Central Wrap | Men's Round 5

Featured image: Melissa Belanic | @justbphotoau

Lloyd McVeigh had 31 points and Jeremy Smith 32 in a big South Adelaide Panthers NBL1 Central win with Forestville Eagles making it a double while the Sturt Sabres remain the lone unbeaten team at 5-0.

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FRIDAY

Sturt Sabres (114) lost to North Adelaide Rockets (92)

The Sturt Sabres maintained their status as the last remaining men's team yet to lose in 2026 with a commanding home performance to beat the North Adelaide Rockets 114-92.

The Sabres put their unbeaten record on the line against the Rockets at Springbank Secondary College and were never really threatened from the outset.

Sturt would end up leading by as much as 29 points on the way to the eventual 22-point victory to improve to the perfect 5-0 record with this result the biggest of those victories as they look to make up for missing the finals in 2025.

Sturt improved to the perfect 5-0 record with Luke Pfitzner having all 22 of his points to three quarter-time to go with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals on 9/14 shooting and being +26.

Jarryd Hoppo also delivered 20 points and seven rebounds with 3/6 three-point shooting, Josh Tomasi 19 points, nine boards, five assists and two steals, Jacob Rigoni 11 points, five assists, three rebounds and two blocks, and Hayden Meakes 10 points and two blocked shots.

North Adelaide are now 1-4 following the fourth straight defeat with Oskar Jones top-scoring with 20 points, four steals, three rebounds and two rebounds with 7/10 free-throw shooting.

Baxter MacDonald added 18 points and four rebounds, Joel Dyer 14 points, four boards and two steals, Burke Smith 13 points, 15 rebounds and four assists, and Miller Drewett 10 points, seven boards and two assists.

SATURDAY

Forestville Eagles (76) defeated Woodville Warriors (66)

The Forestville Eagles opened their double-header with the hard fought 76-66 win at home over the Woodville on the back of a dominant first half performance.

The Eagles played host to the Warriors at the State Basketball Centre looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season to the Sturt Sabres with Woodville fresh off beating the Central Districts Lions.

Forestville shot out of the blocks with 28 points to 19 in the first quarter which included going on a 14-0 scoring run.

That lead grew to 20 points in the second period and the Eagles put up another 24 to 13 for the term to be leading 52-32 to be in total control at the half-time break.

The scoring dried up for Forestville in the second half with them managing just the 24 extra points and even with the Warriors putting up 34, they couldn’t get close enough to strike with the Eagles still winning by 10.

Forestville improve to a 4-1 record with the win with Daniel Johnson finishing with 17 points, three assists and two rebounds while Greg Mays added 16 points, six boards and two steals.

Adam Doyle also had 12 points and four assists, Jordan Forbes 11 points and five rebounds, Alex Starling nine points, 13 boards, six steals and four assists, and Fiston Ipassou eight points, six rebounds and two assists.

Woodville are now 3-2 following the loss with Uzoma Dibiamaka putting up 21 points, three rebounds and two assists with Bennett Sherry adding 13 points, nine boards, three steals and two assists, and Nick Wurm 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Eastern Mavericks (68) lost to Norwood Flames (81)

The Norwood Flames made it back-to-back wins and resisted a big finish from the Eastern Mavericks on the way to the 81-68 road victory.

The Mavs were back home at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre looking to avoid consecutive losses as they hosted a Flames team arriving after a win against North Adelaide Rockets.

The Flames were able to build a nine-point lead during the first quarter with that getting out to 20 in the second term, and 33 in the third and then they secured the eventual 13-point victory even with 26 points in the last term from the Mavericks.

Norwood improve to 3-2 with the win with Campbell Scott starring with 25 points, five rebounds and three steals with 6/11 shooting from long-range.

Inady Legiste also had 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Cooper Osborne 10 points, two boards, two assists and two steals, Thomas Kurowski nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals, and Mason Whittaker nine points, four boards and two steals.

The Mavs are now 2-3 after the loss with Mack Schaftenaar finishing with 19 points and two assists with 3/4 three-point shooting, BJ Symons 15 points and nine rebounds, and Curtis Scott nine points and four assists.

Central Districts Lions (113) defeated West Adelaide Bearcats (88)

The Central Districts Lions inflicted some more early season pain on the defending champion West Adelaide Bearcats and earned a measure of revenge with the 113-88 win.

It was the first time the two teams had met since West Adelaide won last year's Grand Final with the Lions hosting the Bearcats at STARplex, and both teams needing a win.

Centrals came into the match up having lost their past three matches while the Bearcats had also lost three straight by an average of almost 17 points.

Right from the outset it was the Lions in control to be leading by 13 at three quarter-time with the Bearcats shooting just 4/19. That didn’t improve with them going 7/35 by half-time with Central Districts leading 53-30 and converting that into the eventual 25-point win.

Central Districts improve to 2-3 with the win on 55 per cent field goal shooting with Magok Manyang putting up 25 points, 12 rebounds and two assists on 8/11 field goal shooting, 3/5 from downtown and 6/8 at the foul line.

Jayden Seymour also had 21 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win for the Lions, Riley Harrap 19 points, three boards and two assists, and Koen Sapwell 16 points, five assists, three blocks, two steals and two rebounds.

West Adelaide are now 1-4 in their title defence with new face De'Sean Parsons putting up 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Nik DeSantis had 11 points and three rebounds, Braelen Bridges 13 points and five rebounds, Sean Stock 13 points on 3/5 three-point shooting, and Tom Kubank 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Southern Tigers (90) lost to South Adelaide Panthers (118)

The South Adelaide Panthers made it three straight wins with the 118-90 road victory over the Southern Tigers with Jeremy Smith and Lloyd McVeigh combining for 63 points and 18 rebounds.

The Panthers arrived at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium having won their past two matches with the Tigers looking to back up their first win of 2026 against the Eastern Mavericks.

After the Panthers led by 10 early, the Tigers hit back and by quarter-time were on top 31-26 before South Adelaide had 27 points to 20 in the second frame to be narrowly leading 53-51 by half-time.

It was then all the Panthers in the second half starting with 36 points to 15 in the third quarter, and another 29 to 24 in the fourth with the lead getting out to 32 points and settling on the 28-point mark by the final buzzer.

South Adelaide are now 3-2 following the win with Jeremy Smith delivering 32 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals on 11/16 shooting from the floor and 9/10 at the free-throw line.

Lloyd McVeigh also had 31 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and three assists, Yevgen Sakhniuk 21 points, nine boards, three assists, two steals and two blocks, and Rio Bruton 16 points, six assists and five rebounds.

The Tigers are now 1-4 after the loss at home with Che Brogan finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Jarrod Molnar also had 20 points on 6/8 three-point shooting, Devin Fortune 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Koop McCalop seven points, four boards and two steals.

SUNDAY

Forestville Eagles (107) defeated Central Districts Lions (72)

The Forestville Eagles came into this round's double desperate to hit back from last week's loss and did so emphatically with a second win with 107-72 home triumph against the Central Districts Lions.

Forestville lost their first game of the season last week against the Sturt Sabres by two points in a thriller and hit back on Saturday night this week beating the Woodville Warriors.

They then backed up on Sunday hosting the Lions at the State Basketball Centre and that's a Central Districts team who beat the West Adelaide Bearcats the night before, and also beat Forestville in the 2025 finals.

The Eagles had no shortage of motivation and dominated from the start with 34 points in the first quarter on Sunday on the way to lead by as much as 38 points before winning by 35 to improve to 5-1.

Alex Starling did all his damage in the first half on his way to 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the game while Greg Mays took over after half-time to end up with 18 points, nine boards and two assists.

Daniel Johnson was solid all the way through for 23 points, eight assists, four steals, three blocks and three rebounds with Adam Doyle adding 13 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals, Fiston Ipassou 12 points, four boards and three steals, and Jordan Forbes nine points, five steals and three rebounds.

Deng Manyang finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and three assists for Central Districts with Koen Sapwell putting up 17 points, seven boards and four assists, and Jayden Seymour 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Magok Manyang had just 11 points on 3/8 shooting with Kalani Sapwell adding seven points and four assists.