North -West Thunder might have been out of the playoff hunt, but was dangerous and wouldn’t be handing the Rangers anything

Recap NBL1 South | Round 14 Sunday

Dandenong Rangers (81) defeated North West Tasmania Thunder (75)

The Dandenong Rangers secured their place in the playoffs with the 81-75 home win against the North West Tasmania Thunder with Tad Dufelmeier delivering 24 points.

The Rangers were back at Dandenong Basketball Stadium on the last day of the regular season knowing that a win would take everything else out of the equation and book them into the post-season.
They were playing host to a Thunder team that might have been out of the playoff hunt, but was dangerous and wouldn’t be handing the Rangers anything.
Dandenong did manage to open up a five-point lead by quarter-time before extending that to 11 by half-time at 51-40.
It was still a double-figure lead for most of the second half for the Rangers until the Thunder made a late charge and sent a real scare into Dandenong with their season potentially on the line.
North West Tasmania even made it all the way back to hit the front with a bucket to Seth Swalve early in the fourth quarter.
However, Tad Dufelmeier responded with the next six points for Dandenong to put his team back in front before a huge three from Jack Roberts and from there the Rangers managed to secure the important six-point victory.
Dandenong finishes the season now with a 13-9 record in sixth position with Tad Dufelmeier producing a starring performance with 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals on 9/16 shooting from the floor and 6/6 at the free-throw line.
Mason Peatling also had 20 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots on 9/13 shooting with Jacob Tryon contributing 13 points, five boards, three assists and two blocks, and Jack Roberts 10 points and three rebounds.
North West Tasmania ends the season with two road losses this weekend with a 9-13 record with Tre Armstrong top-scoring with 23 points on 6/11 three-point shooting.
Seth Swalve added 16 points and two assists for the Thunder, Archer Woodhill 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals, and Sejr Deans 11 points.

DANDENONG RANGERS 81 (Dufelmeier 24, Peatling 20, Tryon 13)
NORTH WEST TASMANIA THUNDER 75 (Armstrong 23, Swalve 16, Woodhill 13)