NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Men's Round 4

Saturday night's Round 4 NBL1 North Men's action saw a match winning display from Another Drmic, Jordan Hunter make his return, Isaiah Moss come up huge, Ben Ayre lead the Cairns Marlins over Nate Jawai's Darwin Salties, and Kouat Noi have a big night for USC Rip City.

There were Saturday night NBL1 North Men's wins for the Northside Wizards, Red City Roar, Rockhampton Rockets, Gold Coast Rollers, Cairns Dolphins and USC Rip City.

Round 4 of the NBL1 North Women's season got underway on Friday night with the Mackay Meteors defeating the Brisbane Capitals 69-66, the Darwin Salties downing the Townsville Heat 96-88 and the Gold Coast Rollers beating the Ipswich Force 88-79.

Then on Saturday night, it was an entertaining affair at South Pine Sports Complex with the Northside Wizards defeating the North Gold Coast Seahawks 111-101.

Anthony Drmic delivered 32 points with four triples for the Wizards while Jordan Hunter and Tamuri Wigness both put up 21 points for the Seahawks.

The Red City Roar kept the Southern Districts Spartans winless so far this season by recording a 92-85 win at home. Jayden Hodgson led the way for the Roar with 28 points and 11 rebounds with William Mahoney top-scoring for Southern Districts with 20 points.

The Rockhampton Rockets had to come from behind at three quarter-time on their home floor to defeat the Brisbane Capitals 97-91.

Isaiah Moss put up 27 points for the Rockets and Kai Woodfall 26 to go with 12 assists while Max Mackinnon delivered 23 points for Brisbane.

The Gold Coast Rollers remain the last undefeated team in the NBL1 North Men's competition after beating the South West Metro Pirates 96-84.

Jaryd Eustace scored 21 points for the Rollers and Lamar Patterson 20 with Cameron Gordon top-scoring for the Pirates with 13 points.

Nate Jawai's return to Cairns as part of the Darwin Salties wasn’t quite a winning one with the hometown Marlins prevailing 108-99.

One of Jawai's Taipans teammates Ben Ayre was terrific for the Marlins with 27 points on 4/5 shooting from deep with Deba George adding 26 points. Jawai had just the two points for Darwin with Jerron Jamerson putting up 33 points and Makuach Maluach 23.

It was then an entertaining, high-scoring affair with USC Rip City ending up beating Logan Thunder 118-109 on Saturday night.

Kouat Noi was the standout for Rip City with 33 points and nine rebounds with Jeremy Kendle delivering 36 points for the Thunder.

Round 4 in the NBL1 North competition will now conclude on Sunday evening with the Southern Districts Spartans at home to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 4 – SATURDAY NIGHT

NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 111 defeated NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 101

The Northside Wizards and North Gold Coast Seahawks produced quite the entertaining affair on Saturday night combining to score 212 points with both teams chasing their second wins of 2022.

The Wizards were back home at South Pine Sports Complex with Brisbane Bullets star Anthony Drmic into the line-up, but it was the Seahawks who started the better to lead 32-25 by quarter-time boosted by the presence of Jordan Hunter.

Hunter had missed the entire NBL season with the Sydney Kings but made his return to the floor on Saturday night for North Gold Coast and helped them get off to the good start.

The Seahawks were still leading 55-50 by half-time but the Wizards worked their way on top throughout the second half eventually Northside outscored North Gold Coast 61 points to 46 after half-time to secure the 111-101 win.

The victory improves the Wizards to a 2-2 record on the season while the Seahawks slip to 1-4.

It was an impressive night from both teams with Northside ending up going at 49.4 per cent from the field and knocking down 15/32 from three-point range wile North Gold Coast shot at 52.1 per cent and hit 12/33 of their three balls.

Anthony Drmic delivered 32 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Wizards while hitting 4/7 from three-point land.

Lual Diing added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Mitch McCarron 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, CJ Massingale 15 points and six boards, Javaan Mumtaz 12 points and four assists, and Cameron Thew 10 points and four rebounds.

Jordan Hunter marked his return to the court with 21 points and 12 rebounds for North Gold Coast on 9/13 shooting with Bullets NBL guard Tamuri Wigness adding 21 points, five boards, three assists and three steals.

David Gurney contributed 18 points and five rebounds, Alex Mudronja 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Aiden Krause 12 points, seven boards and four assists.

 

RED CITY ROAR 92 defeated SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 85

The Red City Roar started well and were able to turn that into their second win of the season on Saturday night at the expense of the Southern Districts Spartans.

The Roar were hosting the Spartans at Paul Bancroft Centre and the home team started impressively putting up 25 points to 18 in the opening quarter.

Red City still led 49-43 at half-time and then were able to maintain their advantage throughout the second half on their way to the 92-85 victory.

The victory improves the Roar to a 2-2 record on the season while the Spartans remain winless after three attempts so far in 2022.

Jayden Hodgson led the way for Red City putting up 28 points, 11 rebounds and three assists while hitting 4/9 from three-point territory.

Spencer Parker added 22 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three assists, Nelson Larkins 11 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals, Mitchell Poulain 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Alec Godinet 10 points and nine rebounds.

William Mahoney top-scored for Southern Districts with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists with Chris Cedar contributing 19 points, 14 boards and four assists, and Kobe McDowell-White 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

 

ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 97 defeated BRISBANE CAPITALS 91

Todd Blanchfield wasn’t quite able to repeat his heroics of a week ago but the Rockhampton Rockets were still able to overcome the Brisbane Capitals at home on Saturday night.

With Blanchfield and Isaiah Moss combining for 62 points in last week's win for Rockhampton against Mackay, they had plenty of momentum coming into the Round 4 clash with the Capitals at Bravus Arena.

It was a high quality affair too with Brisbane leading 31-30 by quarter-time and then the visitors extended their advantage to 55-52 by half-time.

Brisbane still led by that three-point margin at three quarter-time but the Rockets finished strongly with 24 points to 15 in the fourth quarter to come away with the 97-91 victory.

The win improves Rockhampton to a 3-1 season record while the Capitals are now 2-2 following the defeat on the road.

While Todd Blanchfield didn’t quite have the impact he did a week ago with eight points on 3/11 shooting, he still had 12 rebounds and four assists.

Isaiah Moss had no trouble stepping up again with another 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists while hitting 4/7 from downtown with Damian Prgomet delivering 20 points and seven boards, and Kai Woodfall 26 points and 12 assists to go with 5/9 shooting from beyond the arc.

Kendall Stephens also finished with 10 points, two assists and two steals.

Max Mackinnon finished with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists, Lachlan Dent 20 points, eight assists and six boards, Nick Stoddart 18 points and six assists, and Atem Bior 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

 

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 84 lost to GOLD COAST ROLLERS 96

The Gold Coast Rollers built up a lead as big as 26 points away to the South West Metro Pirates on Saturday night before holding on for the eventual 12-point victory.

It was a shorthanded Gold Coast team at Hibiscus Sports Stadium but they still started impressively with 28 points to 20 in the opening quarter, and another 22 points to 17 in the second term to be leading 50-37 at half-time.

They would end up leading by as much as 26 points and despite South West outscoring them 27 points to 13 in the final quarter, Gold Coast still recorded the 96-84 victory.

The win improves the Rollers to a perfect 3-0 record on the season while the Pirates are 3-2 following the defeat on their home floor.

Jaryd Eustice top-scored for Gold Coast with 21 points and seven rebounds while knocking down 3/6 from three-point territory with Lamar Patterson contributing 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Jason Cadee added 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for the winners, Preston Le Gassick 12 points and three steals, Tidjane Diop 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jaze Morris 10 points and three boards.

Cameron Gordon top-scored for South West with 13 points while Taylor Young added 12 points and seven rebounds, Ramy Kodi 11 points, and Brendan Teys 11 points along with six rebounds and five assists.

 

CAIRNS MARLINS 108 defeated DARWIN SALTIES 99

It was always going to be a memorable occasion on a number of fronts with the Darwin Salties coming to Cairns and it was the Marlins who held firm to win on their home floor.

There was much anticipation over the Salties making their first road trip to Townsville and Cairns in Round 4 having just added NBL championship winner and Taipans star Nate Jawai to their roster this week.

He helped Darwin to a win in Townsville over the Heat on Friday to begin the weekend ahead of his return to Cairns as an opposition player on Saturday night.

A packed Early Settler Stadium greeted him and the Salties as well but it was the Marlins who opened up the better with 28 points to 18 in the opening quarter on their home court.

Cairns then blew the game wide open in the second quarter with 34 points to 21 to lead by as much as 27 points before settling into a 62-39 advantage at the major break.

The Salties fought the game out valiantly and outscored the Marlins 60 points to 46 in the second half but it didn’t stop the Malins ending up winning 108-99.

The victory improves Cairns to a 2-3 record on the season after the opening four rounds while Darwin are now 3-2.

Ben Ayre led the way once more for the Marlins on the back of the way he finished the NBL season with the Taipans. He scored 27 points while shooting 4/5 from three-point range.

Deba George added 26 points, five rebounds and three assists for Cairns, Lat Mayen 15 points and eight boards, Curt Ah Wang 15 points, James Mitchell 13 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Aron Farmer nine points and eight boards.

Jerron Jamerson produced an impressive display for the Salties made up of 33 points, five rebounds and five assists with Makuach Maluach contributing 23 points and five boards, Jarrod Molnar 14 points and two assists, and Tad Dufelmeier 11 points, three rebounds and two steals.

Josh Spiers added 10 points for Darwin but it was a rough night for Nate Jawai with two points and six rebounds.

 

LOGAN THUNDER 109 lost to USC RIP CITY 118

Logan and USC put on quite the spectacle on Saturday night with Rip City ending up prevailing in a high scoring thriller by nine points at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre.

By the end of the evening, the two teams had combined for 227 points across the 40 minutes with Rip City shooting at 56.0 per cent from the field while knocking down 13/28 from three-point range. Logan weren’t far behind going at 53.9 per cent from the floor and hitting 12/29 from three-point land.

The two teams only combined for 18 turnovers for the night as well with plenty of high level basketball played. They also shot 58 free-throws between them for the evening.

The biggest margin between either side during the game was the 12 points that Rip City led by late in the piece, but for virtually the entire match up until then it was a single figure margin fluctuating between the two teams.

The Thunder did lead by seven points on a couple of occasions through the second and third quarters, but USC worked their way on top late in the third term and then led the rest of the way on the way to the 118-109 victory.

The result improves Rip City to a 2-1 record on the season after four rounds while the Thunder are now 1-2.

Cairns Taipans guard Kouat Noi was tremendous in the win for Rip City with 33 points and nine rebounds on 12/20 shooting from the floor and 8/12 at the foul line.

Eric McAlister added 28 points and seven rebounds while hitting 4/8 from deep for USC with Isaih Tueta contributing 26 points and eight assists, Verle Williams 12 points and 13 assists, and Joe Chilcott 11 points.

Jeremy Kendle put up another huge performance for Logan with 36 points while Rasmus Bach contributed 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Mitch Young 22 points, seven boards and four assists, Boston Mazlin 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Michael Cedar nine points and five assists.