Central Wrap | Men's Round 8

Featured image: Dan Cowley | @imagesby_dan

Jacob Rigoni's 32 points kept Sturt Sabres unbeaten in NBL1 Central with Daniel Johnson helping Forestville Eagles to five straight and 65 points from Jeremy Smith and Lloyd McVeigh made it seven in-a-row for South Adelaide Panthers.

>> CENTRAL SPOTLIGHT | SMITH, MCVEIGH FIRE PANTHERS TO ANOTHER WIN

>> CENTRAL WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 7

Norwood Flames (87) lost to Central Districts Lions (88)

Even without scoring in the final minute and-a-half, the Central Districts Lions held on in a thrilling finish to beat the Norwood Flames 88-87 with Deng Manyang, Jayden Seymour and Koen Sapwell combining for 65 points.

Both teams came into the match up at The ARC on three-game losing slides heightening the stakes for the contest heading into next week's break.

Centrals had the better of the start to lead by three at quarter-time and then by four at half-time having been up by as much as eight before Norwood fired up in the third period.

The Flames put up 27 points to 20 to grab the lead, but Centrals responded and built their own eight-point lead again in the fourth term and were on top 88-80 with 1:30 to play after a bucket to Koen Sapwell.

They wouldn’t score again but Norwood fell one-point short of snatching the win when Campbell Scott's shot on the buzzer didn't quite fall.

The Lions are now 3-6 with the win with Deng Manyang ending up with 22 points and eight rebounds, Jayden Seymour 22 points, eight boards and five assists, and Sapwell 21 points and five rebounds.

Magok Manyang also had seven points, six rebounds and four assists on just here shot attempts.

Norwood slip to a 3-6 record with four consecutive defeats although three of those have been by a combined four points with two one-point losses.

Thomas Kurowski produced another 21 points, 12 rebounds, five steals and four assists with Cooper Osborne adding 18 points, three steals and two assists, and Mason Whittaker 16 points and four rebounds.

Campbell Scott also had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds, and Chok Garang seven points and 11 boards.

West Adelaide Bearcats (90) lost to Sturt Sabres (94)

Jacob Rigoni came up huge late once more to keep the Sturt Sabres unbeaten this season with the 94-90 win on the road to the defending champion West Adelaide Bearcats.

Sturt arrived at Port Adelaide Recreation Centre looking for a ninth consecutive win to start the season while West Adelaide were just trying to breathe some life back into their championship defence.

It was a tight battle all evening with the Bearcats up by one at quarter-time before it was Sturt on top by two at half-time and then three at three quarter-time having been up eight earlier that term after going on a 12-0 run.

In the end after the Bearcats were up two midway through the fourth period after a triple from Nik DeSantis, the Sabres scored the next five points topped off by a three ball from Rigoni and in the end that was enough for them to go on to score the four-point victory in the finish.

Sturt are now 9-0 as a result with another huge showing from Jacob Rigoni to end up with 32 points, nine rebounds and four assists with 10/20 field goal shooting and going 10/11 from the free-throw line.

Luke Pfitzner added 15 points, three rebounds and two assists, Seb Griffin 12 points, five assists, three boards and two steals, and DJ Vasiljevic 11 points and four rebounds.

West Adelaide slip to 2-7 with three straight losses with De'Sean Parsons having a huge night with 23 points, 21 rebounds and six assists with 11/17 free-throw shooting.

DeSantis also went 6/9 from three-point territory for 26 points and three rebounds with Braelen Bridges contributing 18 points, six boards and six assists, and Tom Kubank 12 points, three rebounds and two steals.

South Adelaide Panthers (108) defeated Eastern Mavericks (89)

Jeremy Smith had 20 points in the first half, Lloyd McVeigh 19 in the third quarter and they combined for 65 as the South Adelaide Panthers made it seven straight wins beating the Eastern Mavericks 108-89.

The Panthers were back home at Mitchell Park Sports and Community Centre putting their six-game winning streak on the line against a Mavericks team coming off their own win against the West Adelaide Bearcats.

Smith set the tone to continue his hot form with 12 points in the first quarter and 20 in the opening half before McVeigh broke the game wide open with 19 points in the third term.

That saw South Adelaide on the path to the eventual 19-point victory to make it six on the trot and to improve to a 7-2 record with the Mavs now 3-6 and having lost five of their past six.

Jeremy Smith set the tone for the Panthers with 20 points in the first half on the way to 29 for the night with eight rebounds and five assists while shooting 11/17 from the floor and 7/9 at the foul line.

Then it was Lloyd McVeigh who was unstoppable in the third quarter with 19 points and ending up with 36 for the game to go with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals while shooting 16/28 from the field and 4/11 from downtown.

Rio Bruton added 17 points, four rebounds and two blocks, Yevgen Sakhniuk 14 points, eight assists, six boards and three blocks, and Jonty Smith five points and three rebounds.

The Mavericks are now 3-6 on the season following the loss with Curtis Scott ending up top scoring with 22 points with seven assists, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Christian Peevy added 20 points, three rebounds and two assists for the Mavs, BJ Symons 10 points, four boards and two assists, Dylan Marshall 10 points and four rebounds, and Harry Morris 10 points, seven boards and two steals.

North Adelaide Rockets (78) lost to Forestville Eagles (109)

Daniel Johnson, Greg Mays and Jordan Forbes all fired once more for the Forestville Eagles to make it five straight with the 109-78 road win over the North Adelaide Rockets.

Forestville arrived at The Lights in hot form and that continued with 41 points in the first quarter to already open up a 30-point lead on North Adelaide having score 16 points in-a-row.

It was all the Eagles from there with the lead growing to 35 points in the second frame, 43 in the third and 47 in the fourth before they settled on the 31-point victory.

Forestville have now won five straight to sit at 8-1 with Daniel Johnson finishing with 24 points, 12 rebounds and three assists on a supremely efficient 9/13 field goal shooting and 5/6 at the free-throw line.

Greg Mays added 20 points, six rebounds and two assists, Jordan Forbes 16 points, nine boards, four assists and two steals, James Mackenzie 13 points on 5/6 field goal shooting, and Stefan Gould 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.

North Adelaide are 2-7 following the defeat with Jack King top scoring with 16 points and two steals while Machar Machar added 13 points, eight boards and two steals, Burke Smith 12 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, and Kaden Archie 10 points, six boards, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Woodville Warriors (105) defeated Southern Tigers (82)

LJ Booth Jr, Awak Machar and Uzo Dibiamaka all had 20-plus points as the Woodville Warriors hit back to beat the Southern Tigers 105-82 at home.

The Warriors were back home at St Clair Recreation Centre looking to last week's loss to the South Adelaide Panthers while Tigers were also coming off losing to the Forestville Eagles.

It was Woodville with the better of the start with 24 points to 14 in the first quarter before another 31 to 21 in the second term to go into half-time on top 55-35.

The Warriors went on with the job from there with 50 points to 47 in the second half to secure the 23-point victory to improve to a 6-3 record.

LJ Booth Jr delivered 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, Uzo Dibiamaka 22 points, five boards, four steals and three assists, Awak Machar 21 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Bennett Sherry 16 points, eight boards and two blocked shots.

The Tigers are now 2-7 following the defeat with Jarrod Molnar top scoring with 16 points and three assists on 4/8 three-point shooting.

Lem Ajith added 15 points and five rebounds, Koop McCalop 14 points, six boards and two steals, and Devin Fortune 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists.