NBL1 South Recap | Friday Round 9

With Cassidy Mihalko and Rachel Antoniadou combining for 10 three-pointers for the Nunawading Spectres and DJ Vasiljevic putting up 34 points for the Diamond Valley Eagles, the two clubs split their Friday night NBL1 South fixtures.

There was just the one Women's and Men's game each on Friday night to open Round 9 in the NBL1 South season and the venue was Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre.

The Women's contest opened proceedings and the Nunawading Spectres proved too strong to end up beating the Diamond Valley Eagles 82-66.

Cassidy Mihalko finished with 24 points on a perfect 6/6 from three-point land for Nunawading in the win while Rachel Antoniadou also knocked down four triples on her way to 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Hope Terdich top-scored for Diamond Valley with 23 points and nine rebounds.

That led into the Men's contest and Sydney Kings NBL championship winning star DJ Vasiljevic turned out to be the difference in the 89-64 victory for the Diamond Valley Eagles against the Nunawading Spectres.

Vasiljevic is gearing up for his return to the Kings for the upcoming NBL season and produced 34 points on the back of knocking down six three-pointers to go with seven rebounds and four assists.

CJ Asuncion-Byrd led the charge for the Spectres with 22 points.

Round 9 in the NBL1 South competition will continue on Saturday with the Geelong Supercats at home to the Launceston Tornadoes in the Women and North West Tasmania Thunder in the Men at The Arena.

The Sandringham Sabres also host the Waverley Falcons, the Ballarat Miners play the Ringwood Hawks, the Kilsyth Cobras battle the Melbourne Tigers, the Dandenong Rangers face the Knox Raiders, the Eltham Wildcats face the Bendigo Braves and the Mount Gambier Pioneers host the Hobart Chargers.

The round's action will then wrap up on Sunday with the Nunawading Spectres hosting both the Launceston Tornadoes and North West Tasmania Thunder.

The Casey Cavaliers will also be at home to the Eltham Wildcats and the Keilor Thunder play the Hobart Chargers.

NBL1 SOUTH – 2022 SEASON
ROUND 9 – FRIDAY NIGHT

WOMEN
DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 66 lost to NUNAWADING SPECTRES 82

It was a strong performance on the road from the Nunawading Spectres on Friday night to beat the Diamond Valley Eagles by 16 points.

The Eagles were at home at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre to host the Spectres, and it didn’t take long for the visitors to work their way on top and be up 21-16 by the end of the first quarter.

Nunawading pulled away further with 22 points to 14 in the second quarter and that saw them hold a commanding 43-30 lead at the half-time break.

It was more of the same in the third quarter with the Spectres going on an 11-0 run to lead by 26 points, and then end up with the eventual 82-66 victory.

The result improves the Spectres to an 8-4 record on the season ahead of hosting the Launceston Tornadoes on Sunday while the Eagles are now 1-11 following the defeat.

Rachel Antoniadou finished the evening with 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds with shooting of 8/15 from the floor, 4/9 from three-point range and 5/5 from the foul line.

Cassidy Mihalko knocked down a perfect 6/6 from beyond the arc too to finish with 24 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals with Alice Kunek adding 12 points and nine rebounds, and Megan Mullings 11 points, nine boards, three steals and two blocked shots.

It was another tough night for Diamond Valley but Hope Terdich was a standout in the loss with 23 points and nine rebounds while hitting 11/19 from the field.

Kate Oliver added 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, Keli Romas 10 points, four boards and four assists, and Imogen Rock eight points and seven rebounds.

MEN
DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 89 defeated to NUNAWADING SPECTRES 64

DJ Vasiljevic lived up to his promise of a big night at Joe Ingles' urging on Friday as he put up 34 points in a big win at home for the Diamond Valley Eagles against the Nunawading Spectres.

In the lead up to the contest Vasiljevic had some banter with four-time Olympian and 635-game NBA veteran Ingles guaranteeing to put on a show should he come out to take in some NBL1 action on Friday night at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre.

Vasiljevic guaranteed at least 30 points and he more than lived up to his end of the bargain in the eventual 25-point victory for Diamond Valley.

It was a tight opening to the game and on the back of scoring 11 straight points, it was the Spectres actually leading 17-16 by quarter-time.

While Diamond Valley turned the tide in the second term to go into half-time leading 37-34, it was still a tight contest.

However, the Eagles blew the game wide open in the second half including hitting 16 straight points during the third term to suddenly make it a 20-point ball game.

Diamond Valley kept rolling from there to win 89-64 and improve to a 6-6 record on the season while the loss sees Nunawading slip to 5-7.

It was a spectacular performance from Sydney Kings NBL championship winning star DJ Vasiljevic for Diamond Valley with him finishing with 34 points, seven rebounds and four assists while shooting 11/25 from the floor, 6/15 from downtown and 6/6 from the charity stripe.

Dane Pineau added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles while BJ Symons contributed nine points and six boards, Ngor Manyang eight points and five rebounds, and Ryan Bowkett seven points.

CJ Asuncion-Byrd led the charge on a tough second half for Nunawading finishing the night with 22 points with Remo Simankevicius adding 15 points and seven rebounds, Dain Swetalla 14 points and five boards, and Jack Gandolfo seven points, five assists and four rebounds.