NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Men's Round 1

It was a monster opening Saturday night of NBL1 North action for 2022 with wins for the Brisbane Capitals, Cairns Marlins, Mackay Meteors, USC Rip City, North Gold Coast Seahawks and Darwin Salties.

The 2022 NBL1 North Men's season got underway with two matches on Friday night with the Townsville Heat defeating the Ipswich Force 75-66 and the Sunshine Coast Phoenix beating the Rockhampton Rockets 93-64.

Then on Saturday night, the Brisbane Capitals won a nail-biter 80-79 against the Northside Wizards at South Pine Sports Complex. Ben Volkman had 17 points for the Capitals and Keanu Pinder 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Wizards.

The Cairns Marlins defeated the Ipswich Force 88-79 at Early Settler Stadium with Ben Ayre delivering 24 points and five assists for the Marlins, and Mirko Djeric 20 points and five assists.

The Mackay Meteors defeated the Sunshine Coast Phoenix 86-80 at Mackay Basketball Stadium with 23 points from Villami Foketi and Malok Majak delivering 20 points and 13 rebounds. Mason Bragg had 21 points for the Phoenixx.

USC Rip City scored a 105-71 win against the Southern Districts Spartans at Rowland Cowan Stadium with 37 points and 13 rebounds to Kouat Noi for the winners.

The North Gold Coast Seahawks downed the South West Metro Pirates 77-72 at Runaway Bay Stadium with Alex Mudronja putting up 19 points for the Seahawks. Brendan Teys had 22 points for the Pirates.

The Darwin Salties opened their life in the NBL1 North competition by beating the Red City Roar 87-81 at Darwin Basketball Stadium. Makuach Maluach had 23 points for the Salties including a stunning dunk after running the length of the floor.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 1 – SATURDAY NIGHT

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 79 lost to BRISBANE CAPITALS 80

The presence of Mitch McCarron and Keanu Pinder wasn’t quite enough for the Northside Wizards against the Brisbane Capitals at South Pine Sports Complex to open their seasons on Saturday night.

It turned out to be a thrilling contest the entire way but it was the Capitals who did enough to hold on for the eventual 80-79 victory.

While the Wizards pulled in 61 rebounds to 52, they also had 23 turnovers to 11 on the night in what was a fascinating season opener in so many ways.

Ben Volkman finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in the win for the Capitals while Nick Stoddart put up 15 points, Max Mackinnon 10 points and five rebounds, Timothy Soong nine points and eight boards, Atem Bior nine points, and Geordan Papacostas eight points and six boards.

Adelaide 36ers captain Mitch McCarron put up 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocked shots while reigning NBL Most Improved Player Keanu Pinder delivered 15 points and 16 rebounds. However, the pair also combined for just 8/25 shooting and 12 turnovers.

Cameron Thew added 13 points and eight rebounds for Northside, DeShawn Ross-Palwan 11 points, and CJ Massingale 11 points and six rebounds.

 

CAIRNS MARLINS 88 defeated IPSWICH FORCE 79

The Cairns Marlins opened up their 2022 NBL1 North season with a win at home over the Ipswich Force on Saturday night.

The Force were coming off a Friday night loss to the Townsville and backed up the next evening at Early Settler Stadium.

Not a lot separated the teams most of the night but the Marlins led by a point at quarter-time, six points at half-time, seven points at three quarter and then ended up victorious 88-79 by the final buzzer.

The Marlins hit 12/29 from three-point territory in the win with Ben Ayre delivering 24 points and five assists just seven days after wrapping up his breakthrough finish to the NBL season with the Cairns Taipans.

His Snakes NBL teammate Mirko Djeric also had 20 points and five assists while Curt Ah Wang hit 5/10 from downtown for 15 points. Deba George added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Henry Pwono finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Ipswich with Cameron Goldfinch adding 11 points but Majok Deng had just six points in only eight minutes.

 

MACKAY METEORS 86 defeated SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 80

The Mackay Meteors started their 2022 season on their home floor with a hard earned victory against the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.

It took until overtime for the two teams to be separated in what was a thrilling season opener at Mackay Basketball Stadium. 

A Lewis Woosnam late bucket for the Phoenix forced the overtime, but in the extra period, Kye Medhurst got the Meteors on top and Malok Majak helped finish the job for the eventual 86-80 victory.

Villami Foketi finished the night with 23 points, nine rebounds, four steals, four blocks and three assists for the Meteors with Majak contributing 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Medhurst also had 13 points and four rebounds, and Brad Rasmussen seven points and eight boards.

Mason Bragg delivered 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Phoenix while Melson Kahler put up another double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.

Jonathan Janssen added 12 points, six rebounds and five blocks, and Jamaal Robateau 11 points and five boards.

 

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 71 lost to USC RIP CITY 105

USC Rip City opened the new season in impressive fashion with a 34-point victory on the road to the Southern Districts Spartans.

Rip City blew the game wide open in the second quarter with 35 points to 17, and then another 30 points to 12 in the fourth period to run out 105-71 winners at Rowland Cowan Stadium.

Rip City dominated the boards pulling down 58 rebounds to 38 while also shooting 47.6 per cent from the field opposed to 37.8, and knocking down 10/31 from three-point territory compared to 6/38.

Kouat Noi might have not had the NBL season at the Cairns Taipans he hoped, but showed what he's capable of for USC on Saturday night with 37 points and 13 rebounds on 14/23 shooting from the field.

Verle Williams added 22 points for Rip City, Eric McAlister 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Khobie De Haan 14 points and four boards.

Marial Mondol Pan top-scored for the Spartans with 19 points and eight rebounds while Kobe McDowell-White contributed 14 points and six boards, Andre Ugrinic nine points and four rebounds, and Ben Hastings eight points.

 

NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 77 defeated SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 72

It was a tight contest to open the NBL1 North season at Runaway Bay Stadium on Saturday night between the North Gold Coast Seahawks and South West Metro Pirates.

The Pirates started impressively with 23 points to 18 in the opening quarter but the Seahawks took over in the next two quarters outscoring them 39 points to 26.

They were then able to hold off the Pirates in the final period with the Seahawks ending up starting the 2022 season with the 77-72 win.

Alex Mudronja was released by the Illawarra Hawks to come and play in the season-opener for North Gold Coast and he put up 19 points and five rebounds.

David Gurney added 16 points, Tamuri Wigness 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals following his NBL season at the Brisbane Bullets, and Aiden Krause 12 points, six boards, five assists and two steals.

Brendan Teys produced 22 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Pirates while Rudolphe Joly contributed nine points and 12 rebounds, and Ramy Kodi eight points and seven boards.

 

DARWIN SALTIES 87 defeated RED CITY ROAR 81

The Darwin Salties put on a show in their debut appearance in the NBL1 North competition and rewarded their home fans with a first up win against the Red City Roar.

A spectacular dunk from Makuach Maluach will be the lasting memory most have from the night at Darwin Basketball Stadium as they officially entered life in the NBL1 North competition.

Maluach showed his potential by taking the ball the length of the floor and throwing it down over a Roar defender in the most spectacular finish you are likely to see.

However, aside from that, the Salties also did a lot right to come away with the 87-81 victory over Red City.

Maluach not only delivered that spectacular finish, but had an impressive performance overall for Darwin with 23 points and four rebounds. Jerron Jamerson also finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Josh Spiers contributed 21 points and nine rebounds, and Deng Riak 18 points and seven boards.

Nelson Larkins opened the season with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals for Red City while Jarett Croff contributed 20 points and 13 boards, Spencer Parker 15 points and six rebounds, Mitchell Poulain 12 points, and Alec Godinet 11 points.