A chance to climb further up the ultra-competitive NBL1 South ladder awaits the North-West Thunder this weekend

NORTH-WEST THUNDER PREVIEW

A chance to climb further up the ultra-competitive NBL1 South ladder awaits the North-West Thunder this weekend as they head to the airport for another Victorian double-header.
Sam Armstrong’s team moved up to 14^th place after a successful road trip double last weekend that featured two thrilling finishes and some great individual performances.
They can improve their 5-6 record when they head to 16^th-placed Geelong United on Saturday night before backing up on Sunday afternoon to seek redemption against 4^th-placed Waverley.
The Thunder will head interstate with great confidence after getting their season back on track, starting with an 87-82 triumph at Ringwood that saw the storm home with a 31-23 final quarter.

The hot hand of Seth Swalve gave his team key baskets at every turn, with the guard pouring in 7-9 three-pointers on his way to 25 points to go with 11 assists and three steals, while fellow import Sekou Sylla continued to be a menace in the paint, top-scoring with 27 points.
After trailing for all of the second and third quarters on Sunday against Kilsyth, but still managing to stay in touch, the Thunder and the Cobras staged a see-sawing battle for the lead over the final 10 minutes.
With just 1.3 seconds remaining and down 80-78, Isaac Atuer hit a three-pointer from a sideline play to give his team a memorable one-point victory and complete a much-needed road double.

Sylla continued his huge weekend with a 30-point haul that saw him claim Footlocker Player of the Week honours for the second time in 2024, while Archie Woodhill arguably had one of his best performances for his new club with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Sitting only one win behind the sixth-placed team on the ladder, the Thunder know another fruitful road trip can vault them firmly back into finals contention.
They begin with a trip to The Geelong Arena to face a dangerous Supercats outfit (4-7 record) who have yet to click this year, but still possess plenty of scoring power with the likes of Latrell Jones, George Blagojevic and Demarcus Gatlin.
Sunday sees the Thunder look to exact revenge on fourth-placed Waverley, a team they met in round two in Launceston where the visitors scored a comfortable 97-77 victory without the services of leading scorer Dejan Vasiljevic and Dexter Kernich-Drew.
In a boost to the team’s playing stocks for the rest of the season, the Thunder have announced that former player Sejr Deans has rejoined the club after returning back to Tasmania following a US college career that was cut short due to a major health scare.

Saturday night’s game tips off at 7pm, while Sunday’s encounter starts at 2.30pm.
Both games will be streamed live on the NBL1 website or app by logging in with a free NBL+ account.

LEADING PLAYERS

Points – Thunder: Sekou Sylla 23ppg, Seth Swalve 13.7ppg, Tre Armstrong 11.6ppg. Supercats: Latrell Jones 19.2ppg, George Blagojevic17ppg, Demarcus Gatlin 15.1ppg. Falcons: Dejan Vasiljevic 22.7ppg, Mason Forbes 16.6ppg, Malik Meunier 13.3ppg.

Rebounds – Thunder: Sekou Sylla 12.6rpg, Paul Campbell 5.3rpg, Archie Woodhill 4.9rpg. Supercats: George Blagojevic 8.5rpg, Ma’alo Hicks 7.1rpg, Demarcus Gatlin 6.2rpg. Falcons: 7.4rpg, Dejan Vasiljevic 6.6rpg, Matthew McCarthy 5.6rpg.

Assists – Thunder: Seth Swalve 4.5apg, Sekou Sylla 2.4apg, Tre Armstrong 1.9apg. Supercats: Demarcus Gatlin 4.5apg, George Blagojevic 4.0apg, Liam Herbert 2.3apg. Falcons: Malik Meunier 4.2apg, Dejan Vasiljevic 3.4apg, Dexter Kernich-Drew 2.4apg.

LAST THREE MEETINGS v GEELONG

2023 – Thunder lt Supercats 72-98, 2022 – Supercats def Thunder 86-82, 2021 – Thunder lt Supercats 70-98.

LAST THREE MEETINGS v WAVERLEY

2024 – Thunder lt Falcons 77-97, 2023 – Falcons def Thunder 91-89, 2022 – Thunder def Waverley 69-63.