The courts blazed with action over the weekend as Championship Men teams clashed, delivering thrilling matchups and standout performances across the board. Some teams continue to their winning streaks, aswell as some tight finishes down to the wire.
Keysborough (99) def. Western Port (73)
It was all Cougars out of the gate with Spencer scoring their first 9 points followed by a powerful alley-oop by the hands of Newby. Drilling 6 of their 16 3s in the first quarter to lead the break 33 to 15 it was always going to be a mission for the Steelers to get back into the game. Chipping away in the second, Permenter got himself going, scoring 9 points in the second term yet the Cougars again won the quarter.
Getting out to a 28-point lead in the 3rd quarter, it was too much for the Steelers as the Cougars continued their shooting montage and getting out on the break. Nick Clarkson led the Cougars with 20 points to go along with his 10 rebounds while Russell Permenter led all scorers with 24 in a 26-point loss.
Camberwell (73) def by. Wyndham (111)
Wyndham continued their dominant start to the season with a convincing win over Camberwell. After a competitive first half with the Dragons down just 6 points, Wyndham came out of the rooms and took charge. Pouring in 6 3s and going on a 14-point run extending the lead out to 28 points, the Dragons just couldn’t hold on.
Ayilara threw it down multiple times throughout the game, catching bodies along the way, putting himself some serious highlight reels paired with the incredible shooting performance by Oskar Jones, there was little the Dragon could do.
Blackburn (85) def by. McKinnon (115)
It's been a true roller coaster of a season for McKinnon as they took off and flew over the Vikings on Saturday night defeating the home side by 30 points. There were some amazing individual performances by Wooten and Anderson by the Cougars as well as Anthony Kimble from the Vikings, taking the game to greater heights.
Having said all that, the Cougars showed the league that they can extend a lead and really put their foot down when they commit as they extended the lead at every break. A true team performance by the Cougars as they finished the game with a team high 20 assists.
Melbourne University (82) def by. Bellarine (88)
Wrapping up Saturday Night’s games was the divisions most competitive of the night as the Storm just came out on top by a mere 6 points. With both units making influential runs across the game, the Storm found themselves having to burn both timeouts in the first half as Melbourne Uni exploded in short bursts taking back the lead many times.
Ricardo Time led all scorers with 24 points for the game, but it wasn't enough to take the win as the greater spread of scorers from the Storm proved too much in the end. The Storm found themselves scoring their last 5 points of the game at the line knocking down some very much needed clutch shots. Bellarine have now found themselves above Melbourne University after the weekend.
Bellarine (80) def by. Keysborough (86)
In their second games for the weekend, it really comes down to who shows up and who is willing to stick to their scout and make smart decisions in late clock situations. In this battle, it proved to be the Cougars. After a dominant first 4 minutes by the Storm, coach Vogt had to burn an early timeout going down 14-3. Even after the timeout, the Storm continued to extend the lead with the Cougars having many opportunities, just rimming out.
Safe to say after quarter time, the Cougars showed up and turned the tables chipping away at every possession. With Williams at the helm controlling his group they brought it back making multiple short runs causing breakdowns for the Storm. With a clear directive of getting their head on the rim in the second half, the Cougars out fought the Storm and took the W by just 6 points.
AJ Williams walked away with a near triple double with 20 points to go with 8 rebounds and 8 assists.
McKinnon (97) def by. Camberwell (104)
As probably one of the bigger upsets thus far in the championship division, the Dragons took down the reigning champions in a high scoring assault. McKinnon came into this game on a high after a strong win the night before with the Dragons already on the back foot after a tough 30-point loss, yet this made little to no impact on the Dragons mindset.
Camberwell took an early lead and never looked back holding on for the entire game. With their biggest lead in the third pushing, it out to 13, it was Liesegang who led all scorers with 32 points for the game showing his experience in NBL1. Elder too made an impact in this clash, wanting a piece of the Cougars after taking the championship off him last year.
Sunbury (92) def by. Hume City (97)
The battle in the west between Sunbury and Hume never disappoints. With both teams rolling out new guard imports in the 2024 season named Josh Yorke-Fraser for Sunbury and Malik McKinney for Hume, their battle was always going to be fierce. Putting on a show, it was McKinney who got the last word in outscoring the pair and taking out the W. With 4 early lead changes in the first, the Broncos pushed themselves out to an 8-point quarter time break. From them on the lead didn’t change even though the Jets made a late game push in the 4th.
Malik McKinney led all scorers with 27 points with Stone going 4/8 from the land of plenty. Yorke-Fraser, Mitchell and Roberson combined for 63 possibly needing a little more help from their teammates.
Blackburn (88) def by. Shepparton (94)
It continues to be a struggle for the vikings, yet to notch their second win for the season falling short to the Gators on Sunday at home. Leaning heavily on their imports, Legan struggled to find the bottom of the rim finishing with just 12 points for the game. Martin took on the load finishing with 36 points in his 40 minutes, but it wasn’t enough.
Shepparton found themselves up 11 points at the half time break with the Vikings chipping away in the 3rd quarter bringing it back to a tie game at 3 quarter time. The Gaters continued to play team basketball with multiples scorers in the 4th quarter taking out a close 6-point Win.
Wyndham (89) def. Pakenham (73)
A more difficult opponent on the Sunday for Wyndham as they hosted Pakenham. Wyndham were going into the game with some fatigued bodies while Pakenham suited up for the first time for the weekend. Still, the home court advantage and experience in the championship division proved too much for the Warriors as 4 of Wyndham’s starters finished in double figures.
Callum McNiff was impressive off the bench for the Warriors shooting an efficient 6/9 from the field while Ayilara continued his dominant weekend leading all scorers with 24 points.
Wyndham’s fast pace and athletic line up continues to prove issues for this league as they find themselves on top of the ladder.
To see our First Teams of the week, click here.
To see our Second Teams of the week, click here.
As the dust settles on another weekend of intense competition, eyes turn to Round 7. We'll see you next week!
