Hunter hunts Carnaby - West Adelaide Bearcats Lachlan Hunter is having another impressive UBL season in 2023 - collecting 17 points and 15 rebounds - Photo supplied by Adelaide University Sport/Picture IT Sport Photography
A-Leka washes away chocolates Waatu Haigh comeback
The Waatu Women came up agonisingly short of a second victory for the season in a thriller against the Curtin Uni Carnabys at the Castle of St Clair Recreation Centre 59-61.
Aleka Kabugua of the East Perth Eagles was clutch down the stretch to finish with 31 points, 13 rebounds and five steals to lead the Carnabys while the Waatu’s late hero was Ashleigh Haigh (Occupational Therapy) with 15 points and 13 rebounds in her double double.
The battle early was between the two captains as Evie Lovell (12 points in the first half) and Eagles Ella Averill (13 points in the first half) went toe-to-toe with the Waatu jumping out to a 9-6 lead to start at quarter time then the Carnaby’s pushed it back to 33-29 after pulling back a 12-0 run.
The Waatu and Carnaby’s scrapped against each other through the third to still be neck and neck 44-43 but the final term looked like it was going to belong to the away side as they stretched out to a 47-53 lead with Kaitlyn Phillips pulling it back to 55-55. Kabuga and Druvinka Fernando created the opportunity to edge them ahead at the free throw line 56-60 before with no time on the clock out of the timeout Haigh drained the triple to cut it to 59-60 with Kabuga sealing the win from the stripe.
The Waatu Women could finish as high as ninth with two wins over Victoria University (VU 4th) and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT 10th) but with the fixture quirk the winner of the WA derby between CU Carnabys and UWA Maali will determine eighth spot. Tenth place in this years league looks the most likely outcome if they win both games.
Hunter and Hunt big game in Carnaby’s to keep season alive
The Waatu Men have kept their season alive with a strong opening quarter to setup a 91-78 win over a solid Curtin Uni Carnaby unit 91-78 at the St Clair Recreation Centre
The Waatu were paced across the game by the contributions of Lachlan Hunter (17 points and 15 rebounds for the Civil Engineer) and Toby Hunt (21 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Bachelor Mechanical Engineering) as they opened up a 14-0 run in the latter part of the second quarter to stretch out to a 46-39 lead at the half. Hunt then took over with three triples in the quarter, but the Carnaby’s Tobias Martin kept them in it at three quarter time 69-56.
Harry Reemst (Chemical Engineering) came to the party late with a seven-point final term and Hunt produced another eight-point spread to seal the incredibly important win in the context of the UBL season.
The Waatu Men take on VU (9th) and RMIT (5th) while contenders for the finals La Trobe University (10th) are playing Fed Falcons (12th) and CU Carnabys (11th) are playing their home rivals UWA Maali (6th) – the advantage being the Waatu have two games left and the teams that can knock them out of the eight or above – only one.
Catch the Waatu this afternoon in Round 8 on Uni Sports TV from 1pm AEDT (12:30pm SA Time) as they take on Victoria University and tomorrow Royal Melbourne Institute of Information Technology (RMIT).
RD 7 Women AU Waatu 59 (Haigh 15, Lovell 12, Francis 10, Phillips 7) defeated by CU Carnabys 61 (Kabuga 31, Averill 17)
RD 7 Men AU Waatu 91 (Hunt 21, Reemst 18, Hunter 17, Parfitt 16, Mollett 8, Nathan 7) defeated CU Carnabys 78 (Martin 26, Lucio, Rammal 10, Harris, Waters 9, Hollick 7)
*Note the Waatu had a bye in Round 7
Please continue to support SA basketball news and features content being written as well as national/international with the Pick and Roll – with our recent influx of work we are making content all free to read but need constant contributions to make this happen. $5 a month is all we are asking – If not keen to subscribe then please message to receive direct debit details how you can keep these quality features being produced
CROSS OVER DRIBBLE 