Central Spotlight | Wurm leads Warriors to crucial win

Featured image: @snapshotphotography3 / Snap Shot Photography

The Sturt Sabres had a horror night at the foul line and couldn’t overcome the absence of Jacob Rigoni and DJ Vasiljevic with the Woodville Warriors doing enough for the 74-56 NBL1 Central win with Nick Wurm delivering 22 points.

The two teams arrived at Springbank Secondary College for the Round 12 match up occupying the third and fourth position in the standings with the Sabres looking for a third straight win and the Warriors to hit back from a loss to the South Adelaide Panthers.

Sturt missed all six of their free-throw attempts to set the tone for the evening and by the end of it they went 5/19 and managed just 56 points across the 40 minutes with the Warriors doing enough to secure the 18-point road victory.

The win improves Woodville to 8-6 on the season to close the gap between them and the Sabres who are now 11-3 having lost three of the past five.

>> CENTRAL WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 11

Ultimately the major difference in the game was in the shooting and while the Warriors didn’t light it up going 43 per cent from the floor and 12/22 at the foul line, it was better than what the Sabres managed who went at just 38 per cent from the field and then 5/19 at the foul line including 1/8 for Josh Tomasi.

The win steadies the season for Woodville with Nick Wurm finishing with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals with 4/8 three-point shooting.

Uzo Dibiamaka added 17 points, five rebounds and two steals, Joe Jackson 10 points, four boards, three steals and two assists, and Kurt Whitmore nine points and four rebounds.

It was tough going for Sturt without DJ Vasiljevic and Jacob Rigoni and they have now lost three of their last five games as a result to be 11-3 having opened the season winning the first nine matches.

The horror night at the charity stripe will haunt them with the 14 misses in an 18-point loss but outside of that, Luke Pfitzner finished with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Joel Spear also had nine points, six boards, five assists and three steals, Josh Tomasi eight points and three boards, and Jarryd Hoppo five points, seven rebounds and three assists.

The Sabres were trying to find a way to win in the absence of Jacob Rigoni and DJ Vasiljevic with Woodville trying to bounce back from a last up loss and it was the Warriors leading narrowly 16-14 by the end of the first quarter.

Sturt could well have been on top had not been for Josh Tomasi and Sam Daly combining to go 0/6 at the foul line.

The Warriors did push out to a nine-point lead in the second quarter but Sturt responded with a 9-0 run and by half-time it was the home team clinging to the 36-35 advantage with Luke Pfitzner up to 17 points with Joel Spear adding 12.

Woodville hit back in the third frame with 24 points to 15 on the back of shooting 9/16 from the field with 3/5 from downtown with Nick Wurm firing up to be up to 15 points and by three quarter-time it was the Warriors leading 59-51.

Sturt managed just the 15 points on 7/13 shooting in the third term but again they missed all three foul shots to be going 5/17 by three quarter-time.

Woodville remained in control the fourth quarter and that on the back of limiting Sturt to just the five points with 2/14 shooting from the field and missing another two foul shot attempts with the Warriors securing the crucial 18-point road victory.

Sturt will now try to hit back with next weekend's double away to the Southern Tigers and at home to the Eastern Mavericks while the Warriors are away to the Mavs too on Saturday and host the North Adelaide Rockets on Sunday.

NBL1 CENTRAL 2026 SEASON | ROUND 12

STURT SABRES 56 (Pfitzner 16, Spear 9, Tomasi 8)

WOODVILLE WARRIORS 73 (Wurm 21, Dibiamaka 17, Jackson 10)