The late-season chase for a coveted finals spot remains well and truly on for the North-West Thunder

Story by Brad Cole -  NW Thunder Media

The late-season chase for a coveted finals spot remains well and truly on for the North-West Thunder ahead of this weekend’s pair of crucial home games.  Sitting in 14th place with five games remaining, the Thunder (7-10) must win both encounters against two teams below them on the ladder if they are to stay in the hunt along a group of other teams all chasing post-season action.

Sam Armstrong’s team commence their double duties with a match-up against 17th-placed Diamond Valley (5-11) at Ulverstone’s Mazda BT-50 Stadium before backing up on Saturday night at their second home of Launceston Elphin Sports Stadium to entertain the 18th-placed Kilsyth (4-12).

The Thunder enter this vital weekend on the back of a Melbourne road trip that saw them score a famous 96-93 win over Eltham on Saturday night before falling to reigning champions Knox on Sunday afternoon.

Trailing by 13 points early in the final quarter against the Wildcats, the Thunder staged a remarkable turnaround to lead by eight points with two minutes remaining. They then watched that margin disappear over the next 90 seconds as the home team surged again before a pull-up three-pointer from Tre Armstrong with four seconds to go broke the deadlock. 

Sekou Sylla (21 points) led five players in double figures on the scoresheet to go with nine rebounds and six assists, including the all-important pass to Armstrong at the end.

Backing up less than 24 hours later against a talented Raiders outfit was always going to be tough for the Thunder, and it proved so as the hosts raced away early and then pulled away late to record a 95-70 result.  Armstrong top-scored with 17 points, with Sylla adding 16 points. 

While their ladder positions may suggest the Thunder will start warm favourites in both games on Friday and Saturday night, the reality is the team will have to be at their best, with both the Diamond Valley and Kilsyth coming off wins last week and bringing down line-ups that contain several talented players.

The Eagles have been boosted this month by the return of Ngor Manyang who is averaging 23.25 points in his four games, while big man Jock Perry 12.81 rebounds per game is second best in NBL1 South.

The Cobras are coming off an extraordinary defensive performance against Melbourne where they held the Tigers to just 44 points.

Both games this weekend are part of double-headers with the Launceston Tornadoes, with the women tipping off at 5.30pm on Friday night, followed by the men at 7.30pm. Saturday night at Elphin sees the Tornadoes tip-off at 6pm, followed by the Thunder at 8pm. Tickets for Friday night’s double-header at Ulverstone can be purchased by clicking here. Tickets for Saturday night’s two games in Launceston can be purchased by clicking here. If you can’t make it to either venue, log-in to the NBL1 website to catch all the action on the live stream.

LEADING PLAYERS

Points – Thunder: Sekou Sylla 21.00ppg, Seth Swalve 15.18ppg, Tre Armstrong 12.19ppg. Eagles: Ngor Manyang 23.25ppg, Bryton Hobbs 19.78ppg, Jock Perry 18.31ppg. Cobras: Kyle Adnam 15.64ppg, Adrian Tomada 14.94ppg, Deng Riak 10.94ppg.

Rebounds – Thunder: Sekou Sylla 10.93rpg, Archie Woodhill 5.53rpg, Paul Campbell 5.47rpg. Eagles: Jock Perry 12.81rpg, BJ Symons 5.64rpg, Ngor Manyang 4.50rpg. Cobras: Deng Riak 6.50rpg, Corey Jeffs 5.25rpg, Bryce Davis 5.07rpg.

Assists – Thunder: Seth Swalve 4.88apg, Sekou Sylla 2.36apg, Ben Woolley 2.06apg. Eagles: Bryton Hobbs 5.78apg, Joel Capetola 4.75apg, Eric Kafritsas 3.13apg. Cobras: Adrian Tomada 3.19apg, Kyle Adnam 3.18apg, Corey Jeffs 1.94apg.

LAST THREE MEETINGS
2023 – Eagles def Thunder 97-85
2022 – Thunder def Eagles 90-61
2021 – Thunder def Eagles 100-78

2023 – Cobras def Thunder 93-68
2022 – Thunder lt Cobras 73-100
2021 – Cobras lt Thunder 63-98