NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Men's Round 15

The Sunshine Coast Phoenix still have one last chance to try and book in an NBL1 North Men's playoff spot despite losing on Saturday night while USC Rip City kept their hopes alive of a top two finish with both the top two teams losing.

It was the last Saturday night of the regular season in the NBL1 North and there were some fascinating results across the board including the top two teams, the Gold Coast Rollers and Mackay Meteors, losing which left the door slightly ajar for USC Rip City if they can win on Sunday.

However, they are playing a Northside Wizards team now loaded up with talent and who also need to win that game to make the playoffs and hold out the Sunshine Coast Phoenix with the Logan Thunder also needing a Sunday win over Red City Roar.

The last round of the NBL1 North regular season began on Friday night with the Gold Coast Rollers turning it on to beat the Red City Roar 120-82 and the Rockhampton Cyclones holding on in a thriller 99-96 against the Darwin Salties.

Then on Saturday night, the loaded up Northside Wizards continued their playoff charge with another scintillating performance full of highlights to beat the Brisbane Capitals 101-77.

Lual Diing delivered 25 points and 15 rebounds for the Wizards with Keanu Pinder adding 17 points and 20 boards. Lachlan Dent finished with 27 points and five three-pointers for Brisbane.

USC Rip City kept their top two prospects alive and put a big dent in the top eight hopes of the Sunshine Coast Phoenix with an 87-75 win on Saturday night.

Kouat Noi produced 30 points and 12 rebounds in the win for Rip City while Mason Bragg finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

The Cairns Marlins locked away their top four finish with a thumping 116-68 victory at home against the Townsville Heat to close the regular season.

Ben Ayre put up 28 points and seven assists for Cairns, Lat Mayen 24 points and Kody Stattmann 21. Harry Pennisi finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for Townsville.

It was quite the spectacle between the Ipswich Force and Gold Coast Rollers with Ipswich ending up prevailing 118-113 to confirm their hold on fifth position.

Majok Deng produced a stunning performance for Ipswich with the Cairns Taipans star delivering 44 points and 14 rebounds. Isaac White added 29 points and 10 rebounds, and Henry Pwono 22 points.

Donovan Mitchell delivered 31 points and 11 rebounds for Gold Coast while Jason Cadee put up 39 points with six three-pointers.

Logan Thunder strengthened their hold on a playoff position by delivering an offensive onslaught at home to beat the South West Metro Pirates 125-91.

Jeremy Kendle shone for Logan once more with 39 points on 15/18 shooting with Boston Mazlin adding 22 points. Zac Carter top-scored for the Pirates with 22 points and nine rebounds.

The Darwin Salties confirmed their place in the playoffs in their inaugural NBL1 North season beating the Mackay Meteors 93-63 on Saturday night.

Makuach Maluach had 33 points for Darwin, Josh Spiers 25, Jerron Jamerson 15 and Deng Riak 14. Kyrin Galloway had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Meteors.

The Southern Districts Spartans scored their fifth win of the season beating the North Gold Coast Seahawks 106-91.

Jalen Canty put up 30 points for Southern Districts and Kobe McDowell-White 23. Lachlan Wood top-scored for the Seahawks with 18 points.

The regular season in the NBL1 North will now wrap up on Sunday with the South West Metro Pirates playing the Sunshine Coast Phoenix, Red City Roar playing Logan Thunder and USC Rip City taking on the Northside Wizards.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 15 – SATURDAY NIGHT

BRISBANE CAPITALS 77 lost to NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 101

The Northside Wizards continued their dazzling form to close the NBL1 North season with a loaded squad with a 24-point win on the road to the Brisbane Capitals on Saturday night.

Since welcoming back Mitch McCarron and Keanu Pinder from winning gold for Australia at the FIBA Asia Cup, the Wizards have played some scintillating basketball and as a result of Saturday's win they are just about guaranteed of playoff action.

While the Wizards do still need to either beat USC Rip City or hope that the Sunshine Coast Phoenix lose to the South West Metro Pirates on Sunday to close the regular season, they are in some dazzling form and would be a scary playoff match up should they make it.

Brisbane played host to Northside at Auchenflower Stadium on Saturday night with both teams looking for their 10th wins of the season.

It was Brisbane who got the better of the start racing out to a 10-point lead and still being on top 22-18 by quarter-time, but then the Wizards started to get going.

Northside put up 25 points to 17 in the second term to go into half-time leading 43-39 before putting together another exciting second half beginning with 33 points to 19 in the third quarter.

That saw them score 11 consecutive points and lead by as much as 22 before ending up winning 101-77.

The result improves the Wizards to a 10-8 record before playing USC Rip City on the road on Sunday to close the regular season while the Capitals finish their season at 9-10.

There were plenty of rebounds to go around with the Wizards collecting 68 of them to 50 from the Capitals while Northside got to the foul line 29 times to 12 for the game.

Lual Diing had a spectacular performance for the Wizards made up of 25 points and 15 rebounds with Keanu Pinder adding 17 points, 20 rebounds and three assists.

Anthony Drmic also had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, DeShawn Ross-Paiwan 15 points and four assists, Kevin White nine points, three rebounds and three assists, and Mitch McCarron seven points, eight boards and eight assists.

 

USC RIP CITY 87 defeated SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 75

USC Rip City kept hold of third position in the NBL1 North by beating the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on their home floor by 12 points on Saturday night.

USC were at home to Sunshine Coast at USC Sports Stadium to start their double-header to close the regular season needing to keep winning to guarantee a top four spot while the Phoenix needed two Round 17 wins if they wanted to play finals.

It was the Phoenix holding a 23-21 lead by quarter-time before Rip City worked their way on top in the second term with 23 points to 13 to go into half-time leading 44-36.

Rip City kept that momentum going in the third quarter ending up completing a 12-0 run to lead by 16 points. That would prove a match-winning advantage and they went on to win 87-75.

The result means that USC improve to 13-5 on the season before taking on the Northside Wizards on Sunday while it was a tough loss for Sunshine Coast who are now 9-9. They will need a lot to fall their way to reach the finals even with a win over the South West Metro Pirates on Sunday.

Sydney Kings NBL signing Kouat Noi had a big night for Rip City finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals while shooting 13/24 from the floor.

Isaih Tueta added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Rip City, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk 15 points, Verle Williams eight points and five assists, and Eric McAlister eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Mason Bragg delivered 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Sunshine Coast with Oscar Cluff contributing 16 points, seven boards and three blocks, Justin Aver 13 points, four rebounds and four assists, Nelson Kahler 12 points and seven boards, and Jamaal Robateau 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.

 

CAIRNS MARLINS 116 defeated TOWNSVILLE HEAT 68

The Cairns Marlins unleashed their considerable firepower to give the Townsville Heat a round end to the season as they run out 48-point winners on Saturday night.

The Marlins are gearing up for their finals assault and ensured they enter with plenty of momentum after the thumping win against Townsville at Early Settler Stadium.

Cairns opened up a seven-point lead by the end of the opening quarter and while they pushed that lead out to 11 by half-time, Townsville had kept themselves in touch.

That wouldn’t last much longer with the Marlins scoring 11 straight points to end up leading by as much as 32 points in the third quarter.

Cairns then put up 37 points to 21 in the fourth term to end up winning 116-68 to finish the regular season with a 12-7 record in fourth position. Townsville's round 2022 comes to an end with a 6-13 record.

The Marlins got on a roll from beyond the arc hitting 18/42 three-pointers for the night at 42.9 per cent along with shooting 55.1 per cent overall opposed to 31.9 from the Heat.

Ben Ayre is gearing up for his first full NBL season at the Taipans and put up another 28 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Marlins while connecting on 7/12 from three-point land.

Lat Mayen added 24 points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks, Kody Stattmann 21 points and five boards, Mirko Djeric 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Sam Ellis 10 points and five boards.

Harry Pennisi closed the season for Townsville with 20 points and 11 rebounds with Richard Peachey contributing 17 points on 3/5 shooting from long-range.

 

IPSWICH FORCE 118 defeated GOLD COAST ROLLERS 113

Ipswich and Gold Coast put on quite the show on Saturday night and it was the Force who prevailed by five points on their home floor.

It was the last game of the regular season for both teams who are gearing up for playoff runs with star-studded squads, and that set the stage for quite the tantalising match up at JBS Stadium.

The two teams combined for 59 points in the first quarter to set the tone for the rest of the evening with Gold Coast leading 31-28.

It was then 27 points apiece in the second quarter and even though the Rollers led at one stage by 11 points, Ipswich went on a 10-0 run to close the gap with Gold Coast only leading narrowly 58-55 at the main break.

Ipswich then really caught fire in front of their vocal home crowd in the third quarter going on a 14-0 run to end up leading by as much as 13 points and to end up outscoring the Rollers 36 to 23.

That saw the Force lead 91-81 by three quarter-time and they would go on to score the 118-113 in what was quite the spectacle of a match up.

It was quite the offensive showcase from both teams with Ipswich ending up shooting at 55.4 per cent from the field and 16/35 at 45.7 per cent from three-point land. Gold Coast went at 51.8 per cent overall while hitting 18/45 at 40.0 per cent from downtown.

Cairns Taipans forward Majok Deng had the night of his season for Ipswich finishing with 44 points, 4 rebounds and three assists on shooting 15/21 from the floor, 4/7 from long-range and 10/12 from the foul line.

Isaac White has signed on as an injury replacement at the Tasmania JackJumpers and he scored 29 points to go with 10 rebounds and six assists while hitting 6/12 from deep.

Henry Pwono added 22 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Jason Ralph 14 points and nine assists.

Jason Cadee had another night out for Gold Coast with 39 points and nine assists on the back of 6/10 shooting from the land of plenty.

Donovan Mitchell added 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Tanner Krebs 25 points and five boards, and Preston Le Gassick nine points and three assists.

 

LOGAN THUNDER 125 defeated SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 91

Logan Thunder delivered an emphatic performance once again led by Jeremy Kendle to strengthen their hold on a playoff spot in the NBL1 North beating the South West Metro Pirates by 34 points.

The Thunder needed to win both their Round 17 NBL1 North matches this weekend to lock away a finals position for sure and that got off to the perfect start against South West at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre.

South West made a game of it in the first half and it was an entertaining affair with Logan leading 28-26 by the end of the first quarter, and then after the Pirates put up 31 points in the second term, the Thunder were clinging to a 58-57 half-time edge.

Logan then turned it on in the third quarter by putting up 31 points to 21 to end up leading by 11. Then it was a scorching fourth term as the home team piled on 36 points to 13 to end up winning 125-91.

The result improves the Thunder to a 10-8 record on the season with a game to go on Sunday away to Red City Roar to officially confirm their playoff spot.

The Pirates end their rough season currently at 4-14 with a home game to finish against the Sunshine Coast Phoenix.

It was quite the shooting display from Logan who went at 61.5 per cent from the field along with hitting 16/28 from three-point range at 57.1 per cent.

Jeremy Kendle was remarkable with 39 points, six assists and five rebounds while going at 15/18 from the floor and 5/6 from three-point territory.

Boston Mazlin added 22 points and six assists, Rasmus Bach 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, Mitch Young 13 points, five boards and three blocks, and Tom Howard 11 points and four rebounds.

Zac Carter top-scored for South West with 22 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists with Taylor Young adding 16 points and four boards, Brendan Teys 16 points, three rebounds and three steals, and Jakobe Hunter 15 points.

 

MACKAY METEORS 63 lost to DARWIN SALTIES 93

The Darwin Salties confirmed their playoff place in their inaugural NBL1 North season beating the second placed Mackay Meteors on the road on Saturday night.

The Salties put themselves in slight jeopardy of missing out altogether on the playoffs after losing on Friday night away to the Rockhampton Rockets as they took on the Meteors at Mackay Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.

Darwin knew what was at stake and as a result got off to a flying start against their higher-ranked opponent with 32 points to 17 in the first quarter including going on an 11-0 run to lead at one stage by as much as 22 points.

That saw the Salties still leading 52-37 by half-time before then pushing the lead back out to 20 points in the third quarter, and 30 in the fourth before winning 93-63.

As a result of the win the Salties finish the regular season with an 11-8 record to be in sixth spot before Sunday's results come in while the Meteors remain second at 14-5 and will hope to not be leapfrogged by USC Rip City on Sunday.

Melbourne United signing Makuach Maluach was superb for Darwin in the win with 33 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Josh Spiers added 25 points on 5/9 shooting from downtown with Jerron Jamerson contributing 15 points and nine rebounds, Deng Riak 14 points and nine boards, and Tad Dufelmeier 13 points, eight assists and three steals despite just three points on 1/8 shooting.

Kyrin Galloway finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Mackay with Jaylin Galloway adding 12 points, and Biwali Bayles 11 points, seven boards, three assists and three steals.

 

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 106 defeated NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 91

The Southern Districts Spartans ended their NBL1 North season on a positive not beating the North Gold Coast Seahawks at home on Saturday night.

Both teams are out of playoff contention and were playing their last game of the season on Saturday night at Rowland Cowan Stadium.

It was an exciting opening to the game with Southern Districts leading 26-25 by the end of the first quarter before the Spartans began to pull away with 35 points to 28 in the second term to lead 61-53 at the long break.

From there, the Spartans scored another 25 points to 15 in the third quarter, and they went on to close their season with the 106-91 victory.

Southern Districts end the season with a 5-14 record while North Gold Coast end up at 5-14 as well.

Kobe McDowell-White put up 23 points and eight assists for Southern Districts with Jalen Canty brilliant with 30 points, nine boards and four assists on 14/18 shooting.

Ngor Nai added 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and Jacob Allen 13 points and four boards. Chris Cedar also had eight points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Lachlan Wood put up 18 points, six rebounds and three assists for North Gold Coast, David Gurney 16 points and five boards, Darcy Pares 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, Mackenzie Hall 13 points, six boards and five assists, and Lloyd McVeigh 12 points and nine rebounds.