Canadians in Australia - NBL Round 18
With time in the regular season running down, the race for an NBL playoff spot started to hot up and the league's contingent from Canada were starting to feel the heat.
The Canadian contributor of the week was Xavier Rathan-Mayes; he opened the week with fourteen bench points for the Illawarra Hawks against his compatriot James Duncan's Brisbane Bullets. The Hawks' early three point shooting gave them the early edge and their post-up play throughout made it a comfortable victory by a final score of 87 to 70.
In the follow-up against Melbourne United, XR-M erupted on offence, accurate from all distances he helped keep the Hawks in check despite trailing Melbourne, who could not be stopped in the lane. In the second half the Canadian was instrumental in Illawarra turning the game around, downing the league leaders and improving their post-season chances by a margin of six points.
Also in action twice was MiKyle McIntosh, who provided a big spark off the bench for the Tasmania JackJumpers. Finding open looks all over the floor against the Sydney Kings, he finished with seventeen points off the bench, one behind the team's leader Josh Adams and not far from game-high 20 for Jaylen Adams.
However it was not enough to , who were unstoppable from close range. Making three quarters of all their two-pointer attempts, they ran home to a twenty-point win. McIntosh had just four in the JackJumpers' prior game against the Adeliade 36ers, where 31 points from Josh Adams was a big part of Tasmania's 22-10 final quarter bringing the team down by double digits to winners by eight.
Adelaide were part of the game of the week, when they took on Duncan's Bullets in Brisbane. The home team had the early lead following six early three-pointers, while the 36ers were keeping it tight in the low post, also adding five threes in the first half. A point stood between the teams when play resumed, where a 13-3 Adelaide run in the first five minutes of the second half
Brisbane's shooting closed the gap, tying the scores ahead of the final stretch, where four lead changes were followed a three from Jason Cadee - last of his team-high 26 for Brisbane - and three from the stripe, the home team now had the lead in final minute. Daniel Johnson made it a one-point game and a last chance attempt from Hyrum Harris missed, James Duncan's men prevailed with the win.
The round ended with Scott Morrison leading the Perth Wildcats against Melbourne, as the western Australians looked to keep their title chances alive. With greater success on offence, Perth had the advantage at the start of the game led by Victor Law getting it done from close range.
The Wildcats' momentum did not last into the second half, with Matthew Dellavedova leading Melbourne from outside the arc and the team also picking up plenty of points in the paint they turned the tables on their hosts and Melbourne reinforced their place at the top of the table with the 84-75 defeat of Perth.
This sees Perth hovering around the playoff zone, with Tasmania in pursuit and the Hawks sitting above them in third, while Brisbane's 9-15 record makes their chances unlikely at this point in the season. Check back here for further updates on the progress of Canadians in the NBL as the hunt for a playoff place goes down to the wire.
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