North Wrap | Men's Round 3

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Jarred Bairstow and James Whitt had massive triple doubles in NBL1 North wins for Brisbane Capitals and Gold Coast Rollers with Shaun Bruce setting an NBL1 record with 24 assists for Logan Thunder and Cairns Marlins made it a road double.

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>> NORTH SPOTLIGHT | MARLINS BEAT PHOENIX AFTER STUNNING Q4

FRIDAY

Logan Thunder (103) defeated Mackay Meteors (77)

Three-time NBL champion Shaun Bruce set a new NBL1 single game NBL1 assists record to lead Logan Thunder to another dominant win to start the season, beating the Mackay Meteors 103-77.

Logan were back home at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre having scored two dominant wins to start the season ahead of hosting a Mackay team who had split their first two games at home.

The Thunder made the dominant start with 27 points to 12 in the first quarter and then built a 25-point lead in the second frame on the way to the 60-38 advantage by half-time.

It was more of the same with 25 points to 15 in the third period with Logan ending up leading by as much as 36 points before securing the eventual 26-point victory to improve to 3-0 to open the season.

Bruce produced a remarkable performance fresh off winning a third NBL championship with the Sydney Kings and returning for another stint with the Thunder.

He dished out a record 24 assists to go with five points and seven rebounds.

Cal Dalton also produced 23 points and nine rebounds on 11/16 shooting, Zac Triplett 22 points, six boards and two steals, Hunter Marks 12 points and eight rebounds, Tyrone Fui 11 points, four boards, three steals and two assists, and Tom Howard nine points and 11 rebounds.

Mackay are now 1-2 after their first of two road games this weekend with Khobie finishing with 17 points, four rebounds and three assists, Seth Ham 13 points and two boards, Kobey Sager 11 points and four rebounds, and Jerron Jamerson 10 points and four boards.

Sunshine Coast Phoenix (94) lost to Cairns Marlins (95)

Two undefeated teams combined for 116 points through three quarters and exploded for 73 in the fourth with Cairns Marlins staying unbeaten with 95-94 win over Sunshine Coast Phoenix thanks to Kobe McDowell-White and Amarco Doyle.

It was a battle of two of the three remaining undefeated NBL1 North teams on Friday night at Maroochydore Stadium with the Marlins playing their first game on the road for 2026 and starting on fire.

Cairns raced out to the 19-6 lead and they did stay in front the rest of the game including by as much as 15 points in the second quarter, 14 in the third and 12 in the fourth.

But Sunshine Coast kept on fighting back into the contest and at the death they had a chance with the last possession to get the game to overtime on their home floor.

After Kody Stattmann missed two free throws for Cairns that would have iced the game, DeShawn Ross-Paiwan grabbed the rebound and took the ball the length of the floor, drove to the rack and completed the layup.

The only problem was there was just 1.2 seconds left and the game was effectively over with the Phoenix unable to foul the Taipans in time on the inbounds to avoid time running out.

The Marlins held on to win by a point and improve to 3-0 with Sunshine Coast now 2-1.

McDowell-White had 19 points to half-time for Cairns on the way to 27 for the game to go with nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals with 5/13 three-point shooting.

Doyle added 25 points, six rebounds and two assists with 4/8 shooting from behind the arc while Kody Stattmann had another 13 points, four boards and four assists.

Luca Yates also had 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks in the win for the Marlins.

The Phoenix suffered their first loss of the season after trailing all evening at home with Ross-Paiwan finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds and four assists with 11/23 field goal shooting along with going 9/10 at the foul line.

Jamaal Robateau had 14 points to half-time and 20 or the game including 3/5 shooting from downtown with Nelson Kahler contributing 17 points and eight rebounds, Darnell Robateau 12 points and two assists, and Luke Anderson eight points and eight boards.

SATURDAY

Northside Wizards (72) lost to Cairns Marlins (99)

The Cairns Marlins continued their winning ways backing up Friday's stunning win by proving too strong for the Northside Wizards on Saturday winning 99-72.

The Marlins made it three straight wins to start the season with the win against the Sunshine Coast Phoenix on Friday ahead of taking on the Wizards at Northside Indoor Sports Centre.

The Wizards were playing just their second game for 2026 and hunting a first win with the Marlins starting the better to be leading 31-22 by the end of the first quarter.

That lead for Cairns then grew to 25 in the second quarter with the visitors on top 60-39 by the main break.

It was another 23 points to 15 in the third quarter in favour of the Marlins as their lead grew to 36 and they ended up winning by 27 to improve to 4-0 to start the season.

Kody Stattmann produced another 25 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals with 11/20 field goal shooting while Amarco Doyle had 21 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals with the Marlins +37 in his 31 minutes.

Kobe McDowell-White added 12 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals, Luca Yates 12 points and 11 boards, James Mitchell eight points, four rebounds and two assists, and Ky Stattmann eight points, three boards, three assists and two steals.

The Wizards are now 0-2 following the loss with Tyler Williams delivering 26 points, three assists and three steals with Jeremiah Almencion adding 15 points and two steals, Jed Richardson nine points and five rebounds, and Quinton Dove eight points and five boards.

Ipswich Force (95) lost to Mackay Meteors (112)

The Mackay Meteors hit back from their Friday night loss in style to beat the Ipswich Force 112-95 on Saturday with big nights all from Kobey Sager, Cameron Goldfinch and Jerron Jamerson.

Mackay started their road double losing to Logan Thunder on Friday while Ipswich were back home at Ipswich Basketball Stadium looking to stay perfect on their own floor in 2026.

It was a flying start on the road for the Meteors with 36 points to 28 in the first quarter and then Mackay were still leading 59-49 by half-time.

Ipswich had clawed back within six points by three quarter-time but then Mackay dominated the final period with 32 points to 21 on the way to the 17-point victory.

The win saw the Meteors improve to a 2-2 record on the season with Sager delivering 27 points, 12 rebounds, there assists and two steals on 11/14 field goal shooting.

Jamerson added 25 points and four assists with 4/4 three-point shooting while Goldfinch contributed 23 points, four rebounds and three assists while going 5/8 from beyond the arc, and Kye Medhurst nine points and seven boards.

Ipswich are now 1-2 after the defeat with Sam McDaniel producing 34 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 6/10 three-point shooting.

Lachlan Anderson added 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Will Mahoney 13 points, three boards and two assists, Lamar Patterson nine points and six assists, and Kane Bishop eight points and five rebounds.

North Gold Coast Seahawks (99) lost to Gold Coast Rollers (125)

The Gold Coast Rollers put up 34 points in the first quarter and 36 in the last on the way to the 125-99 win over the North Gold Coast Seahawks with 20-plus points all from Jensen Bradtke, Boston Mazlin and James Whitt.

Whitt ended up with a massive triple double in the end after the first battle of the Goldy with the Seahawks returning to the NBL1 North in 2026.

North Gold Coast played host at Runaway Bay Indoor Stadium still hunting a first win on return with Gold Coast coming off a win against the Ipswich Force.

Gold Coast started on fire with 34 points to 27 in the first quarter before going into half-time leading 66-56.

The lead for the Rollers was out to 11 by three quarter-time before they put up 36 points to 21 in the final term to romp to the 26-point victory and improve to 2-1 as a result.

Boston Mazlin finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists with James Whitt completing a huge triple double consisting of 23 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists.

Jensen Bradtke added 20 points, four boards and three assists, Brodie McGregor 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, Cooper Urquhart 12 points and eight rebounds, and TJ Dip 10 points, four boards and two assists.

The Seahawks are now 0-3 with Jasraj Gill top-scoring with 26 points, four rebounds and two assists on 10/16 field goal shooting with Sean Murphy adding 22 points, seven boards, four assists and two steals.

Cole Ross also had 14 points, four rebounds and two steals, Zahn Agosta 10 points, six assists and three steals, and Isaiah Oste-Pinder seven points, four assists and three rebounds.

Southern Districts Spartans (85) lost to Brisbane Capitals (109)

It was a second Grand Final rematch in name only really given all the new faces the Brisbane Capitals have but with a monster Jarred Bairstow triple double showing the way, they again beat the Southern Districts Spartans 109-85.

The season started with a Grand Final rematch with the Caps winning in overtime over the Spartans and the teams backed up again on Saturday night at Rowland Cowan Stadium.

There wasn’t necessarily any revenge to get for the Capitals on the Spartans given their entire starting five are new to the club for 2026, but that didn’t stop them delivering quite the statement performance to romp to the eventual 24-point victory.

It was quite the statement performance against the defending champions on their home floor from the Capitals with Bairstow showing the way with his triple double made up of 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds with 9/18 shooting from the field and 7/9 at the foul line.

Ben Volkman also delivered 20 points and nine rebounds for the Caps, Brendan Teys 17 points and four boards with 3/5 three-point shooting, and Kai Woodfall 14 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals with 3/7 shooting from downtown.

Geordan Papacostas also provided the Capitals with 19 points and 12 rebounds with 7/13 shooting from the floor and 5/6 at the free-throw line.

Last year's Grand Final MVP Tamuri Wigness produced another 25 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks despite the loss for Southern Districts.

Max Kerle added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists for the Spartans, Isaih Tueta 11 points and two assists, Darcy Ryder eight points and three rebounds, and Ben Hastings eight points, three boards and two assists.