NBL Abroad: Webster Tastes Title Success

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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Perth guard Corey Webster will return to the Wildcats having tasted championship success with Al Ahly in the Basketball Africa League.

Webster and his Egypt-based side defeated Senegalese giants AS Douane in the single game grand final by a comfortable 15 points.

Webster was a strong contributor with 13 points and four rebounds in the victory, but it was South Sudanese star Nuni Omot who proved to be the difference-maker, alongside the Kiwi guard.

Omot – who will likely link up with a raft of NBL talent at the upcoming FIBA World Cup – ended the game with 22 points.

Across his eight games for Al Ahly, Webster averaged over 10 points, three rebounds and three assists per game.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations to Corey Webster &amp; Al Ahly Basketball! <br><br>2023 BAL Champions! ? <a href="https://t.co/gEGv9fjyOW">pic.twitter.com/gEGv9fjyOW</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1662653291107618817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While it was a title triumph for Webster in Egypt, it was title heartbreak for Jo Lual-Acuil Jr in nearby Lebanon, as the Melbourne centre suffered a 4-1 championship series defeat to Al Riyadi and former Adelaide star Duop Reath.

Lual-Acuil Jr was a dominant force in Dynamo’s Game 1 win, however as the series went on he became more and more tightly marked. He scored fewer points in each game as the series progressed before being restricted to just six points in the decisive Game 5 – the only time he scored in single figures for the club.

After opening his stint with the side with a ridiculous 51-point performance, Lual-Acuil Jr has finished his stint with the side averaging 22 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.

Reath shot a perfect 5-5 from the field and 3-3 from the free throw line for Al Riyadi in their six-point Game 5 win.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">YESSS! We Are The Champions ??????<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlRiyadiClub?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlRiyadiClub</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZFfANlgHDE">pic.twitter.com/ZFfANlgHDE</a></p>&mdash; Al RIYADI CLUB (@AlRiyadiClub) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlRiyadiClub/status/1663284492952322048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

DJ Mitchell’s Slask Wroclaw has cemented its spot in the championship series of the Polish Basketball League, after defeating fellow powerhouse side Legia Warsaw 3-1 in their best of five semi-final series.

Slask finished the regular season on top of the ladder with a 22-8 record, and their championship series opponents – King Szczecin – finished the season with the same record, and only came second due to points differential.

The two sides each won one regular season meeting between the two – both of which came before Mitchell finished his NBL23 campaign with Brisbane.

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Sam Waardenburg’s semi-final series with Riesen Ludwigsburg got off to a rough start, with his side falling to Bonn in the opening clash of the best-of-five series.

Waardenburg hit all four of his shots – including both from three-point range – as he played more minutes than any player in the game off the bench.

He also pulled in six boards and was named as Riesen's Player of the Game.

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Fellow Tall Black and former New Zealand star Finn Delany started the game for Bonn and finished the game with just three points, but also added eight rebounds and four assists.

Game 2 of the series tips off on Thursday, April 1 at 4:30am AEST.

South East Melbourne’s Mitch Creek has made a successful return from injury for Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico, and successfully completed three games in four days since his return – all of which ended as victories.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mitch Creek ?? DeMarcus Cousins<br><br>Creek dropped 22 points and received player of the game in his first game back from injury for <a href="https://twitter.com/bsnpr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bsnpr</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/SsFpxoti2E">pic.twitter.com/SsFpxoti2E</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1662651592867475457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Creek picked up exactly where he left off before he went down with a shoulder injury a month ago, and added 22 points in a tight seven-point win over David Stockton’s Santurce.

A pair of wins then followed against Bayamon to move Mets to a 17-12 record on the season. They now sit just one game behind Bayamon at the top of Group B.

DJ Mitchell - Slask Wroclaw - Polish Basketball League, Poland
vs Legia – 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
vs Legia – 2 points, 3 rebounds

Sam Waardenburg - Riesen Ludwigsburg - Basketball Bundesliga, Germany
vs Bonn – 10 points, 6 rebounds

Jo Lual-Acuil Jr - Dynamo Lebanon - Lebanese Basketball League, Lebanon
vs Al Riyadi – 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
vs Al Riyadi – 11 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks
vs Al Riyadi – 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks

Corey Webster - Al Ahly - Basketball Africa League, Egypt
vs Stade – 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
vs Douanes – 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Mitch Creek - Mets de Guaynabo - Baloncesto Superior Nacional, Puerto Rico
vs Santurce – 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
vs Bayamon – 19 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists
vs Bayamon – 10 points, 2 assists, 3 blocks