Central Wrap | Men's Round 12

Featured image: Dan Cowley | @imagesby_dan

The Norwood Flames ended the winning run of the South Adelaide Panthers in NBL1 Central with Thomas Kurowski starring while Jordan Forbes and Greg Mays combined for 63 points for Forestville Eagles, Jayden Seymour for Central Districts Lions, and Oskar Jones for North Adelaide Rockets.

>> CENTRAL SPOTLIGHT | NORWOOD SNAP PANTHERS WINNING RUN

>> CENTRAL SPOTLIGHT | WURM LEADS WARRIORS TO CRUCIAL WIN

SATURDAY

Sturt Sabres (56) lost to Woodville Warriors (74)

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 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 in the first quarter 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.

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.

Eastern Mavericks (75) lost to Central Districts Lions (82)

Jayden Seymour delivered 28 points and led the Central Districts Lions to the 82-75 win over the Eastern Mavericks to maintain their hold on a playoff position.

The two teams arrived at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre in what was a crucial match up with just one game separating them in the standings with the Lions just inside the top five and the Mavericks just outside.

Centrals made a strong start with 23 points to 16 before that lead got out to 12 points in the second term and the visitors went into half-time leading 47-44.

The Lions then pushed out further to a 13-point advantage in the third term and then held firm in the finish for the seven-point victory to make it back-to-back wins to stay in the top five at 7-7.

Jayden Seymour starred in the win for Central Districts with 28 points, eight rebounds and three assists with 13/24 shooting from the floor.

Magok Manyang also had 16 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, Koen Sapwell 14 points, six boards, six assists and two steals, and Deng Manyang 12 points and 15 rebounds.

The Mavericks remain outside a playoff position with a 5-9 record with BJ Symons finishing with 23 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.

Christian Peevy also had 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots, Dylan Marshall 16 points, five boards and five assists, and Curtis Scott 10 points and four assists.

Forestville Eagles (116) defeated West Adelaide Bearcats (84)

Jordan Forbes produced 36 points and Greg Mays 27 as the Forestville Eagles delivered a dominant performance against the defending champion West Adelaide Bearcats to win 116-84 and retain top position.

The Eagles were back home at the State Basketball Centre needing to keep winning to stay in first place while the Bearcats were coming off a win that just kept them alive in the playoff hunt as defending champs.

The Eagles were leading 21-17 by the end of the first quarter before then putting up 32 points to 16 in the second frame to head into the half-time interval leading 53-33.

West Adelaide did have 36 points to 29 in third quarter to stay in touch but then Forestville delivered a monster 34 to 15 final term on the way to the 32-point victory to stay in top spot at 12-2.

Forbes produced 36 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Eagles with 13/21 field goal shooting along with going 4/8 from downtown, and 6/7 at the free-throw line.

Mays added 27 points, seven rebounds and three assists with 11/16 shooting with Fiston Ipassou contributing 17 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals, and Alex Starling 10 points and nine rebounds.

Adam Doyle also had nine points and three assists, and Daniel Johnson seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

The Bearcats slip further from playoff contention at 4-10 with the absence of Nick Marshall significant with Akok Machar top scoring with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Braelen Bridges also had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, Nik DeSantis 16 points, five boards and five assists, Sean Stock 11 points and four assists, and Tom Kubank seven points, five rebounds and three assists.

Southern Tigers (101) lost to North Adelaide Rockets (114)

Oskar Jones had 28 points and Burke Smith 23 to go with 12 rebounds, six assists and three blocks as the North Adelaide Rockets scored the 114-101 win over the Southern Tigers.

It was a clash featuring the bottom two teams in the league at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium with the Tigers at home but in last place having lost six straight while the Rockets had lost their past two to be just one slot ahead.

The Tigers had a big start with 33 points to 29 in the first quarter before North Adelaide took control with a 13-0 run to have 32 to 14 in the second term on the way to leading 61-47 by half-time.

That lead for the Rockets continued to grow and got out to 15 points in the third frame, and 19 in the fourth before they secured the 13-point victory.

North Adelaide improve to a 3-11 record with the win with Jones delivering 28 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Smith also had 23 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three blocks with 10/15 field goal shooting while Jok Bulabek contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds, Jack King 16 points and three assists, and Miller Drewett 10 points and four assists.

The Tigers have now lost seven straight to remain in bottom place at 2-12 with Devin Fortune providing 36 points, 12 rebounds and two assists with 17/25 field goal shooting.

Koop McCalop also had 22 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals, Jarrod Molnar 19 points with 5/12 three-point shooting, and Nicko Timonera 11 points and nine assists.

SUNDAY

Norwood Flames (89) defeated South Adelaide Panthers (79)

The South Adelaide Panthers looked on track for a 12th straight win until Thomas Kurowski and the Norwood Flames delivered a huge fourth quarter to storm home for the 89-79 victory.

The Panthers arrived at The ARC on an 11-game winning streak to be banging on the door of top spot while the Flames have shown they are capable of some impressive basketball this season, but they were still in sixth spot coming into Round 12.

South Adelaide then opened up an early 10-point lead and maintained a degree of control for the majority of the first three quarters and were up six still heading into the fourth frame.

But from there it was all the Flames as they finished with 26 points to 10 in the final term to turn that six-point deficit into the 10-point victory to enhance their finals prospects at 6-8.

It's a first loss for the Panthers since March 28 to the Forestville Eagles with them now sitting on an 11-3 record.

It was a crucial win in the context of the season for Norwood as they attempt to break into the top five with Thomas Kurowski leading the charge with 23 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds on 10/16 field goal shooting.

Cooper Osborne added 17 points, 13 assists, four rebounds and two steals for the Flames, Aydan Janssan 17 points, four boards, two assists and two steals, Daniel Webber 16 points and three assists, and Oscar Sabine 10 points, six boards and two assists.

South Adelaide's winning run is now over despite leading most of the afternoon with Lloyd McVeigh finishing with 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Jeremy Smith added 18 points and six assists for the Panthers, Rio Bruton 14 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Koby Moir nine points, four boards and two assists.