NBL1 South Recap | Men's Semi Finals

What an eventful semi-final night in the NBL1 South Men it proved to be with the Kilsyth Cobras pulled off the most remarkable of comeback wins while the shorthanded Sandringham Sabres also booked in a preliminary final spot.

Both semi finals in the NBL1 South Men's competition took place on Friday night with the four competing teams doing battle for the rights to take on either the Hobart Chargers or Mount Gambier Pioneers in preliminary finals on Sunday.

Friday night's semi-final action got underway at Kilsyth Sports Centre and the visiting Bendigo Braves flew out to a hot start to lead by as much as 19 points in the first half and to still be leading by double-figures in the third quarter.

However, the Cobras produced a stunning fightback and in the end it was Bendigo's Malcolm Bernard draining a huge three at the end of regulation to force the game to overtime.

Then in the extra period, Mitch Dielemans turned hero for Kilsyth to deliver them the 93-88 overtime victory to book in a spot in Sunday's preliminary final and to break the hearts of Stephen Black's Braves.

The second of the night's semi finals took place at Southern Basketball Stadium with the Sandringham Sabres racing out to a hot start and maintaining that advantage the rest of the night on the way to the 77-66 victory.

Despite the absence of their three leadings scorers, Shea Ili, Tohi Smith-Milner and Dion Prewster, the Sabres proved too strong with Nick Gabsch top-scoring with 16 points.

Alister Macdonald put up 19 points with five three-pointers in the loss for Frankston.

That all means that the two preliminary final match ups will now take place at 2pm on Sunday afternoon with the winners to advance to the Grand Final next week.

The preliminary finals will see the Mount Gambier Pioneers play host to the Sandringham Sabres at The Ice House while the Hobart Chargers take on the Kilsyth Cobras at Southern Tasmania Netball Centre.

NBL1 SOUTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
SEMI FINALS – FRIDAY NIGHT

KILSYTH COBRAS 93 defeated BENDIGO BRAVES 88

The Kilsyth Cobras produced a massive fightback to force their semi-final into overtime with the Bendigo Braves on Friday night and ended up finding a way to prevail on their home floor.

The Cobras and Braves locked horns in the semi-final on Friday night at Kilsyth Sports Centre with a spot in Sunday's preliminary final against the Hobart Chargers there for the winner.

Kilsyth lost its qualifying final to the Mount Gambier Pioneers last week but thanks to a top four finish they earned the right to host the semi-final against a Bendigo team who advanced with an elimination final win against the Knox Raiders.

It was the Braves who shot out of the blocks by opening up a 14-point lead already by quarter-time away from home.

That lead for Bendigo got out to as much as 19 points during the second term but Kilsyth was able to fight back heading into half-time. The Cobras went on an 8-0 scoring run to cut the Braves lead to 47-42 by half-time.

Bendigo had hit the road on a mission, though, and were able to score another six straight points in the third quarter to lead again by 11 points, but Kilsyth was able to steady and by three quarter-time it was the narrowest of leads for the Braves at 66-65.

It was Kilsyth's turn to open up a potential match-winning advantage during the fourth term with the home team leading by as much as seven with just two and-a-half minutes to play on the back of a Deng Deng offensive rebound and putback.

Kilsyth had all the momentum but Bendigo wouldn’t be denied and three-point bombs from Luke Rosendale and Jake Lloyd in quick succession brought it back to a one-point ball game.

It was then a frantic finish with another offensive board and putback from Deng helping Kilsyth back to an 83-80 lead, but Bendigo had one last chance and it was last week's returning hero Malcolm Bernard who came up huge once more.

He drained the three-pointer with time expiring to tie scores up at 83-83 and force the game into overtime with a spot in the preliminary final on the line.

Then in the extra period, the first dagger was thrown with a three-pointer from Adrian Tomada for Kilsyth. Mitch Dielemans then added another to put the Cobras up five with under a minute to play, and four clutch free-throws from Dielemans sealed the deal for the home team.

Kilsyth went on to win 93-88 to advance to Sunday's preliminary final away to the Hobart Chargers while it's a devastating loss for the Braves with the hard luck for coach Stephen Black in finals continuing on the other side of the country after knocking on door for several seasons out west with the Willetton Tigers.

Mitch Dielemans delivered when it mattered most for Kilsyth to finish the semi-final with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists on the back of hitting 3/6 from three-point land and 10/10 at the free-throw line.

Adrian Tomada added 22 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals for the Cobras, Tim Lang 14 points and five boards, Jamie Ahale 10 points and two steals, Corey Jeffs six points and four rebounds, and Deng Deng six points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Malcolm Bernard put in a terrific showing for Bendigo ending up with 28 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals with Jake Lloyd contributing 17 points and five boards, and Sidy Djitte 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

Luke Rosendale added 11 points and six rebounds for the Braves, and Mitch Clarke 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 77 defeated FRANKSTON BLUES 66

Despite the absence of three key players, the Sandringham Sabres showed their depth and quality to overcome the Frankston Blues on Friday night in the semi-final to book in a preliminary final berth.

Frankston were able to play well in last week's elimination final and take advantage of a shorthanded Geelong Supercats, and things potentially fell their way for Friday night's semi-final as well.

At least in terms of personnel, Sandringham were without both Shea Ili and Tohi Smith-Milner due to national duties with the New Zealand Tall Blacks while fellow Kiwi Dion Prewster was also unavailable.

They have been the Sabres' three leading scorers over the course of the season but Sandringham didn’t want to use any excuses and blew the Blues away from the outset at Southern Basketball Stadium.

Sandringham raced out to a 14-2 lead to set the tone for the evening and then Dave Barlow stepped up to drain a three ball to make it a 17-4 advantage.

The Sabres went on to lead 21-4 by quarter-time after another bucket to David Okwera.

The tone was set for the rest of the evening with Sandringham's 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter soon becoming a 32-point lead during the second term and there would be no coming back for Frankston.

The Sabres led 51-24 at half-time and then went on to score the 77-66 victory with the Blues fighting the game out strongly to their credit, but never quite getting back close enough to truly threaten.

Sandringham will now back up in Sunday's preliminary final against the Mount Gambier Pioneers at The Ice House.

Nick Gabsch finished the night top-scoring for the Sabres with 16 points with Campbell Blogg contributing 15 points, three rebounds and two steals, and 366-game NBL veteran Dave Barlow 12 points, 11 rebounds and two assists.

David Okwera also had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Sandringham, Tom Wright 10 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals, and Tom Koppens six points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Alister Macdonald top-scored for Frankston with 19 points on shooting 5/13 from downtown while Adrio Bailey contributed 14 points and seven rebounds, Lucas Barker 13 points, 10 boards and seven steals, and Dillon Stith 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals.