"The blue-collar guy" who led Sunshine Coast to victory

Photo: Kobe James

After their opening round defeat to the SW Metro Pirates, NBL1 North side Sunshine Coast were staring down the barrel of back-to-back home defeats to open the new campaign on Saturday night, instead, the Phoenix rose to overcome Northside by seven points thanks to a thrilling fourth quarter.

The Phoenix outscored the Wizards 23-13 in the final term, and were guided home by the steadying hand of Jamaal Robateau, who top-scored for the side with 21 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

While Robateau earned the bulk of the praise following the win, he was quick to deflect to one of his more unheralded teammates – Cooper Urquhart’s – contributions to the win.

Urquhart played 22 minutes in the victory and finished with nine points and eight rebounds, and Robateau says the centre set the tone for the final-term surge.

“We just locked in and executed our plays. There were a few mismatches out there we were getting to and everyone was hitting shots,” Robateau said post-game.

“The blue-collar guy, we call him (Urquhart). Plumber by day and gets buckets by night.

“He just comes out and plays hard, that’s his role. Tonight, he outplayed their centres, out-ground them and outhustled them, That’s what we need from him every night.”

Now with a 1-1 record on the season, the Phoenix are set for an away double-header in Round 3. First, a rematch with Northside beckons on Saturday night before they travel to take on Tyrell Harrison and the Southern Districts Spartans on Sunday.

In fact, it won’t be until May 11 until Sunshine Coast plays at home again, but Robateau says it’s his sides home form that needs to improve if they’re to make a post-season push.

“We’re really good at playing away, the last few years we’ve been struggling defending our home, so home wins will get us there.”

Sunshine Coast’s clash with Northside will tip off on Saturday, April 27 at 7pm AEST live via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.