NBL1 South Recap | Friday Round 7

Miela Goodchild lit it up in a home win for the Mount Gambier Pioneers in the NBL1 South on Friday night while it was South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL signing Ben Ayre who then fired the Sandringham Sabres to the road victory.

Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre was the only venue in action in the NBL1 South to open Round 7 on Friday night. It got underway with the women's clash that saw the Mount Gambier Pioneers beat the Sandringham Sabres 87-71.

The Sabres men then hit back to hand the Pioneers a fourth successive loss with the 95-84 victory.

WOMEN

Goodchild lifts Pioneers to home win over Sabres

The Mount Gambier Pioneers' rollercoaster season continued on Friday night as they strung consecutive wins together beating the Sandringham Sabres 87-71.

The Pioneers were back at home to host the Sabres on the back of beating the Waverley Falcons last week to snap a three-game losing slide that came on the back of them winning the first five matches of the season.

Sandringham arrived in Mount Gambier having lost their first game under new coach Kerryn Mitchell last week to the Keilor Thunder having won the previous three matches since making the coaching change.

For the opening three quarters it was a tight contest as well with the Sabres holding a two-point lead both at the quarter-time and half-time breaks.

However, Mount Gambier turned things around in style in the third quarter to turn that two-point deficit into a 13-point lead by three quarter-time on the back of scoring the last seven points.

The Pioneers then scored the opening six points of the fourth quarter to complete the 13-0 run that blew the game open and the home side from there weren’t on to win by 16.

The win improves Mount Gambier to 7-3 on the season with back-to-back wins in their sole appearance of the weekend while Sandringham is 5-6 ahead of hosting the Launceston Tornadoes on Sunday.

Miela Goodchild was again the star in the win for Mount Gambier with 27 points, six rebounds and five steals on shooting 11/22 from the floor, 2/4 from downtown and 3/3 at the foul line.

Isabella Brancatisano added 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Pioneers, Sherrie Calleia 17 points, eight assists and three boards, and Haliegh Reinoehl 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

Klara Wischer put up 16 points and five rebounds for Sandringham with Eilidh Simpson adding 11 points and three assists, Funda Nakkasoglu 11 points and three rebounds, and Clara Ford 10 points, 10 boards and four assists.

Miela Goodchild just ?????? through defences ?

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MEN

Ayre brilliant in Mount Gambier in Sabres victory

A spectacular performance from Ben Ayre has lifted the Sandringham Sabres to a statement 95-82 road victory against the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Friday night.

Sandringham arrived in Mount Gambier looking to strengthen their claims on a top four position after last week's thumping of the Keilor Thunder while the Pioneers were attempting to avoid a fourth successive defeat.

CJ Asuncion-Byrd can drain 'em ?

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Ayre delivered a stunning opening to the game for the Sabres with the new South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL point guard putting up 18 points already by quarter-time with his team leading 36-20 already.

From there, Sandringham was still leading by 18 points at half-time despite a triple on the buzzer for the home team from Nick Marshall.

A Ben Ayre to CJ Asuncion-Byrd alley-oop finish on three quarter-time kept Sandringham leading by 16 points and from there they secured the 11-point victory away from home.

The win improves the Sabres to a 7-4 record on the season while it's tough times for the Pioneers who have lost four straight after winning the first six of 2023.

On the back of that 18-point first quarter, Ben Ayre delivered 39 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Sabres while shooting 11/23 from the field, 3/10 from downtown and 14/16 from the free-throw line.

CJ Asuncion-Byrd added 23 points and five rebounds, Dane Pineau 12 points and 11 boards before fouling out in under 24 minutes, and 387-game NBL veteran Dave Barlow seven points and 10 rebounds including two dagger three-pointers.

Nick Marshall did all he could to try and stop Mount Gambier from falling to that fourth straight loss ending up with 33 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Dylan Marshall added 15 points on 3/5 three-point shooting with Austin Shelley adding 10 points and three rebounds, Leonard Harper-Baker 10 points and 15 rebounds, and Julian Pesava nine points and six boards.

Ben Ayre was ??????????? in Sandringham's win over Mount Gambier, scoring a mind-boggling 3??9?? points ?

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