North Spotlight | Pirates shock Thunder with remarkable to finish

Featured image: @shoot_nhoops

Logan Thunder were in control most of the way but Flynn Cameron had 42 points to keep the South West Metro Pirates close and then Darryl McDowell-White inspired his team to score the last 13 points to snatch the 103-101 NBL1 North win.

The Pirates have been rejuvenated with the arrival of Cameron with the Adelaide 36ers NBL star leading them to their first two wins of the season as they took on Logan at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre.

The Thunder then did hold sway for most of the evening with a four-point lead by quarter-time with that growing to 11 by half-time and they were still up by 11 with 2:45 left in the game and appeared heading for an eighth win of the season.

But the Pirates had other ideas and went on a stunning 13-0 run the rest of the game highlighted by a steal from McDowell-White on Bruce that led to the game winning bucket with 6.5 seconds to go.

The horror finish from Bruce then continued when he struggled to get in the inbounds pass and it went off the foot of the defender, and then when he collected the loose ball, his rushed shot was never a chance.

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South West Metro completed the remarkable finish for the two-point win to make it three straight with Cameron in the line-up to improve to a 3-8 record while Logan are now 7-3 with the frustrating home defeat.

Cameron had another brilliant performance for South West Metro with 42 points, nine rebounds and six assists with 6/15 three-point shooting and going 12/12 at the foul line on the back of his breakout NBL season at the Adelaide 36ers.

But playing-coach Darryl McDowell-White was the inspiration to the win and ended up with 28 points, six steals, five assists and two rebounds with 5/12 three-point shooting.

Harrison Huber also had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists for the Pirates, and Deng Mayot nine points and eight boards.

Given they led most of the way including by double figures inside the last three minutes, it will be a tough loss for Logan to stomach and even through Bruce had 25 points, 15 assists, four rebounds and three steals, he'll be kicking himself over that finish too.

Zac Triplett also had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, Cal Dalton 18 points, 15 boards and two blocked shots, Tyrone Fui 16 points, four rebounds and two blocks, and Hunter Marks 15 points and seven rebounds with 11/16 free-throw shooting.

It always shaped as an exciting contest with Logan having won seven of nine games so far in 2026 while the Pirates have been reborn since the addition of Flynn Cameron.

Logan opened up an eight-point lead in the first quarter and were still on top 31-27 by quarter-time on the back of shooting 52 per cent from the field to the 40 from South West Metro.

However, the Pirates stayed close thanks to going 6/13 from behind the arc with Flynn Cameron making 3/4 of those on the way to 14 first-quarter points.

The Thunder then did add another 24 points to 17 in the second frame to lead by as much as 13 points along the way and still being on top 55-44 by the main break.

At the half, Logan were shooting 50 per cent from the field to 33 from the Pirates who couldn’t quite maintain their three-point shooting going just 1/9 from beyond the arc but the Thunder went 11/15 from the foul like to 7/7 from South West Metro.

The Pirates did knock down another six three-pointers in the third quarter for 28 points but the Thunder were still leading by seven at three quarter-time and then again by 11 when Zac Triplett knocked down a three ball with just 2:45 to play.

But South West Metro then produced a stunning finish and Logan wouldn’t score again with the Pirates hitting the game's last 13 points to snatch the win in remarkable fashion.

It began with three free throws to Darryl McDowell-White before a bucket to Cameron and then he nailed a three ball to make it a two-point ball game.

McDowell-White then made a floater before picking the pocket of Bruce up top who was trying to use up as much of the clock as possible leading to him going in for an open layup.

That proved the game winner giving the Pirates the two-point lead with 6.5 seconds left and from there Bruce's inbounds pass was deflected but he did get it back only to jack up an off balance, rushed three that was never close and South West Metro secured the remarkable win.

Logan now don't play again until next Sunday when they are away to the North Gold Coast Seahawks with the Pirates trying to keep on winning with Cameron in the line-up on Sunday also against the Seahawks.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

LOGAN THUNDER 101 (Bruce 25, Triplett 19, Dalton 18)

SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 103 (Cameron 42, McDowell-White 28, Huber 10)