To The South: Weekend of NBL Cup Fixtures

The inaugural NBL Cup got underway over the weekend and saw some notable results and milestones in the season.

Cairns Taipans vs Illawarra Hawks

After nine lead changes in the first eleven minutes, the Hawks built themselves a big buffer after a 9-0 run – their lead reaching twelve points before Cairns cut it down to five at half-time. Illawarra tried to hold on to their double-digit advantage behind Tyler Harvey’s three-point shooting and six successive points in the paint from Deng Deng – only for the Taipans to turn the game around with ten three-pointers in a row.

Nagati had two more threes late in the game, putting the win out of reach for the Hawks. Cameron Bairstow put up some late points for Illawarra, as did Harvey, which brought his total in the game to 24. Deng Deng impressed with 17 points in just nineteen minutes played. Behind 31 points from Scott Machado, it was the Taipans who saw out turnaround the win, 101-95.

Melbourne United vs Perth Wildcats

Melbourne went down 7-1 at the start but closed the gap, leaving just a point between them and the Wildcats for most of the first period. Jesse Wagstaff’s three-point shooting separated the teams further, with Bryce Cotton and John Mooney adding to make their lead stand at eight points. Meanwhile Jock Landale worked hard on both ends to see Melbourne’s deficit stand at eight at the half – before giving them the lead shortly after the start of Q3.

Perth were now on having to play catch up throughout what was regularly a single-possession quarter, at the end of which Norton put them ahead by one. Cotton and Todd Blanchfield kept the lead with the Wildcats while Landale kept the pressure on, McDaniel put Melbourne up one with a minute to go, only for Cotton to then put Perth ahead by two almost instantly.

Two more points from the line from Cotton – bringing his total in the game to 29 – made the final score stand at 89-85 for the Wildcats, the first loss of the season for Melbourne United. 20 points and 10 rebounds was consolation for Jock Landale as his team’s unbeaten streak came to an end.

South East Melbourne vs Brisbane Bullets

An early seventeen-point run by the Bullets put them into the lead, 23-7. Sixteen second quarter points from Mitch Creek saw SEM lead by two, only for a last-second hook shot from Brisbane’s Matthew Hodgson tied the scores at the half-time buzzer.

The third quarter was a single-possession game as the teams struggled to untangle themselves from one another, the Phoenix opened the fourth with ten unanswered. With continued high-percentage play in the paint, SEM kept their double-digit advantage and finished the game 99-83 to the good. Hodgson led the scoring for Brisbane with 20 points off the bench, while Mitch Creek led all in the game with 29 points and Keifer Sykes finished with a triple-double: 14 points, 11 assists and 10 total rebounds.

Sydney Kings vs Adelaide 36ers

After Sydney began the game with seven points without reply, Adelaide responded and got to within a point on three occasions, before the Kings re-asserted their dominance with a trio of three-pointers in quick succession. The 36ers kept up the pressure and Tony Crocker gave them their first lead midway through the second quarter and Sydney found the tables turned on them.

Nine points in a row from Casper Ware was followed by ten more points without reply, putting the Kngs up by sixteen – a distance big enough to prevent a comeback from Adelaide, even with Josh Giddey and Isaac Humphries picking up a lot of close-range points. Led by Ware’s 23 total points and 22 from Dejan Vasiljevic, Sydney ran home to the well-deserved win, 94-77.