NBL1 North Round 1 Saturday Men’s Recap

Catch up on all the action from a busy night in the opening round of the NBL1 North Men's competition.

Brisbane Capitals 101 def Northside 73

Brisbane’s Nicholas Stoddart has helped fuel a third-quarter surge to give the Capitals the momentum to go on to defeat Northside Wizards 101-73 at Auchenflower Stadium on Saturday night.

The Capitals guard scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the championship quarter including his only two three-pointers for the game.

The Capitals, who led by one point at the break, ran away with the third quarter 33-22 and ultimately the game.

The Brisbane frontcourt, including forward Ben Wilson (18 points), forward Geordan Papacostas (18 points) on debut, centre Ben Volkman (17 points, 12 rebounds), and forward Zachary Carter (15 points), joined Stoddart in double figures.

Wizards centre Cameron Thew scored a game-high 23 points off efficient shooting (10 from 11 field goal attempts).

Logan Thunder 107 def Red City Roar 89

A triple-double from Thunder guard Jeremy Kendle was a standout performance in Logan’s 107-89 victory over Red City Roar at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre on Saturday night.

A dominant 38-16 first quarter laid the foundation for Logan’s 18-point victory.

Kendle scored a game-high 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. The Thunder’s centre Mitch Young (25 points), guard Boston Mazlin (19 points), guard Michael Ceder (14 points), and forward Elijah Puna (10 points) kept the scorer’s bench busy.

The Roar will rue the slow start, which saw them behind 13-3 after the opening three minutes, and ten more turnovers (17-7) in the game.

Roar guard Darryl McDowell-White top scored for Red City with 20 points, 9 rebounds and he was joined by forward Kian Dennis (14 points), guard Mikael White (14 points), guard Kobe McDowell-White (13 points), and centre Brent Wallace (12 points) in double figures.

Cairns Marlins 75 def by Mackay Meteors 77

Mackay’s Christopher Cedar has nailed a three-pointer to help clinch a 77-75 victory over North Queensland rivals Cairns at Early Settler Stadium on Saturday night.

Cedar hit the corner three off the inbound pass with six seconds left on the clock to give the Meteors a 76-75 lead.

After a timeout, the Marlins went to team high scorer Anthony Fisher (18 points, 12 rebounds) but his drive was blocked by guard Jerron Jamerson, who would hit one of two free throws to take a 77-75 lead. Fisher’s Hail Mary from full court came close but didn’t give the home side the crazy finish they were hoping for.

Cedar’s clutch shot ensured the Meteors bounced back from a three-point loss to Townsville on Friday night to win their own nail biter. The guard (19 points, 12 rebounds) had an equal game high alongside forward Emmanuel Malou (19 points, 10 rebounds). Jamerson added 14 points and forward Viliami Foteki had an efficient 15 points with 6 of 10 field goals made.

The Meteors were strong on the boards, outrebounding the Marlins 52-40 including 19-12 on the offensive end.

The Marlins backcourt of Ky Stattmann (17 points) and James Mitchell (12 points) joined Fisher as top scorers for Cairns.

South West Pirates 86 def by Southern Districts Spartans 92

Southern Districts Spartans held off a late charge from rivals South West Pirates to secure a 92-86 win at Hibiscus Sports Stadium on Saturday night.

Pirates guard Kai Woodfall scored seven of his 20 points in South West’s 13-2 run to start the final quarter to close the gap to just four points (71-75) with six minutes remaining.

The fight back had The Ship rocking, but the Spartans backcourt of Jacob Allen (9 points) and CJ Massingale (12 points) scored five points each in the final six minutes to settle the road team.

Spartans forward Josh Derksen scored a team high 22 points and 9 rebounds and guard Ben Hastings added 13 points and 7 assists.

Pirates forward Jakobe Hunter had a game high 25 points including 3 of 7 three-point attempts but it was the team’s inaccurate shooting (9 of 41) behind the arc that cost them home side the most.