NBL1 Central Round 6 – Eagle eye Doyle, DJ lever Legan Mavs, Sabres sixth women win downs Eagles

The “Eagle Eye” was locked in for Adam Doyle this weekend as the Eagles men raised up for a double header, the Sabres women swathe their way to the top of the table, Jamar’s the man as Rockets run continues and the “Next Step” is taken by the Warriors. Here’s the Round 6 wrap of the NBL1 Central 2022…

An early poke in his "Eagle Eye" did not stop Adam Doyle from draining 21 points in the third quarter Saturday night; his weekend accumulation of 50 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds was damaging. Picture supplied by AllStar Photos

5-Minute Read

Saturday 7/05/22

Eastern Mavericks vs Forestville Eagles

Sister act Eagles exile Mavs

It wasn’t just one but two pairs of sisters that setup a comfortable 53-89 win for the Forestville Eagles over the Eastern Mavericks at the Shooting Gallery. The Freer sisters Maddy and Jordyn scored 13 of the Eagles 27-42 in the first half before the Simons took over with Sam finishing with 20 points at 62.5 percent and 6 assists and Jess 21 points at 72 percent with 5/7 triples. Izzy Stratford was the big winner across four quarters with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. The Mavericks were led by their two imports Lefebvre-Okankwu with a 16 point, 12 rebound and 7 steal double double and Gouchie-Provencher with 11 points and 9 rebounds. Olivia Bradley finished the game well late to bring up 14 points to be the next best.

Eagle eye Doyle and DJ lever Legan Mavs

The Forestville Eagles bounced back in a big way as they eventually levered away from the enthusiastic energetic Eastern Mavericks 84-121 at the Shooting Gallery. Adam Doyle despite a poke in the eye early in the first quarter got his eye in more ways than one in the 12–38-point third quarter as he drained 6 of 6 beyond the arc to notch a 21 point quarter to finish with 27 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds. Daniel Johnson got the Eagles going early to finish with a huge bacon double double of 21 points, 20 rebounds and 7 assists, Brandon Brine double doubled as well for 23 points and 12 rebounds while Fiston Ipassou dropped 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. James Legan in his first game in Mavs colours returned with a bang with 32 points including 7 triples while Koop McCalop shot, dunked, and blocked his way to 20 points and 9 rebounds before fouling out in 30 minutes of high octane action.

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NBL1 Central Round 6 Preview

There’s only three teams that could continue the perfect start to their season with wins this weekend. Will the “splash sisters” continue the Panthers unbeaten run, can the Sabres lock down Wilson again to join them at the top, will Terry Winn continue the winning run for the Rockets men and which of the “mid-range marvel” and the “next step” take their team into another position up the table. Here’s the preview of this weekend’s NBL1 Central Round 6…

One half of the "Splash Sisters" in Ash Spencer has been on fire this season already averaging 28.5 points of the Panthers 82 per game. Picture by Snap Shot Photography 

5-Minute Read

Saturday 7/05/2022

Eastern Mavericks vs Forestville Eagles – (St Francis – The Shooting Gallery)

Women (6:30pm)

The Mavs women have been considerably unlucky this season so far and perhaps a return to the Shooting Gallery for a second week in a row can help them get their winning ways happening. The Eagles though are contending for the top five and with Sam Simons leading the way third in the competition for points (25.5), second in assists (6) and tenth in steals (2.5) is who they must stop. She was the difference in 2021 when they snuck home 68-69 and tonight’s match looks to be the same type of game. This time though I think the Mavs who need to get some reward for effort can get this one at home.   

Key Stat – Ball security is the game breaker here, the Mavs average 11.3 steals per game; the Eagles 9.8

ESPN Prediction: Mavericks by 1 point

Men (8:15pm)

The Leg-an up has arrived for the Mavs in the form of import James Legan who I flagged weeks ago as the player who averaged 20 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 33 percent beyond the arc in 20 games in 2018 for the Norwood Flames. His presence alone along with McCalop’s initial season form bring this game into a much closer contest than before. After reading the headline “Simo furious” on my socials I thought the AFL were covering the reaction from the Eagles camp last Saturday night but alas no doubt a similar reaction from their head coach Andy Simons I think will see a very fired up Forestville in this one. Do not expect certain players to lodge a donut two weeks in a row, I’m predicting a 30-40 point game from him alone in response and the Eagles to close this out after the Mavs battle hard for three and a bit quarters.  

Key Stat – Last week the Eagles were 31 percent from the field and 21 percent from beyond the perimeter compared to their season average of 44.3 and 28.9.

ESPN Prediction: Eagles by 7 points

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Waatu Men sweep home series, Women fight hard with spirit

The AU Waatu are representing South Australia well in the UBL, here’s your catchup as to what’s happened in Round 5 of the UBL for the Waatu…

The "Waatu" Men had some players step up over Round 5 like Luke Mollett who nearly had a triple double of 9 points, 8 assists and rebounds against the Falcons. Photo by Picture IT Sport Photography

The Adelaide University Waatu continued their UBL season in Round 5 with the Men grabbing a clean sweep at home 4-0 as they knocked off the Curtin Uni Carnabys and the Federation Uni Falcons with some coaching and NBL royalty in the house. The Women fought hard with spirit and nearly grabbed their first win of the season against the Falcons.

Read on about the home games in Round 5…

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Waatu Men sweep Carnabys and Falcons to jump into Four

The Waatu Men kept ABH Gym a fortress as they won both their home fixtures to jump into fourth place on the UBL table behind Sydney Tech, Sydney Uni and Victoria Uni.

That started with a solid 82-66 win over the Curtin Uni Carnabys led in coaching by 482 NBL game legend of the Perth Wildcats Ricky Grace off the back of a 28-18 start led by Lachy Hunter of the other red and black team of SA, the West Adelaide Bearcats. Hunter was unstoppable all week in a rich vein of form as he registered 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Toby Hunt had the first quarter dominance to setup the win with 11 points to finish with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists while fellow Sabre Harry Reemst dished out 11 assists to go with his 10 point and 7 rebound double double. The Carnaby’s had two of their young NBL1 guns played very well for them in Perth Redbacks Lachlan Bertram (31 points and 5 rebounds) and Tobias Martin (19 points).

The Waatu Men were dominant against the Carnabys in Round 5 led by several sources. Photo supplied by Adelaide University Sport

The Waatu then knocked off the Fed Uni Falcons 93-71 comfortably despite being led by 518 NBL game legend Ray Borner. Hunter again went hunting for the Waatu with 31 points and 19 rebounds (6 offensive) and a couple of thunderous dunk while Hunt fed much of Hunter with 10 assists and a 14 point double double. There were special contributions from backup players stepping up in Luke Mollett (9 points, 8 assists and rebounds), Jun Datario (16 points), Patrick Moriarty (10 points and 6 rebounds) and Sam Homburg (7 points and 12 rebounds). The 27 -14 second quarter setup the win with 18 points in the paint and 15 fast break points. Lachlan Drummond was best for the Falcons with 21 points and Connor Carey chalked up 8 points and assists.

The Waatu now sit 4th on the ladder heading into their next games against University of Melbourne and top four contender Victoria University…

Waatu Women fall just short of Falcons for First

Our women showed some quality basketball in patches and nearly were able to put it all together to get their first win of the season at ABH Gym. After sticking with them early 14-22, the Waatu were outdone by the Curtin Uni Carnabys 35-105. Tamika Reid was the most consistent throughout the match for the Waatu with 15 points and 12 rebounds along with Evie Lovell with 10 points in a team already missing Lateasha Lambert and Abby Lowman. The NBL1 weapons of the Carnabys were evident with Joondalup Wolves Akim Lual dropping 31 points and 7 rebounds, Perth Redbacks Shenae Hartree with 21 points at 64.3 percent and 11 rebounds dominated for the away side.

Tamika Reid (pictured) had a big couple of games for the Waatu Womens this week. Photo supplied by Adelaide University Sport

It was oh so close in the second game of the week as the women fell just short to the Fed Uni Falcons 60-65. Lovell was huge for the home side with 19 points and 6 assists while Josephine Harris had clearly her best hit out of the season with 14 points and 17 rebounds. The Waatu had the lead after three quarters and looked like they may be able to break their duck but the Falcons swooped defensively and on the back of a 3-15 last quarter were composed in the last minutes when it counted. The Falcons were led by Layla Iglesias with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, Alison McMahon with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Elisa Pica with 14 points

The Waatu women will close out their season against University of Melbourne and Victoria University on the road next week with the first game a chance to grab that elusive win.

RD 5 Men AU Waatu 82 (Hunter 28, Hunt 15, Stefanovic 12, Fassos 11, Reemst 10) defeated Curtin Uni Carnabys 66 (Bertram 31, Martin 19, Griechen 7)

RD 5 Men AU Waatu 93 (Hunter 31, Datario 16, Hunt 14, Moriarty 10, Mollett 9, Homburg 7) defeated Fed Uni Falcons 71 (Drummond 21, Parker 12, Carey 8, Voight, Zapata 7)

RD 5 Women AU Waatu 35 (Reid 15, Lovell 10) defeated by Curtin Uni Carnabys 105 (Lual 31, Hartree 21, Thornton-Elliott 15, Farrington, Burke 11)

RD 5 Women AU Waatu 60 (Lovell 19, Harris 14, Fisher 10, Reid 9) defeated by Fed Uni Falcons 65 (Iglesias 19, McMahon 18, Pica 14, Thompson 9)