NBL Abroad: 36ers Stars Meet in Israel

Just because the NBL is in its off-season, it doesn't mean the best players in the league are resting on their laurels and taking a break.

Stars of the Australian domestic competition are now competing all over the globe and getting important reps in ahead of NBL24.

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It was a case of friends turned foes in Israel this past week, as Adelaide’s Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks locked horns in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

It was Cleveland’s Hapoel Eilat who emerged the victors, despite Franks’ best efforts. The former Brisbane Bullets led all scorers in the game with 24 points, while Cleveland contributed 15 points and four assists to the six-point win.

Currently unsigned Illawarra favourite Mangok Mathiang finished the game with an 11-point, 12 rebound double-double alongside Cleveland in the win.

Cleveland topped off his strong week on the court by emerging victorious in the competition’s Slam Dunk Contest – the first to be held since 2020.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Take a look at <a href="https://twitter.com/ac_uno1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ac_uno1</a> soaring to win the Slam Dunk contest over the weekend!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreSixers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreSixers</a> <a href="https://t.co/PrTEtspsyp">pic.twitter.com/PrTEtspsyp</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1650401690766438400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

South East Melbourne’s Alan Williams continues to dominate in Japan, and after a pair of strong performances against Shimane SM and FE Nagoya, he exploded for 20 points and 19 rebounds in his third game of the week.

He fouled out in his second game of the week in just 11 minutes, but still managed to add 11 points en route to a win for the Dolphins.

Mitch Creek’s Mets de Guaynabo has continued its immense turnaround of form, and after the week’s results has now won its last five games, after starting the season with a disappointing 1-8 record.

Creek’s best performance of the trio of games came in the 26-point dismantling of Santurce. The Phoenix forward finished with 33 points and nine rebounds in the win, while NBL23 import pair Tim Soares and Gary Browne scored 15 points and had nine assists respectively.

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He followed that up with 15 points against the Tyreke Evans-led Mayaguez.

After a season-best performance in which he earned man of the match honours last week, Sam Waardenburg came crashing back down to earth by scoring seven points in just 11 minutes of action.

This game followed a breakout 19 points in 27 minutes against Goettingen.

Despite his lack of court time, Waardenburg’s contributions proved crucial as Ludwigsburg registered a three-point win over Wuerzburg.

New Melbourne signing Jo Lual-Acuil Jr is yet to take to the court of new side Dynamo Lebanon as they continue to attack the playoffs, but his inclusion into the lineup could be a welcome boost, after the side fell to former Illawarra centre Duop Reath’s Al Riyadi Beirut side in its last game.

Chris Goulding was absent for Paris Basketball’s EuroCup quarter final loss to Spain’s Gran Canaria, in which the French side suffered a 30-point loss.

Antonius Cleveland (Hapoel BC Eilat – Israeli Basketball Premier League, Israel)
vs Hapoel Gilboa Galil – 15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists

Robert Franks (Hapoel Gilboa Galil (Isreali Basketball Premier League, Israel)
vs Hapoel Eilat – 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists

DJ Mitchell (Wroclaw Slask – Polish Basketball League, Poland)
vs Stal – 4 points, 4 rebounds

Sam Waardenburg (Riesen Ludwigsburg – Basketball Bundesliga, Germany)
vs Wuerzburg – 7 points, 2 rebounds

Sam Froling (Lavanga Hokkaido – B. League, Japan)
vs Tochigi Brex – 2 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists
vs Ibaraki R – 2 points, 7 rebounds
vs Ibaraki R – 2 points, 3 rebounds

Chris Goulding (Paris Basketball – LNB Pro A, France)
DNP

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr – Dynamo Lebanon (Lebanese Division A, Lebanon)
DNP

Keanu Pinder (Baloncesto Fuenlabrada – Liga ACB, Spain)
vs Real Betis – 9 points, 4 rebounds

Alan Williams (Nagoya Dolphins – B. League, Japan)
vs Shimane SM – 14 points, 8 rebounds
vs FE Nagoya – 11 points, 5 rebounds
vs FE Nagoya – 20 points, 19 rebounds

Mitch Creek (Mets de Guaynabo – Baloncesto Superior Nacional, Puerto Rico)
vs Mayaguez – 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
vs Santurce – 33 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals
vs Manati – 23 points, 9 rebounds

Jack McVeigh (Heidelberg – Basketball Bundesliga/FIBA Euro Cup, Germany)
vs Hamburg – 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
vs Bonn – 13 points, 7 rebounds

Will Magnay (Obradoiro CAB – Liga ACB, Spain)
vs Baskonia – 5 points, 3 rebounds
vs Real Betis – 1 point, 1 rebound