Category: UBL

Spectre Dihan Wiggett returned to put on a highlights reel but the Waatu managed to match him basket for basket through a tense final in Melbourne last week - Photo by MUBC

 Waatu Men fall to bigs of Black Angels in thrilling finish

It almost went exactly to script as per the match against the University of Sydney Tech in Melbourne in 2023 and this year they were even closer. The eighth placed Waatu defied the odds as they took on first placed Melbourne University Black Angels and ran them right to the finish line. 

The Black Angels rolled in Nunawading Spectre Dihan Wiggett and Dandenong Rangers giant centre Ellis Biggar with Wiggett impacting in a huge way with a ferocious right hand dunk in the first quarter. The Waatu however unleashed their own firepower in Central Districts Lion’s Ayual Garang and Norwood Flame’s Darcy McNamara (12 points in the opener) opening with a triple once again on the home side. Some of the reverse finishes at the cup were delightful to watch from the Waatu as they took a surprising 31-33 lead thanks to Garang’s triple to beat the short shotclock at the Nona Lee Sports Centre. 

McNamara continued to draw all defenders to him as he showed a treasure chest of reverse layups, contact reverse finishes, shake and bake dribble jump shots then dished some wonderful passes to oncoming cutters through the key. Not to be outdone Wiggett and Biggar continued to keep their scoreboard ticking over with the Spectre’s huge two handed rim rattler and open lane for take off dunk igniting the large home crowd. Josh “Spud” McNally resumed his counter battle with McNamara as he added some punch to the scoreboard but the supporting cast of this day in Harry Bruce (15 points and 12 rebounds) and company saw the Waatu still with the lead at halftime 48-54. While Wiggett had 19 points at half time the combo of McNamara with 23 points and a highly effective Garang with 15 points were leading the charge in an electric first half. 

McNally (16 points) resumed proceedings after the break for MUBC with eight quick points in the opening minutes of the second half. The conscious effort shifting to the #1 of the Waatu which opened the door for Bruce to get busy. Kai Garnaut (18 points and nine rebounds) also started to get rolling as the Melbourne Tiger dunked one in transition but the Waatu answered every challenge thrown at them with a Garang triple helping them to a 70-74 three quarter time lead – an upset looming in consecutive finals series.

McNamara re-awoke in the fourth with a triple but the giant of Biggar was proving tough to contain – helping MUBC back into the lead 80-79. The task became more difficult for the Waatu with Garang fouling out at 90-87. The last few minutes were crazy to witness and watch for all fans of the Waatu. McNamara slotted two free throws before Waatu caused a turnover and an open Isaac Hampel was swatted away by Wiggett. McNally drew an offensive foul on the next play with a heavily contested shot alive on the glass more than a couple of times, finally put away by Biggar but in the process muscled Bailey Nathan out the way illegally giving up an unsportsmanlike foul. Nathan made one of two with the second agonizingly teetering on the rim and Waatu had possession 92-90. 

The Waatu got a great couple of looks with McNamara first then an offensive rebound giving Nathan the chance but crashing it off the backboard. His clever work on the offensive glass forced it off MUBC out of bounds. Resetting again Davies found Bruce who put up the floater runner missing on the rim and MUBC grabbed possession. Nathan fouled McNally who headed to the free throw line and made the first one nervously 93-90. The second rimmed with Biggar tipping it and for some bizarre reason Garnaut ripped it behind his back – back into court where Wiggett appeared to take possession behind the halfway line and dribbled it back into their scoring half. The pleads for a backcourt violation fell on deaf ears as McNally ran over Hampel, slid it to Wiggett and the Waatu were consigned to back to back finals exits in the quarters again 93-90 in the finale. 

Wiggett showed his experience and nous throughout the whole contest with 25 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks while Biggar didn’t get any smaller as the game went along with a monster 24 points and 27 rebounds (18 offensive). The Waatu were led in the scoring by McNamara with 33 points, four rebounds and three assists and Garang was superb with 24 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. 

The Waatu should be proud of their effort in the final piecing it together with a much smaller lineup compared to the bigs of the Black Angels – plenty of progress made in season 2024 with many players now returning to further opportunities no doubt in the future at NBL1 level.           

QF Men MUBC 93 (Wiggett 25, Biggar 24, Garnaut 18, McNally 16) defeated AU Waatu 90 (McNamara 33, Garang 24, Bruce 15, Hampel 9)

Catch the thrilling replay of the Waatu’s qualifying final against Melbourne Uni on Uni Sports TV

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Bailey Nathan was brilliant at both ends of the floor in the Waatu's thriller against UNSW - Photo provided by AU

Alexandria thriller consigns Waatu to fate of the finishers

The Waatu Men needed to get their roadtrip off to a winning start to avoid being caught up in the fate of the finishers. With Waatu and UNSW closely matched on the ladder – both would’ve fancied their chances to secure a win.  

Minus offensive generators in Emil Kourani and Darcy McNamara – the must win contest started shakily with Jacob Corry (14 points and seven rebounds) and Angus Skrbinsek making multiple plays early to rattle the away side. Both Bailey Nathan and Ayual Garang made some nice finishes at the rim from a collection of spin moves and outside hits but the homeside through Alec Ryan and James Arthur kept answering accordingly. It took Garang with the offensive rebound and reverse layup finish to have the Waatu in front 19-22 at the first change.

It was all Nathan to start the second as he reeled off a quick individual run of six points and along with Harry Bruce (19 points and seven rebounds) rolled the Waatu to an 0-8 start. An injury sub for the UNSW stopped momentum slightly as Corry and Ryan answered with a 10-3 run of their own bringing it back level. Bruce made some nice buckets with one over two defenders as did Nathan again. The Waatu would’ve been ahead by two baskets if not for a monster block from Yi Tan Zou on the cusp of half-time – leaving a slight lead to the Waatu 38-40 at the main break.

Another tight third term was highlighted by some more aerial work with the floater, rising jump strokes and offensive glass by-play dominating proceedings – it left it 54-50 with one to play and ladder positions on the line.

Bruce was the early instigator for the Waatu in the fourth with a powerful drive and a finished triple off some brilliant ball movement. The 6-14 run saw Bruce lead the Waatu to a handy four point lead with only 3:40 remaining. The home side answered through Arthur who made some tough shots including a triple and some fancy footwork to rip back the lead by five points with just over a minute remaining. Garang answered with a strong and1 drive which he converted. The Waatu’s defence picked up forcing a carry with 42 seconds remaining on Arthur. Bruce drove down the lane splitting two defenders to tie the scores 69-69. 

A foul on Arthur was met with anguish as he converted one free throw to leave it 70-69 with two chances left for the Waatu to win it late. Mitch Cretin hauled up the three point attempt that rimmed wide and to the left but the outstretched hands of Isaac Hampel saw him able to get one last turnaround jumper up with microseconds remaining. It went just long off the rim and the Waatu missed a golden opportunity to seal their fate but with another game the next day and results of other games now a factor – the finals race wasn’t over yet…

Arthur was the strongest contributor across four quarters with 17 points and 11 rebounds along with Ryan with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Garang was superb through this one with 25 points with three triples, 12 rebounds and Nathan made up for the absence of Kourani and McNamara with a double double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. 

After a heartbreaker the previous day and having to watch it all Darcy McNamara wasted no time at all hitting the scoreboard early in game two of the road trip – as the Waatu went bucket for bucket with a powerful USYD unit. Matthew Wacher was crafty and skillful under pressure for the home side showing off euro finishes and low spin drives. McNamara was also finding teammates like Bruce with a no-look pass that saw them up 15-17. McNamara made a tough finish and floater off the glass before USYD rolled off a quick 7-0 run through Mitchell Smith (14 points and 10 rebounds), Jake Weinstein and Chandler Skelton. A fortuitous Hampel pass that came off the hand of Wacher fell to McNamara who finished the layup on the buzzer to give them a five point lead 22-27.

It was Jonathan Woodcock (10 points and five rebounds) early in the second impacting with two quality looks inside split by McNamara’s work from outside, inside and the charity stripe. Both he and Wacher were locked in one-on-one on each other to bring it to a 45-39 scoreline at the half. McNamara already with 19 at half time having a key offensive output in the match. 

Wacher tore the game apart in the third quarter with 13 points to lead the USYD to a whopping 36-17 term well supported by Michael Yoong (19 points, fours assists and three rebounds). The Waatu’s Garang was impressive in the term too, rolling on the rim and step back triples off screens but USYD’s run of 15-0 including a Josh Pain dunk saw the margin out to 81-56 at the final change. 

McNamara’s final term was one of the few highlights for the Waatu as he grabbed 20 points in the final term including three triples with one outrageously long hit but showed his full array of skills as a scorer. The Waatu leaked as many at the other end as the entertaining finish 29-39 locked the Waatu into eighth spot with results falling their way despite a 0-2 final round.

 

Wacher was clear best across four quarters with 25 points, five assists and well ably assisted by Pain with 22 points and nine rebounds. McNamara finished with 42 points with five triples and five assists and dominated the stat line with Garang (13 points and eight rebounds) and Bruce (12 points and six rebounds) helping to keep Waatu in it in the first half. Sam Davies also produced a double double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in positive signs heading into their qualifying final.       

The re-matchup between first placed Melbourne Uni Black Angels will be intriguing as history showed us last year. The Waatu could cause the upset after nearly knocking off University of Sydney Tech in 2023 in Melbourne. 

In this UBL league we’ve seen this season – you just never know and if the three ball falls then enough points can be generated to go with the top side in the league this season.             

RD 7 Men UNSW 70 (Arthur 17, Ryan 15, Corry 14) defeated AU Waatu 69 (Garang 25, Bruce 19, Nathan 14, Hampel 8)

RD 7 Men USYD 110 (Wacher 25, Pain 22, Yoong 19) defeated AU Waatu 85 (McNamara 42, Garang 13, Bruce 12, Davies 11)

Catch the Waatu’s qualifying final against Melbourne Uni on Uni Sports TV from Wednesday 2:30pm. 

NEW – PITCH TO THE PUBLIC 

It takes 4 hours a week to write, research and produce our content but we want to write extra content this next few months so we thought we’d pitch to the public

Four new $24 Shotclock subscribers will have one of two pieces produced on the topics of

“SA Schools shine on Gold Coast” (Australian Schools Championships 2024)

“The Powerhouses of SA School Basketball” (Looking at the last five to ten years of school basketball)

Eight new $24 Shotclock subscribers will have both pieces done for production

Please DM if you’d like to support another way than subscription

See if you can provide the assist we need to tell the South Australian Basketball story

All Episodes of the SA Shotclock available on podcasting platforms in the coming months