NBL1 South Recap | Friday Men's Round 4

Some spectacular plays from Deng Acouth and strong leadership from Adam Gibson and Alex Robinson saw the Knox Raiders hand the Geelong Supercats their first loss of the 2022 NBL1 South Men's season on Friday night.

It was the lone match on Friday night to open Round 4 of the 2022 season and despite the 26 points and six three-pointers for the Supercats from Gabe Hardy, the point guard leadership of Gibson and Robinson, and spectacular play above the rim from Acouth saw the Raiders prevail 70-64.

There are now eight matches to come in Round 4 of the NBL1 South Women's competition on Saturday evening starting with the Sandringham Sabres playing host to the Bendigo Braves.

The Casey Cavaliers will also be playing the Nunawading Spectres, the Diamond Valley Eagles facing the Hobart Chargers, the Etham Wildcats at home to the Geelong Supercats and the Kilsyth Cobras battling the Ballarat Miners.

The Ringwood Hawks are also at home to the Mount Gambier Pioneers while the Frankston Blues battle the Waverley Falcons and the Dandenong Rangers take on North West Tasmania Thunder.

There is then another five Round 4 matches on Sunday afternoon with the Ballarat Miners hosting the Casey Cavaliers, the Knox Raiders taking on the Etham Wildcats, the Melbourne Tigers facing the Hobart Chargers, the Waverley Falcons at home to North West Tasmania Thunder, and the Keilor Thunder hosting the Mount Gambier Pioneers.

NBL1 SOUTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 4 – FRIDAY NIGHT

GEELONG SUPERCATS 64 lost to KNOX RAIDERS 70

With two cool, experienced heads running the show and an intimidating presence inside, the Knox Raiders were able to hand the Geelong Supercats their first loss of the season on Friday night.

The Supercats hosted the Raiders at The Arena on Friday night in what was a tight and tense tussle the entire way.

The Raiders started strongly on the road with 19 points to 10 in the opening quarter but Geelong was able to turn the tide in the second period with 24 points to 17 which cut Knox's lead to 36-34 by half-time.

A pair of three balls from Gabe Hadley early in the third quarter soon had the Supercats back on top but heading towards three quarter-time triples for Knox to Jacob Foy and Dylan Hare kept things tight.

By the end of three, Geelong were up four and then five with eight minutes to play thanks to a nice finish from Owen Odigie.

However, the Raiders weren’t going away and a huge block up one end from Deng Acouth on George Blagojevic before an alley-oop pass from Adam Gibson for a big flush from Acouth gave the visitors the lead with 4:30 on the clock.

Gibson then found Reuben Te Rangi for another nice finish to extend the lead to three and Alex Robinson made it four at the charity stripe. An offensive rebound and putback from Simon Grant proved to be the sealer with a minute to play.

That saw the Raiders record the 70-64 victory to improve to 2-3 on the season while the Supercats are now 4-1 having suffered their first defeat of the 2022 season.

It's a Raiders team featuring current or former NBL talent Adam Gibson, Reuben Te Rangi, Deng Acouth and Mason Peatling, and they came to the fore in the victory.

Acouth's numbers might not standout of nine points, four rebounds, six blocks and two assists, but his presence was significant and his impact on the win can't be underestimated.

Gibson also finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Jacob Foy 13 points and four assists, Alex Robinson 12 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, Te Rangi eight points, and Peatling eight points.

Gabe Hadley knocked down 6/12 from three-point land for the Supercats on his way to 26 points and eight rebounds with George Blagojevic contributing 16 points and 14 rebounds, Isaac Turner seven points and DeMarcus Gatling six points and seven boards in his 100th game for Geelong.