NBL1 South Recap | Men's Grand Final 2023

A gutsy return from Ke'Jhan Feagin and spectacular performance from young gun Bailey Nunn led the Knox Raiders to the NBL1 South championship on Saturday night with 90-86 win over the Sandringham Sabres.

The Sabres beat the Raiders in the qualifying final and opened up a double-figure lead again early in Saturday night's Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre, but Knox responded to claim the eventual 90-86 victory.

NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | WOMEN'S GRAND FINAL 2023

NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | SATURDAY PRELIMINARY FINALS

NBL1 SOUTH RECAP | FRIDAY PRELIMINARY FINALS

MEN'S GRAND FINAL

Things were looking bleak when Ke'Jhan Feagin hobbled off for the Knox Raiders in the third quarter of Saturday night's Grand Final, but he returned in spectacular fashion and with the help of Bailey Nunn, they led their team to the 90-86 win against the Sandringham Sabres.

While the Raiders finished the regular season on top of the standings, it was the Sabres who beat them 97-90 in the qualifying final which saw them move straight into the preliminary final.

Knox had to do it the hard way but did beat the Eltham Wildcats and then the Mount Gambier Pioneers on the road in the preliminary final to earn another crack at Sandringham who qualified for the Grand Final with the home win over the Diamond Valley Eagles.

Bailey Nunn is bringing the spark for Knox ?

The sharpshooter has drained 4?? of his 5?? three-point attempts in the first half ?

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It turned out to be quite the dramatic Grand Final as well with the Sabres leading by as much as 12 points in the first half and then taking charge once more in the third period once Feagin went off for Knox after hurting his knee.

He went back to the locker room and it wasn’t clear if he would return, but not only did he come back but he took over the contest from there and was inspirational in the eventual four-point win to secure the championship for Knox.

It's a third championship for Knox on the back of the triumphs in the SEABL in 1991 and 2009 with the Raiders also now qualifying for the National Finals next weekend in Perth.

Before heading off for college at Sacramento State, Bailey Nunn secured the Grand Final MVP on the back of his performance with the Raiders where he delivered 25 points, two rebounds and two assists while hitting 5/9 from three-point territory.

Somehow Ke'Jhan Feagin had an even bigger impact on the game after hurting his knee and the Knox star finished with 26 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals with 4/6 shooting from behind the three-point line.

Nice hops, coach Barlow ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 12, 2023

Wayne Stewart Jr added 16 points and five rebounds for Knox, Mason Peatling eight points, six boards, two assists, two steals and two blocks, and Deng Acouth six points and nine rebounds.

Sandringham captain Campbell Blogg produced a monster Grand Final performance with 28 points and four rebounds on shooting 6/14 from behind the three-point arc.

Ben Ayre added 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals ahead of joining the South East Melbourne Phoenix in NBL24 with CJ Asuncion-Byrd producing 16 points and three boards, and Tom Koppens nine points, six rebounds and five assists. 

On the back of beating Knox in the qualifying final, Sandringham opened the Grand Final on fire with the opening seven points starting with a dunk from Campbell Blogg and then the next five points from CJ Asuncion-Byrd.

Ke'Jhan Feagin responded up the other end to get Knox on the board just over a couple of minutes into the game but the fast start from the Sabres continued with Blogg knocking down a three-pointer.

Then even after Bailey Nunn knocked down a three for Knox, Blogg nailed another for Sandringham with the lead growing to 11 and it was eventually 12 heading towards quarter-time when Ben Ayre completed a four-point play.

The Sabres were still leading 28-21 at the first break and were back up 11 in the second quarter again, but then the Raiders fired back and ended up outscoring Sandringham 24 points to 14 which saw them head into half-time leading 45-42.

Feagin hurt his knee early in the second half and that appeared to be a cruel blow for the Raiders, and just before three quarter-time the Sabres opened up another four-point lead after David Barlow got out in transition and threw down a one-handed dunk.

Ayre extended the lead to four which was the margin at three quarter-time, but Feagin had returned for the Raiders and he was ready to make his mark on the Grand Final.

With just over five minutes to play, Feagin knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to four for Knox. He then nailed another soon after to cut the margin to one but the Sabres weren’t handing the championship away.

Blogg hit another huge three of his own with 3:15 to play to keep Sandringham up four but Deng Acouth got a massive offensive rebound and putback, and then Feagin took it to the rack to tie scores up.

It was Blogg again coming up huge for the Sabres with another three-point bomb out of a timeout but Feagin answered to keep scores level with 1:30 to play.

Feagin would then hit the go ahead bucket for Knox and ultimately it was 19-year-old gun Bailey Nunn who sealed the four-point win and the championship with two free-throws for Knox. 

Ke'Jhan Feagin is ice cold ??

GAME. TIED.

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) August 12, 2023