NBL1 North Round 1 Sunday Men's Recap

Gold Coast Rollers 74 def Ipswich Force 73

Gold Coast guard Jaryd Eustace picked the perfect moment to make his first three-pointer of the NBL1 North season opener as his long-range shot sealed a 74-73 victory over Ipswich Force at Carrara Stadium on Sunday. 

Eustace, who had missed his first three attempts behind the arc, hit the straight away three off a kick out pass from Lloyd McVeigh with six seconds remaining to clinch the come-from-behind win for the home side.

On the previous play, Ipswich guard Jason Ralph hit the go-ahead shot with a fade-away jumper at the elbow to lead 73-72 with 19 seconds remaining. Ralph, who had a game high 20 points, had another chance at heroics but his deep three in the dying seconds hit the back rim.

Gold Coast’s guards Preston Le Gassick, who hit 5 of 5 three-pointers, and Levi Frankland top scored for the Rollers with 18 points each. Eustace tallied 11 points and McVeigh added 8 points.

Ipswich led 56-48 going into the final quarter but a dip in shooting accuracy hurt the visitors. The Force shot 6 of 19 (31.5%) including 2 of 9 (22%) in the final quarter. 6