South Spotlight | Blagojevic shines as Tigers go back top

Featured image: Travis Palmieri | traviphotography

Top place in the NBL1 South went on the line and the Melbourne Tigers took charge in the third quarter and George Blagojevic led the charge as they knocked off the league-leading Eltham Wildcats 77-63.

The top two teams coming out of the King's Birthday long weekend locked horns on Saturday night at Montmorency Secondary College with Eltham having moved into first place with three straight wins while the Tigers had slipped from that position having lost their past couple.

The Tigers were leading by three points at both quarter and half-time before then taking control with 21 points to 10 in the third quarter to set up the eventual 14-point victory that improves them to an 11-4 record to be back into first place.

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The Tigers did finish the game shooting 49 per cent from the field to the 40 from Eltham while ending up taking an extra 10 shots on the back 10 offensive rebounds to eight, and forcing the Wildcats into 23 turnovers for the game.

George Blagojevic finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and 11/17 field goal shooting for Melbourne with Mason Gaze adding 17 points on 4/8 shooting from behind the arc.

Tom Wilson also had 14 points, six assists and four steals, Josh Sykes eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals against his former team, and Jack Purchase seven points, seven boards, four assists and two steals.

Eltham are now 10-4 on the season following the defeat at home with Zak Cunningham top scoring with 23 points and 12 rebounds with 9/15 field goal shooting.

Mitch McCarron also had 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists, Sam Whelan seven points and three boards, Leonardo Colimerio seven points, two rebounds and two assists, and Sam Short seven points, six assists and five boards.

It was the battle over top spot and the Tigers had the better of the start leading 24-21 by the end of the first quarter with George Blagojevic opening up on fire with 14 points in the first 10 minutes.

Mason Gaze also added eight points with Melbourne ending up shooting 65 per cent from the field while Eltham still went at 53 per cent with Zac Cunningham already up to 10 points.

Both teams then added 16 points each in the second quarter with Cunningham adding six more for Eltham and even with Blagojevic not adding to his 14 points, Melbourne were still on top 40-37 by half-time.

The Tigers then blew the game open in the third frame with 21 points to 10 on the back of shooting 10/18 from the field while the Wildcats struggled going just 3/19 from the field while also having another five turnovers.

Melbourne's lead then got out to as much as 19 points in the final term before they went on to score the 14-point victory to move back into top spot as a result.

The Tigers now don't play again until a road trip against the Bendigo Braves next Saturday while the Wildcats also are next in action that same night on the road to Keilor Thunder.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

ELTHAM WILDCATS 63 (Cunningham 23, McCarron 13, Whelan 7, Colimério 7, Short 7)

MELBOURNE TIGERS 77 (Blagojevic 22, Gaze 17, Wilson 14)