South Wrap | Men's Heritage Round

Featured image: Ian Knight Photography

Jaden Campbell, Kye Savage and Trazarien White all had 33-point winning NBL1 South performances with Ben Griscti the hero in a Nunawading Spectres double with Knox Raiders winning twice and Northern Force broke through for first home victory.

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FRIDAY

Mount Gambier Pioneers (95) lost to Ringwood Hawks (97)

Jonathan Lawton hit seven of the last nine points for the Ringwood Hawks to lead his team to the thrilling 97-95 road win against the Mount Gambier Pioneers to make it consecutive wins.

The two teams came into the match up at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre on identical 5-7 records and trying to move into a top 10 position heightening the stakes for the lone Friday night affair.

And after an early 11-point lead the way of Mount Gambier, no more than six points again separated the two teams the rest of the night in a tight and tense contest.

In the end, with seven seconds left Lawton hit two clutch free throws for Ringwood having returned to the floor after earlier hurting an ankle. Then it was just a rushed shot at the death from Alex Mudronja and the Hawks on for the two-point road win.

The victory improves Ringwood to a 6-7 record on the season with Mount Gambier now 5-8 and now having lost three in-a-row.

Lawton shook off rolling his ankle to return and have a big say in the win for Ringwood and finishing the night with 18 points and three assists with 6/6 free-throw shooting.

Uche Dibiamaka ended up top scoring on his way to 23 points, four rebounds and four assists with 3/5 three-point shooting while Chris Bandon added 19 points and five boards on 8/12 field goal shooting.

Junior Garbrah also had 11 points and two steals, Harry Sealey 11 points, four boards and four assists, and Lawson Eales six points, four rebounds and two steals.

Alex Mudronja battled valiantly and had a chance to get the game to overtime at the buzzer for Mount Gambier and finished with 20 points, two rebound and two assists on 9/14 field goal shooting.

Lucas Gordon also had a huge performance with 17 points, 22 rebounds and five assists, Collin Moore 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Titus Robinson 15 points, five boards, three assists and two blocked shots.

SATURDAY

Melbourne Tigers (95) defeated Keilor Thunder (80)

The Melbourne Tigers fell 11 points down in the first half but fired back to dominate after half-time to beat Keilor Thunder 95-80 to retain top spot.

The Tigers were back home at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on a four-game winning run to be in top place while Keilor came into the match in eighth place and fresh off beating the Dandenong Rangers.

Keilor came out and made an impressive start with 25 points to 17 in the first quarter before then opening up an 11-point lead before the Tigers began to work back into the contest.

The Thunder were still leading 49-44 by half-time but then it was all Melbourne in the third frame with a 10-0 run getting them back in front before the home team was leading 71-60 by three quarter-time.

The Tigers went on with the job from there with another 24 points to 20 in the last quarter to end up winning by 15 to maintain first place and make it five straight wins to be 10-2.

Jack Purchase produced 23 points with 4/7 three-point shooting in the win for the Tigers with Wilson Amos adding 23 points on 10/13 shooting from the floor.

Josh Sykes also had 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Tom Wilson 15 points, six boards and four assists, and George Blagojevic eight points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

Keilor are now 7-6 following the defeat with Deng Dut putting up 27 points, six rebounds and five assists with Landon Seaman adding 18 points and six boards, Tana Kopa 17 points and three rebounds, and Nick Banon seven points, five boards and three assists.

Kilsyth Cobras (93) lost to Knox Raiders (96)

The Knox Raiders scored the last five points of regulation and then withstood a late 8-0 run late in overtime from the Kilsyth Cobras to hold on for the 96-93 victory.

The Cobras were back home at Kilsyth Sports Centre attempting to snap a two-game losing run with NBL star Angus Glover back in the line-up as they took on a Raiders team also attempting to respond to a last up loss to the Dandenong Rangers.

Kilsyth went on a 12-0 run in the first quarter and were still leading by 10 at quarter-time before Knox had their own 10-0 streak in the second term to cut the Cobras lead to just 43-40 by half-time.

Kilsyth got back out to a nine-point lead in the final term and when Ben Ursich converted a technical with just under three minutes to play, they still led by five.

However, the Cobras didn’t score again in regulation with Knox scoring the last five points with Tad Dufelmeier going 2/4 at the foul line in the last 30 seconds to end up getting the Raiders level, but not quite back in front.

Then in the extra period, Knox flew out of the blocks with 11 of the first 13 points to go up nine with two minutes to go but Kilsyth fired back and by the time Malik McKinney converted a three-point play, it was a one-point ball game once more.

Brody Nunn answered with two free throws for Knox and then both Glover and Chris Payton Jr missed chances to force a second overtime with the Raiders winning by three.

The win improves Knox to a 9-4 record with Trazarien White delivering 21 points and three rebounds on 9/13 field goal shooting and Brandon Slater 20 points, 11 boards, five assists and two steals.

Tad Dufelmeier also had 19 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and six assists on 7/11 shooting with Deng Acouth also finishing with 15 points, 12 boards and four blocks.

Kilsyth are now 7-6 following the loss with Glover delivering 15 points, three assists and two rebounds in his first game of the season on the back of his Best Sixth Man NBL26 campaign with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Chris Payton Jr also had 23 points, 15 rebounds and three assists, Malik McKinney 18 points and three assists, Ben Ursich 15 points, four boards, two assists and two steals, and Adrian Tomada 14 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Northern Force (99) defeated Hobart Chargers (94)

It was the battle of the two Tasmanian teams and the Northern Force broke through for a first home win with the 99-94 victory over the Hobart Chargers

The Force hosted the Chargers at Elphin Sports Stadium in the first meeting between the teams after they had done battle in a thriller early in the campaign at MyState Bank Arena.

The Force were clinging to a one-point lead at quarter-time before Hobart put up 30 points to 22 in the second term to be leading 47-40 at the main break.

Northern were then determined to win at home on their seventh attempt in 2026 and put up 30 points to 25 in the third frame, and 29 to 22 in the fourth on the way to the five-point victory.

The win improves the Force to the 3-11 record with Kye Savage the hero with 33 points, seven rebounds and two steals with 8/18 three-point shooting.

Logan Gibson added 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Vincent DeAngelo 14 points, eight boards and four assists, Aaron Ridley III 11 points and five steals, and Cameron Brown 10 points and five rebounds.

Hobart are now 7-7 following the defeat with Anthony Drmic finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Jacob Richards also had 21 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals with Luke Rosendale adding 17 points and three rebounds, Jackson Pepper 16 points on 4/8 three-point shooting, and Jasper Hay 10 points on 2/2 shooting from downtown.

Bendigo Braves (91) defeated Waverley Falcons (84)

Biwali Bayles continued his standout first season with the Bendigo Braves with 24 points and 12 assists to lead his team to the 91-84 win at home over the Waverley Falcons.

The Braves were back home at Red Energy Arena trying to snap a four-game losing slide as they hosted a Falcons team coming off a last up loss to Geelong United.

It was Waverley with the narrow two-point lead by quarter-time before Bendigo worked on top in the second frame with 27 points to 18 to go into half-time leading 43-36.

That lead for Bendigo grew to 16 points in the third quarter and they were able to hold on from there for the seven-point victory to return to the winner's list and improve to a 6-7 record.

Biwali Bayles led the way in the win for the Braves with 24 points, 12 assists and six rebounds with 9/18 shooting from the field and 4/8 from the foul line.

Seth Anderson added 20 points and three steals with 6/13 three-point shooting while Ray Turner contributed 18 points and 11 boards, Dashiel Walker eight points and four rebounds, Jarvis Doles eight points and eight boards, and Jake Lloyd seven points and five rebounds.

Waverley are now 5-7 following the defeat with Gabe Hadley putting up 25 points, four rebounds and three assists on 4/9 three-point shooting.

Reaudale Williams also had 15 points, four rebounds and four assists, Miles Gibson 11 points and five boards, Mawot Mag 11 points, nine rebounds and two assists, and Matthew McCarthy seven points and four boards.

Nunawading Spectres (111) defeated Dandenong Rangers (106)

Ben Griscti fired to help his team to a 19-point lead but Harry Froling ended up with 37 points to give the Dandenong Rangers a sniff but the Nunawading Spectres held them out for the 111-106 win.

It always shaped as a tantalising match up at Nunawading Basketball Centre with the Spectres having occupied top spot before losing their past two games to the Casey Cavaliers and Sandringham Sabres.

The Rangers are still knocking on the door of the top four despite a last up loss to Keilor Thunder with 24 points a game scorer Joe Palmer missing while he was getting married.

Nunawading then were up by as much as 19 points early in the third quarter before Dandenong came charging back and got back within one late in the piece.

That's when it was a triple from Kingsley Box that ended up ensuring Nunawading secured the five-point victory to improve to a 9-4 record with Dandenong now slipping to 8-6 having lost their past two now.

Griscti showed that he's fully over that nasty neck injury suffered at the NBL Blitz in Canberra that ruled him out of all of NBL26 with the Adelaide 36ers.

He starred in the win for the Spectres with 26 points and seven rebounds with 11/21 shooting with 18 of those points coming in the opening half.

Christian D'Angelo also had 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and two blocks in the win with Dylan Penn adding 19 points, 11 assists and four boards, Owen Lobsinger 15 points and six rebounds, Kingsley Box 11 points and four boards, and Jack Gandolfo 10 points and four assists.

Harry Froling put the Rangers on his back for a lot of the night and finished with 37 points, seven rebounds and four assists on 14/22 field goal shooting with 8/14 free-throw shooting while playing all but one second of the game.

Michael Meadows also finished with 21 points, three rebounds and three assists, Sam Davidson 20 points, two boards and two steals, and Palmer returned from getting married back in the United States last weekend to have 11 points and five rebounds.

Ballarat Miners (101) defeated Geelong United (82)

Jaden Campbell fired for 33 points and the Ballarat Miners put together their best performance of the season to beat Geelong United 101-82.

The Miners were back home at Selkirk Stadium looking to snap a 10-game losing slide with Geelong trying to make it three straight at the same time.

It was Ballarat on top by three points at quarter-time before the home time fired up for perhaps their best 10 minutes of basketball for the season with 33 points in the second term to go into half-time leading 52-36.

The Miners then got out to a 29-point lead in the third quarter and it grew to 30 in the last term with them on the way to the 19-point victory to get back on the winner's list and improve to 2-11.

Jaden Campbell was the star in the win for Ballarat with 33 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals on 7/11 three-point shooting.

Will Hynes added 22 points, five rebounds and four assists with 4/8 three-point shooting while Rily Nicolson contributed nine points on 3/3 shooting from behind the arc.

Bol Bak also had eight points and six rebounds, Lucas Byrne eight points and six boards, and Brooklyn Bruton six points, five assists and four rebounds.

Geelong are now 3-10 following the defeat with Malang Athian finishing with 21 points with 5/6 shooting from beyond the three-point line.

Jay Posterino also had 15 points, three rebounds and three assists, Liam Herbert 11 points, six boards and four assists, and DeMarcus Gatlin 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Eltham Wildcats (105) defeated Diamond Valley Eagles (83)

The Eltham Wildcats kept their hot form going making it three in-a-row to maintain a top two position with the 105-83 win against the Diamond Valley Eagles.

The Wildcats were back home at Montmorency Secondary College looking to keep their momentum going as they hosted a Diamond Valley team also coming off a win against the Bendigo Braves.

Eltham were holding on to a two-point lead by quarter-time before adding 30 points to 25 in the second frame to be leading 51-44 by half-time.

Then with 31 points to 15 in the last quarter, the Wildcats took control for good for the eventual 22-point victory to make it three straight to improve to a 10-3 record.

Harry Hornery finished with 24 points and three assists with 6/7 three-point shooting while Mitch McCarron delivered 22 points, 13 assists, five rebounds and two steals.

TJ Weeks added 18 points, six steals, four rebounds and two blocks, Zak Cunningham 14 points and 10 boards, and Leonardo Colimerio 12 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Diamond Valley are now 4-9 following the defeat with Ryley Haywood putting up 20 points with 5/12 three-point shooting.

Mitchell Blackburn also had 14 points and seven rebounds, Xavier Bledson 13 points and three assists, Archie Woodhill 11 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Manny Malou 11 points and two rebounds.

Mirko Djeric also ended up with 11 assists and 11 rebounds to go with four rebounds.

SUNDAY

Dandenong Rangers (97) defeated Geelong United (88)

The Dandenong Rangers bounced back from their heartbreaking loss the night before to see off Geelong United 97-88 on Sunday.

Dandenong went down to the Nunawading Spectres on a thriller on Saturday night while Geelong lost in Ballarat ahead of their Sunday clash at Dandenong Basketball Stadium.

Geelong have been playing much better than their 3-10 record suggests and they started on fire with a 12-0 run in the first quarter on the way to leading 31-16 by quarter-time.

Geelong were still leading 52-39 by half-time but then Dandenong took over in the third frame with 32 points to 12 to turn that 13-point deficit into their own seven-point lead.

The Rangers were able to complete the job for the nine-point victory to improve to a 9-6 record with Sam Davidson putting up 32 points with 6/11 shooting from beyond the arc.

Harry Froling also had 23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks while Justin Bieker contributed 14 points and four steals, Michael Meadows 12 points, three boards and two steals, Josh Kunen seven points and 10 rebounds, and Joe Palmer seven points, five boards and two assists.

Geelong are now 3-11 after their double loss weekend with Liam Herbert finishing with 28 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Deng Riak also had 21 points, six rebounds and two blocks, Malik Hunt 13 points and five assists, and DeMarcus Gatlin 10 points, 12 assists, six rebounds and five steals.

Melbourne Tigers (93) lost to Nunawading Spectres (95)

Ben Griscti continues to go from strength to strength in his basketball return and he hit just about the walk off three-pointer to win it for the Nunawading Spectres 95-93 in front of a packed house against the Melbourne Tigers.

Both teams came to Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre fresh off playing the night before with the Tigers beating Keilor Thunder while the Spectres claimed a tense thriller at home to the Dandenong Rangers.

That set up nicely a battle between the top four teams on Sunday and it was the Tigers who pushed out to a 10-point lead in the first quarter and to still be leading 20-15 by quarter-time.

Nunawading responded with 26 points to 22 in the second frame and by half-time it was Melbourne just clinging to the 42-41 advantage.

The Spectres then worked on top in the third frame with 28 points to 22 but it was all set up for a nail-biting finish and going into the final minute scores were all square thanks to a three-pointer for the Spectres from Christian D'Angelo.

D'Angelo then hit a free-throw to put his team up by a point before Josh Sykes gave the Tigers a one-point lead with 6.2 seconds on the clock leading to a Nunawading timeout.

Coming out of that, the initial Kingsley Box inbounds pass was intended for Griscti, but was knocked away only for Lobsinger to grab the loose ball, get it back to Griscti who shot the three ball over Jack Purchase and drained it.

He ran back up the floor waving off the Tigers fans but there was still 0.4 left and Mason Gaze's inbounds pass got to Tom Wilson, but he didn’t get his shot off in time.

The win improves Nunawading to 10-4 with the double win weekend with Dylan Penn delivering 27 points and three assists with Griscti finishing with nine points on 3/4 three-point shooting.

Christian D'Angelo added 20 points and five rebounds, Kingsley Box 15 points and four boards on 3/6 shooting from downtown, and Owen Lobsinger seven points and 11 boards.

The Tigers are now 10-3 following the loss with Tom Wilson brilliant with 40 points, five rebounds and three assists with 13/25 shooting from the field and 10/10 at the free-throw line.

Jack Purchase finished with 16 points, nine assists and five rebounds, and Josh Sykes 15 points, four boards, three blocks and two steals.

Ballarat Miners (92) lost to Knox Raiders (109)

Trazarien White scored 33 points and the Knox Raiders put up 35 in the fourth quarter on the way to the 109-92 road win over the Ballarat Miners to make it a double win weekend.

Both teams arrived at Selkirk Stadium off wins on Saturday night with Knox claiming a three-point thriller over the Kilsyth Cobras while the Miners snapped their 10-game losing streak by beating Geelong United also on their home floor.

That set up Sunday's contest nicely and it was a tight battle for three quarters before Knox took control in the last with 35 points to 22 with some hot shooting including going 4/6 from three-point range.

That saw the Raiders win both games on the road this weekend to improve to a 10-4 record on the season with the Miners splitting their home double to now be 2-12.

White was the star of the win for Knox with 33 points, five rebounds and two assists with 12/24 shooting from the field and 9/10 at the free-throw line.

Brody Nunn added 19 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals with 5/9 long-range shooting with Kobe Williamson putting up 17 points, 21 rebounds and five assists on the same day it was announced he was departing the Tasmania JackJumpers ahead of NBL27.

Brandon Slater contributed 15 points and six rebounds, Tad Dufelmeier 13 points, five boards and five assists, and Henry Sewell 10 points and seven rebounds.

Ballarat couldn’t quite back up their drought breaking win the night before with Bol Bak top scoring with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists with 4/8 shooting from beyond the arc.

Will Hynes added 19 points, 11 assists, three rebounds and two steals, Lucas Byrne 17 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals, and Jaden Campbell 17 points and three boards.