NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Men's Round 8

Max Mackinnon, Lachie Dent, Anthony Drmic, Isaac White, Majok Deng, Sam Froling, Ethan Betts, Damian Prgomet, Zac Carter, Brendan Teys, Jack McVeigh and Preston Le Gassick were just some of the standout performers on Saturday night as Round 8 in the NBL1 North continued.

As Round 8 in the NBL1 North Men's season continued on Saturday night, there were victories for the Brisbane Capitals, Northside Wizards, Townsville Heat, South West Metro Pirates and Gold Coast Rollers while the Logan Thunder also beat the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence team.

Round 8 in the NBL1 North began back on Friday night with the North Gold Coast Seahawks beating the Logan Thunder 95-78, the Mackay Meteors defeating the Townsville Heat 82-74 and the Darwin Salties downing the Cairns Marlins 91-84.

That led into the Saturday evening match ups beginning with the Brisbane Capitals winning big 102-77 against the Southern Districts Spartans.

Max Mackinnon put up 23 points for the Capitals and Lachlan Dent 22 while Chris Cedar top scored for the Spartans with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Northside Wizards then held off the fast finishing Ipswich Force for an 87-79 victory on the road on Saturday evening.

Anthony Drmic put up 24 points and drained six triples in the win for the Wizards with Lual Diing contributing 21 points and 14 rebounds. Isaac White finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds while Majok Deng had 24 points and 12 boards for the Force.

The Townsville Heat came from behind to overrun the Rockhampton Rockets and bounce back from their Friday night loss in Mackay to win 81-76.

Sam Froling produced 21 points and 16 rebounds in the win for Townsville with a triple-double from Ethan Betts made up of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Damian Prgomet top scored for Rockhampton with 25 points to go with 12 rebounds.

The nail-biter of the night's action saw the South West Metro Pirates win at home 90-89 against the North Gold Coast Seahawks as Brendan Teys got one over his former Adelaide 36ers teammate Jack McVeigh.

Teys finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Pirates with Zac Carter hitting five threes on his way to 19 points. McVeigh put up 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Seahawks.

The Gold Coast Rollers maintained their hold on top spot with an 86-73 home win against the Red City Roar even without Jason Cadee.

Preston Le Gassick led the charge for the Rollers with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists while Spencer Parker top scored for Red City with 20 points.

The Logan Thunder then backed up from their game on Friday night to beat the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence team 105-80.

Jeremy Kendle kept his hot form going with 30 points for the Thunder while Boston Mazlin added 28 points with seven three-pointers. Ethan Elliott top-scored for the Centre of Excellence team with 20 points while Jensen Bradtke had 15 points.

Round 8 in the NBL1 North Men's competition will now wrap up with two more games on Sunday with the Red City Roar hosting the Brisbane Capitals, and the Sunshine Coast Phoenix taking on the Ipswich Force.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 8 – SATURDAY NIGHT

BRISBANE CAPITALS 102 defeated SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 77

The Brisbane Capitals showed their quality on Saturday night in Round 8 of the NBL1 North with a 25-point win at home against the Southern Districts Spartans.

It was the Spartans who started the better at Auchenflower Stadium, though, with the visitors scoring six straight points to lead 25-18 by the end of the opening quarter.

That lead for Southern Districts grew out to 10 points in the second quarter but Brisbane were able to work their way back into it and by half-time only be trailing by five points.

The Capitals then turned that momentum fully in their favour out of the break to go on a 14-0 scoring run and eventually they would lead by 16 points, and be in control 73-57 by three quarter-time.

Brisbane kept the roll going the rest of the way to lead by as much as 28 points and to end up winning 102-77.

The victory improves the Caps to a 4-6 record on the season while the Spartans are now 0-9 as they continue to hunt down that elusive first victory of 2022.

Max Mackinnon continues to be finding his feet at NBL1 level as the season progresses and he finished with 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals for Brisbane.

Lachlan Dent also produced 22 points, six assists and four steals while hitting 4/6 from downtown with Geordan Papacostas contributing 18 points, and Atem Bior 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Chris Cedar delivered 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Spartans while Ben Hastings added 15 points, Andre Ugrinic 15 points and six boards, and Jalen Canty 14 points and 17 rebounds.

 

IPSWICH FORCE 79 lost to NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 87

The Northside Wizards started on fire to set up an eventual eight-point road victory against the Ipswich Force on Saturday night.

Ipswich was hosting the Wizards at JBS Stadium on Saturday night with NBL1 North Round 8 continuing, and it was the visiting Northside team who started strongly to lead by as much as 14 points in the opening period, and to be up 29-17 at quarter-time.

Northside maintained that lead by half-time to go into the break on top 47-35, and that lead was out to a commanding 22 points during the third period.

However, the Force weren’t quite done with yet and did manage to outscore the Wizards the rest of the way, but couldn’t quite get close enough to strike with Northside ending up winning 87-79 away from home.

The victory sees the Wizards improve to a 6-2 record on the season while the loss means that Ipswich are now 4-6.

By the end of the evening, the major difference between the two teams was that the Wizards nailed 14/37 from beyond the arc at 37.8 per cent while the Force went 4/21 from three-point land at 19.1 per cent.

Newly signed Adelaide 36ers NBL star Anthony Drmic finished with 24 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Wizards while draining 6/12 from long range.

Lual Diing added 21 points and 14 rebounds for Northside, Javaan Mumtaz 15 points, and Mitch McCarron 15 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.

Illawarra Hawks NBL guard Isaac White produced 26 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals for Ipswich with Cairns Taipans forward Majok Deng delivering 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Henry Pwono added 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals, Denzel Kennedy seven points and three boards, and Cameron Goldfinch seven points and two assists.

 

ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 76 lost to TOWNSVILLE HEAT 81

The Townsville Heat roared home to overcome a three quarter-time deficit to win by five points on the road against the Rockhampton Rockets on Saturday night.

The Rockets were back on their home court at Bravus Arena to host the Heat, and it was the home team who started well to open up an early 10-point advantage.

However, Townsville quickly responded with 10 straight points of their own to head into the quarter-time break leading 22-19.

The Heat maintained that advantage to lead 44-40 by half-time but Rockhampton dramatically turned the tide in the third period with 23 points to 14 to be on top themselves by five heading into the fourth term.

The momentum swings continued with the Heat dominating the final period with 23 points to 13 and that saw them come away with the 81-76 victory.

The win improves Townsville to a 3-6 record on the season while Rockhampton are now 4-6 following the defeat.

Sam Froling had an outstanding night for Townsville with the Illawarra Hawks NBL star producing 21 points and 16 rebounds.

Ethan Betts also delivered a triple-double for the Heat with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists with Taine Wattie finishing with 15 points and four boards, Matthew Rees 14 points, and Richard Peachey 11 points.

Damian Prgomet ended up with 25 points and 12 rebounds for Rockhampton while Kai Woodfall contributed 17 points, five assists and four rebounds, Todd Blanchfield 14 points, seven boards and five assists, and Kendall Stephens 13 points and four assists.

 

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 90 defeated NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 89

The tight one of the evening in the NBL1 North competition saw the South West Metro hold on for the one-point win at home against the North Gold Coast Seahawks.

The Pirates were back at home at Hibiscus Sports Stadium to host a Seahawks team coming off beating the Logan Thunder on Friday night, and by the end of the first quarter it was the visitors leading 23-19.

North Gold Coast was able to stretch that lead out to double-figures during the second quarter but South West was able to stay within striking distance trailing by seven at half-time.

The Pirates then turned it on in the third quarter on their home court in spectacular fashion to turn that seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead of their own late in the third quarter.

South West kept that momentum going too with the lead growing to 14 points and while the Seahawks did keep fighting, and got back within a point, the Pirates held on for the 90-89 victory.

The result means that South West improves to a 4-5 record on the season while the Seahawks are 3-7 as a result of the defeat.

The Pirates ended up going 11/29 from three-point range at 37.9 per cent while the Seahawks managed just 5/26 at 19.2 per cent.

Zac Carter ended up leading the scoring for South West with 19 points and four rebounds while hitting 5/11 from downtown with Brendan Teys contributing 17 points, seven boards and five assists.

Taylor Young added 16 points for the Pirates, Joel Matysek 11 points, and Tendekai Machando eight points, three boards and three assists.

Jack McVeigh shined with 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for North Gold Coast with Tamuri Wigness chipping in with 20 points and five boards.

Jordan Hunter added 13 points and seven rebounds, Lloyd McVeigh 13 points and five boards, and David Gurney 12 points and three rebounds.

 

GOLD COAST ROLLERS 86 defeated RED CITY ROAR 73

The Gold Coast Rollers maintained their hold on top spot in the NBL1 North Men's competition with Saturday night's 13-point home win against the Red City Roar.

The Rollers were back on their home court at Carrara Stadium but for the first three quarters it was a tight battle they had with the Roar.

Gold Coast led 16-13 by the end of the opening quarter and while the Rollers' lead did grow to nine points during the second term, by half-time Red City had stayed in touch and cut the deficit to just five points.

The Roar remained right in the contest to outscore the Rollers 26 points to 24 in the third quarter to make it a three-point ball game with a quarter to play.

However, that's when Gold Coast made their move going on a 10-0 run to break the game open and to end up winning 86-73.

The result improves the Rollers to an 8-1 record on the season to maintain their hold on top spot in the NBL1 North while the Roar are now 2-5 following the defeat even if it was an encouraging performance.

The Rollers got the job done without NBL star Jason Cadee and with Tanner Krebs well held by the Roar to just nine points on 4/19 shooting even though he did contribute nine rebounds and seven assists.

Preston Le Gassick was the one to step up for Gold Coast with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists while drilling 5/8 from three-point range.

Jaze Morris added 16 points and four rebounds, Nevarda Higgins 12 points, and Tidjane Diop eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

Spencer Parker produced 20 points and nine rebounds for Red City with Jayden Hodgson adding 16 points and four boards, Nelson Larkins 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Alec Godinet eight points and eight boards.

 

LOGAN THUNDER 105 defeated BASKETBALL AUSTRALIA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 80

The NBL experience and class in the Logan Thunder team provided a good lesson for the young guns of the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence team on Saturday night.

Logan hosted the Basketball Australia team of young guns at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre and certainly didn’t take it easy on them on the back of a tough loss on Friday night against the North Gold Coast Seahawks.

It was an even contest early on before Logan began to breakaway in the second quarter with 28 points to 21 to lead 54-47 at half-time with a team of NBL experienced players including Mitch Young, Rasmus Bach, Michael Cedar and Jeremy Kendle.

The Thunder continued to pull away throughout the second half to end up winning 105-80.

Kendle was fresh off 37 points the previous night for Logan and delivered another 30 points and eight assists on the back of shooting 10/18 from the field, 4/8 from downtown and 6/6 at the foul line.

Boston Mazlin added 28 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Thunder, Cedar 15 points, Bach 14 points and six assists, and Young 12 points and four assists.

For the Centre of Excellence team, West Australian point guard Ethan Elliott was impressive in his 20 points with 3/5 shooting from downtown using his experience of having played against men out west the last couple of years with the Warwick Senators.

Jensen Bradtke finished with 15 points and five rebounds, Rory Hawke 14 points and four assists, Bowyn Beatty seven points and three rebounds, and Evan Kilminster seven points and three assists.