South Spotlight | Sabres dominate Braves in second half

Featured image: Mitchell Barlow

The Sandringham Sabres maintained top spot in the NBL1 South with the 106-65 Sunday home win over the Bendigo Braves with Madison Ryan delivering 27 points and Funda Nakkasoglu 24 with a dominant second half.

The Sabres were playing their lone game of Round 12 and hosted the Braves at Southern Basketball Stadium who were fresh off losing at home to the Casey Cavaliers the previous night.

It was then a tight battle through the first half with Sandringham only leading 37-34 but it was then all the Sabres from there with 32 points to nine in the third quarter, and 37 to 22 in the fourth.

That saw the Sabres outscore the Braves 69 points to 31 in the second half on 30/42 shooting from the field along with 7/16 from three-point range while Bendigo managed only 9/24 shooting along with having 14 turnovers after half-time.

The win improves Sandringham to a 14-3 record to retain top spot with Bendigo now slipping further from playoff calculations at 5-13 with the double loss weekend.

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It was an impressive offensive display in the win for Sandringham with them ending up shooting 54 per cent from the field to 38 from Bendigo along with pulling down 16 offensive rebounds to three, and forcing the Braves into 21 turnovers and having just 12 themselves.

The Sabres maintained their hold on top spot with Madison Ryan putting in a standout performance with 27 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals on 12/19 shooting from the floor.

Funda Nakkasoglu also had 24 points, five assists, five steals and two rebounds with Steph Reid contributing 12 points, seven assists and three boards, and Lili Long 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Lucy Cochrane added 10 points, 13 rebounds and three assists, Ella Ongarato nine points, Natasha Rivas Lee eight points and three rebounds, and Sierra Woodhouse six points and three assists.

Once again the Braves were battling without a host of key players including Kelly Wilson, Kelsey Griffin and Hannah Hank with Olivia Pollerd finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Jessica Smith also had 16 points and five rebounds with 4/6 three-point shooting with Ahlise Hurst contributing 12 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Elsie Noonan nine points, four assists, three boards and two steals.

Bendigo were trying to bounce back from a home loss the night before while Sandringham were making their only appearance of the weekend and turned an early three-point deficit into the six-point lead at quarter-time after a 9-0 scoring run.

That lead got out to 11 points in the second term for Sandringham before Bendigo fired back and ended up cutting the Sabres advantage to 37-34 by half-time.

Olivia Pollerd, Elsie Noonan and Jess Smith all had nine points for Bendigo by half-time but Sandringham was clinging to the three-point lead thanks to getting up an extra six shots and five more free throws on the back of nine offensive rebounds.

It was then a totally dominant third quarter from Sandringham with 32 points to nine to turn that three-point lead at the half to a 69-43 edge by three quarter-time.

The Sabres then had another 37 points to 22 in the fourth quarter to romp to the 41-point victory thanks to the remarkably dominant second half to maintain their hold on top spot as finals approach.

The Sabres now face another tantalising match up with the Waverley Falcons at home on Friday night while the Braves will attend to rebound against the Mount Gambier Pioneers on the road on Saturday.

NBL1 SOUTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 12

SANDRINGHAM SABRES 106 (Ryan 27, Nakkasoglu 24, Reid 12)

BENDIGO BRAVES 65 (Pollerd 16, Smith 16, Hurst 12)