UBL Mens QUARTER FINALS – Waatu push of finalist foiled by Stanwix to cap historic season

Photo Credit – Adelaide Uni

6-Minute Read

The Waatu Men put up the brave fight against UTAS but a Jack out of the pack proved to be the difference as UTAS progressed at the expense of AU 91-74 at the Hobart Netball & Sports Centre.

The UTAS juggernaut rolled on early with an 8-0 start to the home side before Matt Thomson (Project Management) made an important tip in play to open the account for the Waatu. It was all control from Jack Stanwix and Jordan Straastma but after nearly seven minutes of play Curtis Scott (Health) finally got the heartbeat going from the free throw line then proceeding to complete the strong finish off the glass to cut it back to 18-12. Stratsmaa, Stanwix and Archie Stewart (11 points) delivered the SSSlashing plays to give UTAS the advantage 25-12 at the first change.

As has been the case in 2025 – Scott Freer’s men rallied out of the slow start led by a Bailey Nathan (Computer Science) calculate triples and Thomson glass work keeping them in touch 35-22. Up rose Ayual Garang (Architectural Design) who’s form against UTAS has been consistent the last few seasons as he made big plays in the second half term to finish with 10 points. Ahmed Nawasany (Computer Science) completed the comeback with the buzzer beating jump shot to amazingly level the scores 36-36 at the main break.

Scott started the third well with an early tip in off the offensive glass but the son of the gun Mark Nash in Caleb (11 points and nine rebounds) reeled off some triples but was also answered by Isaac Hampel (Electrical Engineering) with his electric energy from outside. The threes continued to flow for the UTAS side as Garang, Scott (11 points and five rebounds) and co tried to keep pace with the high scoring nature of the home side. Stanwix’s thunderous dunk started the opening of the margin however as he took it on himself with 11 for the term to have his team in front 69-60 with one huge quarter ahead to play.

A 16-4 run to start the fourth earmarked by another Stanwix slam saw the hopes of the Waatu begin to fade down 82-64 with a timeout needed to see if that hope could be regained. A quick five points from Nathan (13 points) and Nawasany (Eight points) wrestled the momentum back temporarily but Izach Collins (5 triples at 41 percent) deadly from outside all evening and pushed it back out to beyond reach again as UTAS sealed their home final win. The Waatu exited the finals series in the quarter finals for the third straight year but with it’s highest finish of fifth overall in its history.

Garang led the way again against UTAS with 15 points and six rebounds with Matt Thomson producing his best game for the season with 10 point and 11 rebound double double with five assists.

The damage from Stanwix was too much though with 35 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists along with Straatsma with 13 points, nine rebounds.

Men – UTAS 91 (Stanwix 35, I Collins 15, Straatsma 13) defeated AU Waatu 74 (Garang 15, Nathan 13, Scott 11)

Season Summary 2025

5th – 5-4

Ultimately a third straight finals exit occurred however the five wins this season is the most number of wins in a season for the AU Waatu – they unfortunately ran into the red hot UTAS team on a mission to get it done in season 2025.

Team Highlights

16 triples against UNISC
Strong three quarters against LTU
Away win against UNISC
Upset win over UTAS at Home

Individual Highlights

Emil Kourani 20 points with 6 triples versus UNISC
Isaac Hampel 24 points versus LTU
Thomas Mestrov 19 points and 12 rebounds vs FED
Curtis Scott 31 point debut versus VU
Second and third highest individual score for Waatu of 39 points, nine assists and seven rebounds from Curtis Scott vs UWA then 41 points vs USYD
Ayual Garang 23 points, nine rebounds versus UTAS

Surprise Packet

At the start of the season it looked like a lot of the front court responsibility would fall to Thomas Mestrov. The forward/centre was highly consistent on the glass only dropping below five rebounds once in his ten games and with the late addition of Matthew Thomson formed a strong one-two punch in the front court with 10 points and eight rebounds per game.

Most Improved

This was a tough one this season given a large amount of this roster was relatively new with the access to new players at this stage of the calender year. I felt the improvement from the three regulars from last season came from Isaac Hampel off the back of a strong winter with the Southern Tigers NBL1 Reserves. Hampel averaged 10 points compared to 2024 with seven points and several times in games lit a spark under the Waatu for some key points with his 13 points and 15 points versus FED and UTAS telling in victories.

Player of the Season

He might have arrived later than expected and only played six games but he was clearly the front runner for the MVP this season. Curtis Scott off the back of a fast finishing NBL1 Central season with the South Adelaide Panthers including 26 points against his now new club the Eastern Mavericks – burst onto the UBL scene with 31 points to nearly drag the Waatu across the line against VU before backing it up over UWA Maali with the second highest score of the Waatu’s short history of 39 points. Add the curtailed but crucial 22 points against UTAS he then came out an backed it up with a 41 points performance against USYD in an incredible double header performance at home.

With 29.33 points to his name along with 6.83 rebounds and five assists to his name – the Eastern Hills have plenty to look forward to next NBL1 Central season no doubt.

You can catch all the games from the season past on the UBL website and stay tuned to the crossoverdribble for more match reports and features in season 2026.

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