NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Men's Round 13

Ben Ayre continued one of the biggest weeks of his life capping off his signing his first full NBL contract with the Cairns Taipans by hitting the game winner for the Marlins in Saturday night's NBL1 North action.

The winners in Saturday night's NBL1 North Men's action for Round 13 were the Gold Coast Rollers, Cairns Marlins, Rockhampton Rockets, Sunshine Coast Phoenix, USC Rip City and the Mackay Meteors.

Round 13 in the NBL1 North got underway on Friday night with the Cairns Marlins holding out the Brisbane Capitals to win 99-94 in a remarkable finish while the Rockhampton Rockets defeated the Logan Thunder 106-94.

The Gold Coast Rollers Men stepped up to play the only match at Carrara Stadium on Saturday night and delivered a 107-88 victory against the North Gold Coast Seahawks.

Lamar Patterson marked his returned for the Rollers with 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds while Jason Cadee scored 28 points, Tanner Krebs 24 and Donovan Mitchell 19.

Jordan Hunter delivered 29 points and 14 rebounds for the Seahawks with Aiden Krause adding 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Alex Mudronja 23 points, eight assists and seven boards.

The Cairns Marlins played in their second straight thriller on this triple-header weekend and once again they prevailed, this time thanks to a Ben Ayre game winner to defeat the Northside Wizards 92-90.

Fresh off signing his NBL contract at the Cairns Taipans, Ayre delivered 28 points and seven assists for the Marlins while his Snakes teammate Lat Mayen added 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Lual Diing finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds for the Wizards.

The Rockhampton Rockets also made it two-from-two on the road this weekend in the NBL1 North defeating the Red City Roar 104-91.

Damian Prgomet delivered 26 points and 12 rebounds for Rockhampton with Kai Woodfall scoring 21 points, Matthew McCarthy 19, Jarvis Summers 13 and Kendall Stephens 12.

Spencer Parker scored 26 points for Red City with Nelson Larkins adding 23 points, Jayden Hodgson 20 and Kane Bishiop 10.

It was another thrilling contest at Hibiscus Sports Stadium with USC Rip City beating the South West Metro Pirates 91-89.

Kouat Noi was outstanding for Rip City as he prepares to join the Sydney Kings for the upcoming NBL season with 36 points and 13 rebounds. Bredan Teys top-scored for the Pirates with 31 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists.

The Sunshine Coast Phoenix ended up beating the Darwin Salties 103-96 on their home floor in the NBL1 North on Saturday night.

Jamaal Robateau put up 33 points for Sunshine Coast with Jonathan Janssen added 21 points and Mason Bragg 16. Makuach Maluach produced 32 points for Darwin, Tad Dufelmeier 24 and Jerron Jamerson 20.

The Mackay Meteors hit the road on Saturday night and came away with the 99-74 win against the Townsville Heat.

Kyrin Galloway put up 28 points for Mackay, Viliami Foketi 18, Jaylin Galloway 17 and Kye Medhurst 17. Richard Peachey finished with 20 points for Townsville, Ethan Betts 18 and Harrison Pennisi 16.

Round 13 in the NBL1 North wraps up on Sunday with all three matches tipping off at 3pm with the Ipswich Force hosting the Rockhampton Rockets, USC Rip City taking on the Darwin Salties and the Southern Districts Spartans playing host to the Cairns Marlins.

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

GOLD COAST ROLLERS 107 defeated NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 88

A full strength Gold Coast Rollers with the return of Lamar Patterson proved too strong for the North Gold Coast Seahawks on Saturday night.

Gold Coast was back home against North Gold Coast at Carrara Stadium with former Brisbane Bullets and New Zealand Breakers NBL import Lamar Patterson providing quite the return addition to a team already featuring Jason Cadee, Tanner Krebs and company.

Patterson started the season with the Rollers and returned on Saturday night with a bang including throwing a spectacular alley-oop pass in transition to Krebs for the big dunk to set the home fans alight.

However, it took until the second quarter for the Rollers to work their way on top as they went on an 8-0 scoring run to open up a double-digit advantage, and to be on top 55-47 by half-time.

Gold Coast then pulled away further in the third stanza as the home team went on another 10-0 run to open up a 15-point lead. That edge grew to 21 points in the last quarter and the Rollers ended up winning 107-88.

The victory improved Gold Coast to 12-4 on the season to keep pace with the league-leading Mackay while North Gold Coast are now 4-13 following the loss.

Jason Cadee finished the night for the Rollers with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists while shooting 4/10 from beyond the arc while Tanner Krebs added 24 points, five boards and three assists on 11/19 shooting.

Donovan Mitchell added 19 points and five rebounds with Lamar Patterson delivering 14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four steals.

Jordan Hunter ended the night for the Seahawks with 29 points and 14 rebounds with Aiden Krause adding 25 points and 11 boards, and Alex Mudronja 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

 

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 90 lost to CAIRNS MARLINS 92

Ben Ayre continued his massive week by playing hero and hitting the game winner on Saturday night for the Cairns Marlins against the Northside Wizards.

The Marlins were playing their second game of a triple-header on the road in Round 13 of the NBL1 North after winning a thriller against the Brisbane Capitals on Friday night.

Cairns then headed to South Pine Sports Complex on Saturday night to take on the Wizards and what was to come was a tight and exciting contest the entire 40 minutes.

Both teams made their runs in the first quarter but by the end of it the scores were all square at 17-17.

Then going into half-time it was the Marlins who made a break by going on an 8-0 run and ending up leading 48-42 at the major break.

Cairns then puled further way by scoring 10 straight points in the third quarter to end up leading by a game-high 15 before the Wizards worked their way back into the contest.

The Wizards were able to keep that momentum going to go on an 11-0 run and then eventually grab a two-point lead.

However, eventually the scores were tied with Cairns with one last chance at the winner to avoid the game going into overtime which would have been the last thing the Marlins needed in the middle of three games this weekend.

Coming out of the timeout, Ben Ayre was left to create his own show and he rose for the mid-range jumper that was money. It fell to give Cairns the 92-90 victory with them to now finish their road trip against the Southern Districts Spartans on Sunday.

Hitting the game winner capped off a massive week for Ayre. Fresh off signing his first full NBL contract with the Cairns Taipans, he starred in the win on Friday for the Marlins and then delivered 28 points and seven assists in the win over the Wizards.

Lat Mayen also delivered 21 points and 14 rebounds for Cairns, Aron Farmer 12 points, five boards and three steals, Deba George 10 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Curt Ahwang eight points.

Lual Diing finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds and three assists for Northside including hitting 4/6 from downtown.

Deshawn Ross-Paiwan added 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, Cameron Thew 13 points and seven boards, Kevin White 11 points and 12 assists, and Javaan Mumtaz nine points.

 

RED CITY ROAR 91 lost to ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 104

The Rockhampton Rockets went two from two to open their triple-header on the road to beat the Red City Roar by 13 points on Saturday night.

The Rockets began their road trip beating the Logan Thunder on Friday night before heading to Paul Bancroft Centre on Saturday to take on Red City.

It was the Roar who started the better putting together an 11-0 run in the first quarter to end up leading 27-22 by quarter-time.

Rockhampton were able to turn the tide in the second term by going on their own scoring streak of 15 straight points to end up leading by as much as eight, and still being up 49-44 by the half-time interval.

The Rockets pulled away further in the third quarter outscoring the Roar 29 points to 20, and then after opening up a lead as big as 20 they went on to score the 104-91 victory.

The win improves Rockhampton to the 9-8 record on the season ahead of ending their road trip on Sunday against the Ipswich Force. Red City are now 4-12 following the defeat.

Damian Prgomet ended the night with 26 points, 12 rebounds and three assists for Rockhampton on 12/19 shooting from the floor.

Kai Woodfall added 21 points, three rebounds and three assists on 4/9 shooting from three-point land for the Rockets, Matthew McCarthy 19 points and six rebounds, and Jarvis Summers 13 points and 18 assists.

Kendall Stephens added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Kon Anguik 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Spencer Parker produced 26 points and 10 rebounds for Red City with Nelson Larkins adding 23 points, eight assists and six boards, Jayden Hodgson 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Kane Bishop 10 points, nine boards, three assists and two steals.

 

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 103 defeated DARWIN SALTIES 96

The big three of the Darwin Salties weren’t quite able to lift them to a road victory over the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on Saturday night.

Tad Dufelmeier, Jerron Jamerson and Makuach Maluach might have all had good nights still for the Salties as they started their road double at Maroochydore Stadium on Saturday, but Sunshine Coast ended up prevailing.

It was a tight opening with Darwin holding a two-point lead by quarter-time and then the Salties were able to build a nine-point advantage during the second term before Sunshine Coast worked back into it and cut the deficit to two points at the main break.

It was then all the Phoenix in the third quarter as they put up 30 points to 20 to then be leading 77-69 at three quarter-time.

While the Salties tried to produce a fightback and did score nine straight points in the fourth quarter, but still Sunshine Coast ended up prevailing 103-96.

The win improves the Phoenix to an 8-8 record on the season while the Salties are 10-5 now ahead of finishing their weekend against USC Rip City on Sunday.

Jamaal Robateau produced a standout performance for Sunshine Coast to finish with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals while knocking down 5/9 from three-point land and 8/9 from the charity stripe.

Jonathan Janssen added 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks for the Phoenix with Mason Bragg contributing 16 points and seven assists, and Oscar Cluff 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Makuach Maluach continued his tremendous form for Darwin ahead of joining Melbourne United in the NBL. 

He delivered 32 points and seven rebounds with Tad Dufelmeier adding 24 points, seven boards and six assists, Jerron Jamerson 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Deng Riak 12 points and 17 boards.

 

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 89 lost to USC RIP CITY 91

It was another thriller in NBL1 North Round 13 at Hibiscus Sports Stadium with the USC Rip City ending up prevailing on the road over the South West Metro Pirates.

On their home floor, the Pirates started strongly to open up a double-figure lead by quarter-time before that advantage grew to 12 early in the second term.

USC was able to work back into the contest from there but still by half-time it was South West leading 49-42 by the major break.

Rip City did work right on top in the third quarter for a while to hit the front, but South West turned the tide again with a 6-0 run to be leading 74-70 by three quarter-time.

USC ended up getting on top again in the fourth quarter and in the end Isaih Tueta saw then up by five points late at the foul line. Brendan Teyes hit a little triple for South West on buzzer but Rip City still ended up winning 91-89.

The victory improves USC to a 10-4 record on the season ahead of hosting the Darwin Salties on Sunday while the Pirates are now 4-11 following the defeat.

Sydney Kings NBL signing Kouat Noi had a night out for Rip City finishing with 36 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 14/23 from the floor and 8/8 from the foul line.

Isiah Tueta added 16 points and five rebounds for USC, Verle Williams 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, Kai Bloom 12 points and three boards, and Eric McAlister eight points and eight assists.

Brendan Teys delivered 31 points, eight rebounds and four assists for South West with Taylor Young contributing 15 points and seven assists, and Jakobe Hunter 13 points, four boards, three steals and two assists.

 

TOWNSVILLE HEAT 74 lost to MACKAY METEORS 99

The Mackay Meteors proved too good on the road for the Townsville Heat on Saturday night winning by 25 points.

Townsville played host to Mackay at StarFM Stadium in Round 13 of the NBL1 North with the Meteors going on an 8-0 run to take a 29-23 lead into quarter-time.

It was still a close contest by half-time with Mackay only leading by five points before they did extend that advantage to as much as 14 in the third quarter on the back of nine straight points.

Another 7-0 run in the fourth quarter saw the Meteors continue to push their lead out further to end up winning 99-74.

The victory improved Mackay to a 12-4 record on the season on top of the NBL1 North standings while Townsville is now 6-10 following the defeat.

Mackay ended up shooting 47 per cent from the floor for the game while hitting 15/37 from downtown at 40.5 per cent. Opposed to that, Townsville shot 35.8 per cent and went 6/23 from deep at 26.1 per cent. 

Kyrin Galloway finished with 28 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks for Mackay with Viliami Foketi adding 18 points and eight rebounds, and Jaylin Galloway 17 points, four boards, four assists and four steals.

Kye Medhurst also had 17 points and five rebounds for the Meteors, and former NBL point guard and Illawarra Hawks captain Rhys Martin five points and eight assists.

Richard Peachey produced 20 points and five rebounds for Townsville with Ethan Betts adding 18 points, six boards and four assists, and Harrison Pennisi 16 points and 12 rebounds.