Sandringham Sabres Mens Final’s Preview

Saturday, the 20^th of July @7pm: Mount Gambier Pioneers v Sandringham Sabres at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre, Mount Gambier.  

The NBL1 South Conference finals officially kick off this Saturday night, with the Sabres men to do battle with the minor premiers in the Mount Gambier Pioneers away from home. In a 1^st versus 4^th battle, whoever comes out on top of this will go straight through to a Preliminary Final and put themselves in the box seat for a Championship title.

The Sabres season started shaky after a Grand Final appearance last season, losing their first three games. However, after important inclusions into the side headlined by Melbourne United duo Shea Ili and Tanner Krebs, the boys found their mojo. They went on to win 15 of their last 19 games to charge into the finals and give themselves a good shot.

What makes Sandringham so hard to play is their range of scorers and quick and precise ball movement. Krebs has led the team this season averaging 21.6 points per game, but Ili (16.7 points), captain Campbell Blogg (13.1 points), Tom Koppens (12.9 points), C.J Asuncion-Byrd (12 points) as well as young gun Joel Foxwell (11 points), are all capable of destroying the opposition.

For the Mount Gambier boys, they have been formidable all season long, winning 17 of their 22 games and often posting massive scores while being stingy on defence. They are also stacked with talent, containing several NBL players in their squad. Adelaide 36ers guard Nick Marshall has lit up the NBL1 season, averaging 23.7 points per game. New Melbourne United Development Player Akech Aliir has also been dominant, averaging 18.8 points and 10.2 rebounds and often monstering opposition defenders.

Austin Shelley (12.9 points), Christian Peevy (11.7 points) and Titus Robinson (11.1 points) will also be players that the Sabres must keep in check if they are to come away with a victory.

The last time they met:

Mount Gambier def Sandringham 97-79

The two sides have only met once this season all the way back in April, with Mount Gambier prevailing by 18 points at the Sabre dome in a heated and fiery contest. That day Aliir (22 points and 9 rebounds) and Marshall (20 points and 10 rebounds) proved very hard to stop. For the Sabres Blogg and Koppens scored 19 and 18 points respectively to give their team some hope.

With quality additions to the Sandringham Sabres team since their last meeting, who will move onto the Preliminary Final?

Get to the Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre in Mount Gambier for a 7:30pm start, or if you can’t make it to the game, it will be available to watch on the NBL1 website and Kayo Freebies.

For all the Sabres fans out there, the game will also be live streamed up on the big screen at the Sabre dome, following the girl’s final against Waverley.

Written by: Connor Burns | Back Pocket Banter