 points and 11 rebounds.

 

DARWIN SALTIES 99 defeated ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 86

The Darwin Salties were back home on Saturday night and delivered a 13-point victory against the Rockhampton Rockets.

The Salties played host to the Rockets at Darwin Basketball Stadium on Saturday night and they produced another strong showing to the delight of their vocal home fans.

Darwin welcomed back Nate Jawai into the line-up and started strongly with a 13-point lead opening up during the first quarter before they led 32-20 by quarter-time.

The Darwin advantage grew to 20 points during the second term and the home side headed into half-time leading 52-38.

The Rockets made a game of it during the third quarter by going on a 9-0 run, but the Salties responded and scored eight straight points during the fourth term to lead again by 13 at the final buzzer with the 99-86 victory.

The win improves Darwin to a 9-3 record on the season while the loss sees the Rockets slip to 5-8.

Melbourne United NBL signing Makuach Maluach continued to impress for Darwin finishing the evening with 31 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots on shooting 11/21 from the field, 4/10 from downtown and 5/6 at the charity stripe.

Jerron Jamerson delivered 19 points, 16 rebounds and five assists for the Salties while Tad Dufelmeier contributed 18 points, seven boards and six assists, Jarrod Molnar 11 points and three rebounds, and Nate Jawai 10 points and an assist.

Matthew McCarthy was again impressive and imposing for Rockhampton with 20 points and 16 rebounds with Kai Woodfall scoring 31 points to go with six rebounds and four assists on 5/10 shooting from three-point land.

Kendall Stephens added 15 points and seven rebounds, Damian Prgomet 12 points, five boards and four assists, and Kon Anguik eight points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

 

NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 101 lost to RED CITY ROAR 107

The Red City Roar held off the North Gold Coast Seahawks for a six-point victory in what was a terrific contest between the two teams on Saturday night.

The Seahawks played host to the Roar at Runaway Bay Stadium and it turned out to be a fascinating battle.

Both teams had their share of the lead in the opening quarter before the Roar narrowly led 16-15 by the end of one.

The Seahawks managed to score eight consecutive points during the second term but the Roar were able to respond and built up a 13-point lead with both teams combining for 70 points in an exciting second quarter.

Red City led 53-48 by half-time and then in the third quarter they managed to go up double-figures once more, and still led by as much as 12 in the fourth.

The Seahawks kept on fighting but couldn’t quite close the gap with Red City ending up winning 107-101 to improve to 3-8 on the season while the loss means the Seahawks are now 3-9.

Spencer Parker had a standout night in the win for the Roar with 34 points and nine rebounds on 11/18 shooting from the field and 11/13 from the foul line.

Jayden Hodgson also delivered 30 points and eight rebounds while connecting on 6/9 from the land of plenty with Nelson Larkins adding 24 points, five rebounds and four assists, Mitch Poulain eight points and 11 boards, and Kane Bishop eight points and four rebounds.

Alex Mudronja delivered 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists for North Gold Coast with Jordan Hunter adding 22 points and 13 boards, Aiden Krause 21 points and seven rebounds, Tamuri Wigness 14 points and three assists, and Lloyd McVeigh 13 points and seven boards.