South Spotlight | Brown leads Sabres to thumping win

Featured image: Shane Panther | @shanejpg.sport

Elliott Brown stepped up for 29 points and six assists and the Sandringham Sabres were dominant on Friday night with the defending NBL1 South champions beating the Diamond Valley Eagles 113-90.

The Sabres split their opening two matches as reigning champions in the NBL1 South ahead of arriving at Diamond Valley Sports and Fitness Centre to take on an Eagles team still chasing a first win of 2026.

Diamond Valley had lost their first two matches to the Eltham Wildcats and Ballarat Miners, but the Sabres took charge in the third quarter and never looked back.

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Sandringham outscored Diamond Valley 62 points to 38 across the second and third quarters while shooting 20/32 from the field, 8/16 from behind the arc and 14/22 at the foul line across those 20 minutes to set up the eventual 23-point victory.

The Sabres finished the night shooting 57 per cent from the field with 10/23 from three-point range and 29/41 at the foul line while the Eagles managed just 43 per cent from 7/24 from deep and 15/26 at the free-throw line.

There was a lot to like in the performance from the defending champion Sabres who are now 2-1 on the season with Elliott Brown starring with 29 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals after having a combined 19 points only in the first two games of 2026.

Kaylan Kitto added 19 points with 4/5 three-point shooting, Kyle Bowen 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals fresh off another NBL season with Melbourne United where he was alongside Malith Machar who had 16 points with 4/7 shooting from downtown.

Dane Pineau pulled down nine rebounds to go with four points and two blocks while Sammy Cartwright had seven points and four boards.

The Eagles have now lost their opening three games of the season by a combined 48 points with Chris Elder top-scoring with 16 points on 3/5 three-point shooting.

Ryley Haywood also had 12 points and two assists, Mitch Blackburn 11 points and two rebounds, Manny Malou 10 points and seven boards, and former NBL sharpshooter Mirko Djeric four points on 2/8 shooting, five rebounds and five assists.

It was a good battle through the first quarter but the Sabres did make it a focus to attack the basket and as a result scored 14 points in the paint and got to the foul line 10 times to two in the first quarter.

With Elliott Brown scoring 10 points, Sandringham were narrowly leading 26-22 by quarter-time and then the defending champions blew the game apart with 31 points to 14 in the second frame.

Sandringham shot 11/18 from the field and 4/7 from downtown in the second quarter to open up a 21-point lead and to go into the half-time intermission leading 57-36 with Brown up to 17 points while Melbourne United pair Kyle Bowen and Malith Machar combined for 21.

The Sabres weren’t letting up after the break either and put up another 31 points in the third quarter to build a lead as large as 36 points before shooting another 9/14 from the field and 4/9 from deep for the quarter.

Not only that, the Sabres got to the free-throw line 17 times across the 10 minutes and by three quarter-time the lead was still 28 points.

Diamond Valley did manage 30 points in the final quarter and improved their shooting with 11/22 from the field, but Sandringham still cruised to the emphatic 23-point road win.

The Eagles have the short turnaround to remain at home to host the Mount Gambier Pioneers on Saturday while the Sabres don't play again until Thursday night when they host the Melbourne Tigers in a Grand Final rematch.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | MENTAL HEALTH ROUND

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 90 (Elder 16, Haywood 12, Blackburn 11)

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 113 (Brown 29, Kitto 19, Bowen 18)