NBL1 Wrap (May 27, 2024)

Cover image: Madeleine Clark

Michael Harris’ incredible performance for the Warwick Senators wasn’t enough to power his side to victory over a red-hot Joondalup side, even despite him coming within touching distance of a 30-point triple double.

Joondalup has lost just twice in the NBL1 West men’s division so far this season, but Harris’ stellar showing would have had Wolves’ hearts in mouths, however as the Senators embarked on a fourth quarter comeback.

Warwick fell by just seven points in the end, with Harris adding 34 points on over 50 per cent shooting.

He was a menace inside the three-point arc and connected with 10 of his 13 two-point attempts, and also added 13 rebounds and eight assists.

 

CJ Turnage starred for the victorious Wolves with 36 points and nine boards.

Sunday Dech’s East Perth continued its indifferent form this season and followed up an incredible win over Joondalup with a defeat to Geraldton.

Dech stuffed the stat sheet against the Wolves with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals before he top-scored for his side in the 20-point defeat to the Buccaneers.

Jason Cadee put in another iron man performance for the Gold Coast Rollers, however his 26 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists weren’t enough to lead the Rollers to victory in a nail-biter against Mackay.

The Meteors were led by a one-two punch of Isaac White and Todd Blanchfield, who combined for 45 points in the win. Blanchfield also added five blocks, while Cadee’s Gold Coast teammate Will Magnay scored 20 points of his own.

The Rockhampton Rockets pulled of a thrilling victory over the Darwin Salties despite immense performances from Kouat Noi and Makuach Maluach.

Noi continued his MVP-calibre season with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Maluach top scored for the Salties with 26 points.

Sean Macdonald also performed strongly with 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists, but import Xavier Ford and rising star Ben Tweedy led the Rockets to a 113-11 win.

Ford added a game-high 37 points, while 18-year-old Tweedy played the entire 40 minutes and finished the game with 20 points, six rebounds and 11 assists.

The South Adelaide Panthers earned a gritty win over West Adelaide, as Tasmania’s Fabijan Krslovic and Adelaide’s Alex Starling went toe-to-toe in an unmissable interior battle.

Defence came first for both sides in the low-scoring three-point game, as Starling’s Panthers took the 59-56 win.

Starling struggled to find his shot but finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Krslovic took over for West Adelaide in the absence of Anthony Drmic to end the game with 18 points, 17 rebounds and five assists. He was the only player on his team to finish the game with double-digit scoring.

Brisbane’s Kye Savage led the Centre of Excellence to a huge win over Illawarra in the second game of his side’s Round 8 NBL1 East double-header, following South East Melbourne’s Luke Fennell’s strong performance in his side’s weekend opener.

Fennell dropped 17 points in a seven-point win over Central Coast to open the weekend’s proceedings, before Savage took the reins in the CoE’s 39-point demolition of Illawarra.

Savage scored 22 points and pulled down eight boards, as FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup champion James O’Donnell top scored with 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

A pair of retired Melbourne United veterans went head-to-head when Sandringham took on Frankston in NBL1 South, with David Barlow and Brad Newley both featuring in a game where Shea Ili proved the hero for the victorious Sabres.

Barlow started for Sandringham and registered 10 points and six boards, while Newley featured off the bench and added 11 points for the Blues, however Ili took control of the game with 30 points in the 19-point victory.

Ili’s 30-piece was well supported by Melbourne teammate Tanner Krebs’ 21 points and 13 rebounds for the undermanned Sabres, who were missing Tom Koppens and Campbell Blogg.

Sandringham rounded its weekend out with a 24-point win over Bendigo in which Ili once again top-scored for his side, this time with 21 points.

Owen Foxwell and Nick Marshall battled it out in Mt Gambier’s clash with Eltham, where the Wildcats were willed to a two-point win behind the hot hand of Foxwell.

The South East Melbourne guard dropped 27 points in the victory and shot over 55 per cent from the field, while Marshall scored 30 points of his own for the Pioneers.

Although Angus Glover was quiet in the victory for Eltham with just ten points, he re-found his groove in the Wildcats’ defeat to the Hobart Chargers two days later where he scored 23 points.

Jason Cadee (Gold Coast) – 26PTS, 9REB, 10AST vs Mackay
Nick Marshall (Mt Gambier) – 30PTS, 8REB, 1STL vs Eltham
Akech Aliir (Mt Gambier) – 15PTS, 5REB, 2AST vs Eltham
DJ Vasiljevic (Waverley) – 22PTS, 7REB, 3STL vs NW Tasmania
Fraser Roxburgh (Waverley) – 2PTS, 2STL vs NW Tasmania
Sunday Dech (East Perth) – 16PTS, 6REB, 4AST vs Joondalup | 20PTS, 5REB, 5AST vs Geraldton
Alex Starling (South Adelaide) – 12PTS, 10REB, 2AST vs West Adelaide
Jacob Rigoni (Sturt) – 20PTS, 7REB, 2AST vs North Adelaide
Harvey White (Southern Tigers) – 10PTS, 3REB, 6AST vs Woodville | 11PTS, 4REB, 4AST vs Woodville

Isaac White (Mackay) – 15PTS, 4REB, 10AST vs North Gold Coast | 23PTS, 6AST, 4STL vs Gold Coast
Matthew Johns (Brisbane) – 17PTS, 3REB, 2AST vs Sunshine Coast
Sam McDaniel (Brisbane) – 26PTS, 12REB, 5AST vs Sunshine Coast
DJ Mitchell (Ipswich) – 28PTS, 6REB, 4AST vs SW Metro
Mitch Norton (Southern Districts) – 24PTS, 6REB, 8AST vs Northside
Tyrell Harrison (Southern Districts) – 23PTS, 8REB, 2STL vs Northside
Kye Savage (CoE) – 10PTS, 4AST, 4STL vs Central Coast | 22PTS, 8PRS, 2REB vs Illawarra

Kian Dennis (Cairns) – 7PTS, 4REB, 2AST vs Logan
Alex Mudronja (Cairns) – 11PTS, 6REB, 5AST vs Logan
AK Gak (West Adelaide) 8PTS, 11REB vs South Adelaide

Harry Morris (Townsville) – 19PTS, 3REB vs Logan
Todd Blanchfield (Mackay) – 23PTS,10REB, 1STL vs North Gold Coast | 22PTS, 14REB, 5BLK vs Gold Coast
Luca Yates (Mackay) – 8PTS, 4REB, 2AST vs Gold Coast
Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (Darwin) – 7PTS, 4REB, 2AST vs Rockhampton
William Hickey (Albury-Wodonga) – 11PTS, 7REB, 8AST vs Penrith
Mason Peatling (Dandenong) – 18PTS, 9REB, 4AST vs Ringwood

Kyle Bowen (Knox) – 6PTS, 10REB, 6AST vs Ballarat
Tanner Krebs (Sandringham) – 21PTS, 13REB, 3STL vs Frankston | 9PTS, 10REB, 2STL vs Bendigo
Shea Ili (Sandringham) – 30PTS, 5REB, 5AST vs Frankston | 21PTS, 3REB, 3AST vs Bendigo

Dane Pineau (Sandringham) – 6PTS, 7REB, 2BLK vs Frankston

David Okwera (East Perth) – 7PTS, 5REB, 2BLK vs Joondalup
Michael Harris (Warwick) – 34PTS, 13REB, 8AST vs Joondalup

Matt Kenyon (North Gold Coast) – 15PTS, 6REB, 3AST vs Mackay
Nathan Sobey (Ipswich) – 19PTS, 5REB, 2STL vs SW Metro
Kody Stattmann (Cairns) – 18PTS, 2REB vs Logan
Luke Fennell (CoE) – 17PTS, 3AST, 1STL vs Central Coast
Angus Glover (Eltham) – 10PTS, 5REB, 5AST vs Mt Gambier | 23PTS, 8REB, 4AST vs Hobart
Owen Foxwell (Eltham) – 27PTS, 4REB, 1STL vs Mt Gambier | 7PTS, 7AST, 3STL
Luke Rosendale (Ballarat) – 14PTS, 5REB, 7AST vs Knox | 13PTS, 5AST, 2STL vs Diamond Valley
Austin Rapp (Knox) – 17PTS, 14REB, 5BLK vs Ballarat

Shaun Bruce (Logan) – 14PTS, 5REB, 12AST vs Townsville | 21PTS, 6REB, 13AST vs Cairns
Makuach Maluach (Darwin) – 26PTS, 6REB, 5AST vs Rockhampton
Kouat Noi (Darwin) – 25PTS, 11REB, 4AST vs Rockhampton
Klairus Amir (Sutherland) – 11PTS, 5REB, 1AST vs Newcastle

Will Magnay (Gold Coast) – 20PTS, 4REB, 2BLK vs Mackay
Sean Macdonald (Darwin) – 19PTS, 6REB, 8AST vs Rockhampton
Jacob Richards (Hobart) – 19PTS, 10REB, 2AST vs Casey | 10PTS, 4REB, 5AST vs Eltham
Fabijan Krslovic (West Adelaide) – 18PTS, 17REB, 5AST vs South Adelaide