North Recap | Round 12 Friday

Image credit: Judd Green

Logan Thunder women made it 12 straight NBL1 North wins with Mikhaela Cann and Leah Scott combining for 50 points on Friday night before Sam McDaniel lifted Brisbane Capitals to bounce back win to open Round 12.

NORTH RECAP | ROUND 11 SUNDAY

WOMEN

Brisbane Capitals (75) lost to Logan Thunder (79)

Logan Thunder made it 12 straight wins to maintain top spot in the NBL1 North with Mikhaela Cann and Leah Scott combining for 50 points in the 79-75 win over the Brisbane Capitals.

The Caps were back home at Auchenflower Stadium trying to snap a four-game losing slide but with Miela Sowah still away with the Australian Opals at the FIBA Asia Cup, it was going to be anything but easy.

Logan arrived having won their past 11 matches to be sitting on top of the NBL1 North and the Thunder went on an 11-0 scoring run in the first term to be leading 27-19 by quarter-time.

It was another 20 points to 14 in the second frame for the Thunder as they improved out to a 47-33 lead by the half-time interval.

Brisbane fired back with an 8-0 run in the third period on the way to outscoring the Caps 28 points to 18 to cut the Logan lead all the way back to 65-61.

The Caps even managed to grab the lead early in the final term with a couple of free throws to Grace Ellis but Mikhaela Cann responded with a three-point play for Logan.

Scores were still tied with 2:45 to play before Kendell Heremaia knocked down a three-pointer for Logan and Leah Scott knocked down a jumper too, and from there Logan scored the four-point victory.

The Thunder now improve to a 12-1 record with the 12 straight wins and just one game left in their season next Saturday against the South West Metro Pirates.

Mikhaela Cann ended up with 27 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks for Logan with Leah Scott adding 23 points, nine boards, two assists and two steals, Amandine Toi 12 points, five assists and four rebounds, and Kendell Heremaia 11 points, seven boards and five steals.

Brisbane have now lost their past five matches to sit on a 3-9 record ahead of being away to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on Saturday night.

Grace Ellis ended up with 26 points and nine rebounds for the Capitals with Ashley Arlen contributing 17 points, 11 boards and seven assists, Tyla Stolberg 10 points and four rebounds, and Jessia Reif six points, 10 assists, five boards and two steals.

BRISBANE CAPITALS 75 (Ellis 26, Arlen 17, Stolberg 10)

LOGAN THUNDER 79 (Cann 27, Scott 23, Toi 12)

MEN

Brisbane Capitals (109) defeated Logan Thunder (100)

The Brisbane Capitals bounced back from a pair of losses to stay second in the NBL1 North with reigning MVP Sam McDaniel dominant with 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the 109-100 win over Logan Thunder.

The Capitals were back home at Auchenflower Stadium having lost their past two matches to the Ipswich Force and Gold Coast Rollers but still remaining in second spot coming into the clash with Logan.

The Thunder arrived also having lost their last three matches but with playoffs still not out of reach should they win their last two matches and hope other results fall their way.

It was a scorching opening from both teams as they combined for 67 points with Logan ending up leading 34-33 by quarter-time with them combining to shoot 26/39 from the field with 6/9 from downtown.

It was Logan who managed to open up an eight-point lead in the second term but by the half-time break their advantage was back to just 58-53.

It was another high scoring and tight affair in the third period with 27 points to Logan and 26 to Brisbane with the Thunder still clinging to the six-point lead by three quarter-time.

But in the fourth quarter Brisbane took control desperate to avoid the third consecutive loss and they delivered 30 points to 15 on the back of shooting 9/14 from the field and 10/16 at the foul line opposed to 6/20 and 2/3 from Logan in the last 10 minutes.

That saw the Capitals end up scoring the nine-point victory with 55 per cent shooting to 54 while hitting 13/30 from downtown to 8/27, and 16/27 from the foul line to 14/16.

Brisbane also only had four turnovers for the night to help them win the possession game as they improved to an 8-4 record with two games in their season to go on Saturday away to the Sunshine Coast Phoenix, and then next Saturday at home to the Northside Wizards.

Sam McDaniel is gearing up to make up for missing all but one game of the last NBL season back with the Brisbane Bullets and he delivered 35 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals for the Capitals with 15/24 shooting from the floor.

Uche Dibiamaka added 23 points, five assists and three rebounds with 6/8 three-point shooting while Geordan Papacostas contributed 13 points, five boards and three assists, and Matthew Johns 10 points, six assists and four rebounds.

Logan have now lost four straight matches to be 5-8 on the season and to see their playoff hopes dashed with one game only left next Saturday against the South West Metro Pirates.

Callum Dalton put up 30 points and five rebounds with 12/15 shooting from the field for Logan with Zac Triplett contributing 24 points, six boards and three assists on 10/19 field goal shooting.

Matt Kenyon also finished with 14 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds with Tyrone Fui adding nine points and two assists, Elijah Puna seven points and five boards, and Tom Howard six points, nine rebounds and two assists.

BRISBANE CAPITALS 109 (McDaniel 35, Dibiamaka 23, Papacostas 13)

LOGAN THUNDER 100 (Dalton 30, Triplett 24, Kenyon 14)