NBL1 South Recap | Saturday Men's Round 7

Sydney Kings NBL champion DJ Vasiljevic was among those to impress in wins for their teams in Round 7 of the NBL1 South Men's competition on Saturday along with Jalon Miller, Michael Harris, Malcolm Bernard, Alex Robinson, Jacob Lampkin and Mangok Mathiang.

There were Saturday night wins for the Ballarat Miners, Bendigo Braves, Knox Raiders, Diamond Valley Eagles, Keilor Thunder, Casey Cavaliers and Mount Gambier Pioneers.

Round 7 in the NBL1 South Men's competition got underway on Friday night with the Hobart Chargers beating the Casey Cavaliers in a thriller 82-79 on their home floor.

The Saturday night action began at The Arena with the Ballarat Miners impressive in a 78-63 win against the Geelong Supercats.

Jalon Miller put up 23 points for the Miners while last year's NBL1 West MVP Nic Pozoglou had 12 points, nine rebounds and seven steals. Gabe Hadley top-scored for Geelong with 17 points along with nine rebounds.

The Mount Gambier piled on 68 points across the second and third quarters to set up their 109-91 road win against the Frankston Blues.

Michael Harris was terrific for Mt Gambier with 34 points on 7/13 shooting from downtown with Tom Kubank adding 22 points and Nick Marshall 19. Lachlan Barker scored 33 points for Frankston.

The Bendigo Braves produced what was likely their best performance of the 2022 season to beat the Ringwood Hawks 90-73 at home.

Malcolm Bernard delivered 22 points and eight rebounds for Bendigo and Jake Lloyd 19 points with Shaun Clarke contributing 19 points for Ringwood and Kyle Daggett 18.

The Knox Raiders proved too good on their home floor beating the Nunawading Spectres 92-67.

Alex Robinson led the charge for the Raiders with 26 points and three triples with four other players all scoring in double-digits. Dain Swetalla top-scored for Nunawading with 16 points.

The Diamond Valley Eagles were big winners 89-66 against the Kilsyth Cobras on the back of 21 points from Sydney Kings NBL championship winner DJ Vasiljevic.

Dane Pineau added 21 points and 11 rebounds while Adrian Tomada put up 19 points for Kilsyth.

It was a tight affair at Keilor Stadium with the home team Keilor Thunder defeating the Melbourne Tigers 66-62.

Jacob Lampkin finished with 20 points and 18 rebounds in a huge performance for Keilor with Taj Chehhal top-scoring for the Tigers with 18 points.

The final game of the evening took place in Ulverstone with the Casey Cavaliers impressing on the road beating the North West Tasmania Thunder 102-71.

Mangok Mathiang led the charge for Casey with 29 points and eight rebounds with Matt Donlan scoring 23 points and Davo Hickey 21 along with 12 rebounds and eight assists. Sean Macdonald delivered 25 points for North West Tasmania.

The Round 7 NBL1 South Men's action will now wrap up on Sunday with the Kilsyth Cobras taking on the Sandringham Sabres from 2pm along with the Ringwood Hawks playing the Eltham Wildcats.

Then at 2.30pm, the Nunawading Spectres are at home to the Mount Gambier Pioneers and the Waverley Falcons will be hosting the Knox Raiders.

The Dandenong Rangers will then be playing host to the Frankston Blues at 4pm at Dandenong Basketball Stadium.

NBL1 SOUTH – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – SATURDAY NIGHT

GEELONG SUPERCATS 63 lost to BALLARAT MINERS 78

The Ballarat Miners inflicted another blow on the Geelong Supercats with an impressive 15-point road win in the NBL1 South Men's competition on Saturday night.

The Supercats were back home at The Arena to try and bounce back from last week's loss at home to the Frankston Blues, and they were able to start well to lead the Miners 17-12 by the end of the first quarter.

Ballarat were able to turn things around in the second quarter scoring 10 straight points and that helped them turnaround an 11-point deficit to head into the half-time break leading 32-30.

The Miners then continued on with that momentum in stunning fashion in the third quarter going on a 16-0 run which saw their lead balloon to 17 points, and they would end up winning the game 78-63.

The result improves Ballarat to a 7-3 record on the season while the loss sees Geelong slip to 6-3.

The shooting was the major difference between the two teams with Ballarat ending up going 45.8 per cent from the floor including 9/22 at 40.9 per cent from three-point range. Geelong went 32/3 per cent from the field and 27.8 per cent from downtown.

Jalon Miller delivered 23 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists for Ballarat with Koen Sapwell contributing 15 points, four rebounds and four assists, Nic Pozoglou 12 points, nine boards, four blocks and three assists.

Preston Bungei also had 10 points and four rebounds for the Miners, Deng Gak eight points and six boards, and Will Hynes six points and five assists.

Gabe Hadley continued his good form for Geelong with another 17 points and nine rebounds with Jack White adding 15 points and 11 boards, and Isaac Turner 11 points.

 

BENDIGO BRAVES 90 defeated RINGWOOD HAWKS 73

The Bendigo Braves produced an impressive performance on their home court to beat the Ringwood Hawks on Saturday night.

Bendigo hosted Ringwood at Bendigo Stadium and the Braves started well to lead by as much as seven points in the opening quarter and still leading 22-19 by the end of the first period.

It was still a close game, though, by half-time with Bendigo just clinging to a 42-41 advantage.

Ringwood was even briefly able to take the lead during the third quarter, but it wouldn’t last with Bendigo ending up scoring 24 points to 14 in the third period to go into three quarter-time leading 66-55.

The Braves then closed the deal with another 24 points to 18 in the fourth term to go on to win 90-73 and improve to 3-6 on the season while the loss sees the Hawks slip to 4-5.

Malcolm Bernard was impressive for Bendigo to finish with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists on 9/18 shooting from the floor.

Jake Lloyd added 19 points, three boards and three assists for the Braves, Kuany Kuany 15 points and five rebounds, Luke Rosendale 14 points, and Sidy Djitte 12 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

Shaun Clarke top-scored for Ringwood with 19 points and six rebounds with Kyle Daggett contributing 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Tim Guers 13 points, eight boards and three assists, and Emmett Naar 10 points, five assists and four rebounds.

 

KNOX RAIDERS 92 defeated NUNAWADING SPECTRES 67

The Knox Raiders delivered an emphatic performance after quarter-time to produce a big win at home to the Nunawading Spectres on Saturday night.

The Raiders were at home to the Spectres at the State Basketball Centre and it was a tight opening to the contest. Both teams held four-point leads in the first quarter with Nunawading on top 23-21 by quarter-time.

Knox was able to take over the rest of the way, though, including scoring 13 consecutive points during the second period to end up leading 50-41 by the half-time break.

It was more of the same in the second half with the Raiders going on a 15-0 run in the third period to lead by as much as 19 points.

The lead grew to as much as 31 in the fourth period before the Raiders went on to win the game 92-67 and improve to 5-5 on the season while the Spectres are now 5-4 following the defeat.

It was a brilliant shooting night from the Raiders as they went 56.1 per cent from the floor opposed to 36.8 per cent from the Spectres.

Alex Robinson led the charge once again for Knox finishing the evening with 26 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds while knocking down 3/5 from the land of plenty.

Deng Acouth added 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Knox, Bailey Nunn 11 points on 2/2 from deep, Abraham Nyok 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Mason Peatling 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Dain Swetalla put up 16 points and four rebounds for Nunawading, CJ Asuncion-Byrd 12 points and four boards, Jack Gandolfo eight points, and Jordan Geer eight points and three rebounds.

 

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 89 defeated KILSYTH COBRAS 66

The Diamond Valley Eagles took over after quarter-time to end up beating the Kilsyth Cobras by 23 points at home on Saturday night.

The Eagles were at home at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre but it was the Cobras who started the better away from home to lead 19-15 by quarter-time, but Diamond Valley took over from there.

The Eagles went on a 13-0 scoring run during the second quarter to turn the tide and end up leading 40-34 by half-time.

It was another 10-0 streak during the third quarter that saw the Eagles extend their lead to 18 points. It grew to 24 points during the fourth term before the home team went on to win 89-66.

The win improves Diamond Valley to a 5-4 record on the season while the loss sees Kilsyth slip to 6-4.

It was a dominant performance on the glass from the Eagles as they raked in 53 rebounds to 34 including 17 at the offensive end to five. They also forced the Cobras into 18 turnovers and that helped the home team take 21 extra field goals for the night.

Fresh off winning an NBL championship at the Sydney Kings, DJ Vasiljevic delivered 21 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals for Diamond Valley while knocking down 4/12 from three-point range.

South East Melbourne Phoenix centre Dane Pineau added 21 points and 11 rebounds with Ngor Manyang contributing 17 points, six boards, three assists and three steals. 

Ben Allen also had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Ryan Bowkett seven points.

Adrian Tomada top scored for Kilsyth with 19 points along with six rebounds and three steals with Deng Deng contributing 12 points and eight boards, Mitch Dielemans 10 points, and Hamish MacDonald nine points.

 

KEILOR THUNDER 66 defeated MELBOURNE TIGERS 62

The Keilor Thunder prevailed by four points in a tight affair at home to the Melbourne Tigers on Saturday night.

The Thunder hosted the Tigers at Keilor Stadium and it was a contest where precious little separated the two teams all evening.

No more than eight points ever separated the two teams and scores were all tied at 14-14 by the end of the opening quarter.

A 7-0 run from the Tigers during the second term helped the visitors to open up a 32-28 lead by half-time, but Keilor was able to score nine consecutive points during the third period to turn things around.

That's when the Thunder led by a game high eight points but their advantage was whittled away and scores were level again at three quarter-time.

In the end it was the Thunder who outscored the Tigers 18 points to 14 in the fourth term to secure the 66-62 victory to improve to 2-8 on the season while the loss leaves Melbourne at 2-7.

Jacob Lampkin top-scored for Keilor in the win with 20 points, 189 rebounds and three assists on 7/12 shooting from the field.

Tyler Kid added 15 points and five assists, Kian Dennis 15 points, and Broden Collins five points and five rebounds.

Taj Chehhal top-scored for the Andrew Gaze coached Tigers with 18 points including going 4/11 from downtown. Simon Bradbury added 10 points and 10 rebounds, Mason Gaze nine points, Michael Wearne seven points, and Dogukan Elyazar seven points.

 

NORTH WEST TASMANIA THUNDER 71 lost to CASEY CAVALIERS 102

The Casey Cavaliers bounced back from a Friday night loss in Tasmania to beat the North West Tasmania Thunder on the road on Saturday night.

The Cavs began their double-header road trip to Tasmania with a Friday night loss to the Hobart Chargers before taking on the Thunder at Ulverstone Sports and Leisure Centre on Saturday night.

It didn’t take the Cavaliers to stamp their authority on the contest leading 27-14 by quarter-time to set the tone for the rest of the evening.

It was another 25 points to 14 in the second quarter which saw Casey end up leading 52-28 by the half-time break.

While the Thunder were able to build some momentum during the third quarter with 26 points to 13, Casey took back over in the last term with another 37 points to 17 to end up winning 102-71.

The victory improves the Cavaliers to a 3-7 record on the season while North West slips to 4-4 as a result of the defeat.

Mangok Mathiang was tremendous for the Cavaliers with 29 points, eight rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 12/18 from the field, 2/2 from three-point range and 3/4 at the foul line.

Matt Donlan also put up 23 points and three rebounds, Davo Hickey 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Jordan Bell 12 points, 11 boards and six assists.

Tasmania JackJumpers guard Sean Macdonald finished with 25 points and four rebounds on 5/8 shooting from deep for North West Tasmania.

Isaac Atuer added 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, Angok Anyang 10 points and six boards, Ben Woolley seven points, six rebounds and three steals, and Sejr Deans seven points.

 

FRANKSTON BLUES 91 lost to MOUNT GAMBIER PIONEERS 109

The Mount Gambier delivered dominant second and third quarters on the way to an impressive road win against the Frankston Blues on Saturday night.

The Blues were at home at Frankston Basketball Stadium and started impressively going on a run of nine straight points to lead by as much as five, but the Pioneers soon worked their way on top to lead 25-20 by quarter-time.

Mount Gambier pulled away further in the second quarter going on to score eight consecutive points to end up leading by as much as 19 points to head into the half-time break leading 60-46.

The Pioneers pulled away further with 33 points in the third period to lead by as much as 24 points, and that lead grew to 26 in the fourth term before they went on to win 109-91.

The victory improves Mount Gambier to an 8-1 record on the season to maintain top spot with Frankston slipping to 6-2 as a result of suffering just their second loss of 2022.

Despite the result, Frankston collected 55 rebounds to 43 for the night including 16 offensive boards to eight. However, the Pioneers knocked down 17/36 from three-point territory to 9/27 and overall shot 48.9 per cent from the field compared to 40.2 per cent from Frankston.

Michael Harris was outstanding for Mount Gambier delivering 34 points on the back of hitting 7/13 from three-point land.

Tom Kubank added 22 points and seven rebounds, Nick Marshall 19 points, six boards, five assists and four steals, Tom Daly 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Clevon Brown 12 points, five boards, three blocked shots and two assists.

Lachlan Barker continues to build on the momentum he gained from showing he could play in the NBL this past season with the South East Melbourne Phoenix. He produced 33 points and seven rebounds while hitting 5/9 from beyond the arc.

Daniel Trist added 12 points and 12 rebounds for Frankston, Dillon Stith 11 points, 13 boards and three blocked shots, and Igor Hadziomerovic seven points, three rebounds and three assists.