South Wrap | Men's Round 1 (Easter)

Featured image: Lawrence Surgers | @pics.by.tre

Landon Seaman, Biwali Bayles and Brandon Slater were among those to standout in NBL1 South wins prior to Easter for the Eltham Wildcats, Kilsyth Cobras, Bendigo Braves, Knox Raiders, Dandenong Rangers and Waverley Falcons.

>> SOUTH SPOTLIGHT | RANGERS SPOIL SABRES' BANNER NIGHT

>> SOUTH SPOTLIGHT | SEAMAN FIRES AS THUNDER BEAT WILDCATS

>> SOUTH WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 1

WEDNESDAY

Eltham Wildcats (80) lost to Keilor Thunder (93)

Landon Seaman put up 28 points on 18 shots to lead Keilor Thunder to a first win of the NBL1 South season beating the Eltham Wildcats on the road 93-80.

The Thunder started their season also back on Saturday and suffered a narrow home loss to the Knox Raiders but they started well against Eltham to open up an early double-figure lead.

Keilor remained on top the rest of the way to end up securing the 13-point victory on the back of shooting 53 per cent from the field and 10/22 from downtown even with Eltham also shooting 52 per cent from the field but just 5/19 from three-point range.

Landon Seaman already had 13 points in the first quarter for Keilor before finishing the game with 28 points and eight rebounds on the back of shooting 11/18 from the field, 3/4 from three-point range and 3/5 from the foul line.

Matthew Johns also had 15 points on 7/12 shooting for the Thunder with Deng Dut adding 13 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals, Tana Kopa 14 points, and Daniel Foster eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Zak Cunningham ended the night with 21 points and six rebounds for Eltham on a supremely efficient 10/12 shooting.

TJ Weeks added 14 points and two assists with Harry Hornery contributing 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Sam Short nine points and five assists, and Mitch McCarron seven points with five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

THURSDAY

Kilsyth Cobras (96) defeated Ringwood Hawks (78)

The Kilsyth Cobras put up 35 points in the second quarter and that set them on the path to the 96-78 home win against the Ringwood Hawks.

It was a first home game of the season at Kilsyth Sports Centre for the Cobras who opened up the new campaign beating Geelong United on Saturday while the Hawks went down in a thriller to the Mount Gambier Pioneers.

After the Hawks were up three at quarter-time, the Cobras took charge with 35 points to 22 in the second quarter and then outscored Ringwood 40 to 32 in the second half for the 18-point home win.

Chris Payton Jr finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists with some spectacular finishes for Kilsyth with Hamish MacDonald adding 15 points and seven boards, and Corey Jeffs 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Adrian Tomada also had 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Jamie Ahale 12 points and six boards.

Mitch Dielemans finished with 17 points and two assists for Ringwood with Harry Sealey providing 17 points, five boards, three assists and two steals, and Junior Garbrah 14 points, two rebounds and two steals.

Bendigo Braves (83) lost to Geelong United (69)

The Bendigo Braves made a flying start with 18 straight points in the opening period and converted that into their second straight win to start the 2026 season beating Geelong United 83-69.

On the back of a road win on Saturday against the Ballarat Miners, the Braves hosted Geelong at Red Energy Arena with United attempting to bounce back from a first up loss to the Kilsyth Cobras.

Bendigo put up 29 points to nine in the first quarter having gone on an 18-0 scoring run and would go on to lead by as much as 25 before securing the eventual 14-point victory to improve to 2-0 after the opening week.

The Braves also scored the win despite shooting 2/17 from downtown but had 21 offensive rebounds with Jarvis Doles collecting four of those to go with 12 points and another nine defensive boards.

Jake Lloyd top-scored with 17 points and nine rebounds on 8/11 shooting with Biwali Bayles delivering 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Billy Smythe also had 13 points and seven rebounds with Ray Turner showing his experience, class and size in 18:32 for 16 points and eight rebounds.

Lachlan Barker top-scored for Geelong with 17 points while Malang Athian added 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals, and Jackson Talbot 10 points, seven boards and two steals.

Knox Raiders (113) defeated Casey Cavaliers (92)

Brandon Slater and Trazarien White combined for 49 points and 14 rebounds as the Knox Raiders stayed unbeaten to start the season beating the Casey Cavaliers 113-92.

Knox opened the season beating Keilor Thunder on Saturday ahead of hosting Casey at the State Basketball Centre with the Cavs suffering a first up road loss to the Dandenong Rangers.

The Raiders started strongly with 29 points to 19 in the first quarter before then outscoring Casey 58 points to 46 in the second half on the way to the 21-point win.

Knox knocked down 14/36 from three-point territory including Tad Dufelmeier, Brody Nunn and Slater all hitting three of those apiece.

Slater went on to top-score with 26 points with seven rebounds and three assists while White had 23 points, seven boards and four assists.

Tasmania JackJumpers NBL big man Kobe Williamson also had 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocks with Dufelmeier adding 14 points, five boards and five assists, and Nunn 13 points and eight assists.

Patrick Ryan put up 26 points with 4/6 shooting from deep for Casey with Tanner Krebs contributing 21 points with 4/6 three-point shooting as well while Emmanuel Obaseki added 18 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Sandringham Sabres (81) lost to Dandenong Rangers (101)

It might have been in a different uniform, but Harry Froling got an early bit of revenge after seeing the Sandringham Sabres lift their banner helping the Dandenong Rangers to the 101-81 win.

The Sabres were playing their first home game of 2026 at Southern Basketball Stadium to celebrate the NBL1 South championship they won in 2025 before starting their title defence with a road win on Sunday against the Waverley Falcons.

Dandenong started their season back on Saturday night with the home win against the Casey Cavaliers and were able to back that up on Thursday night to produce a dominant performance on the way to the 20-point victory.

Harry Froling finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists with 9/11 free-throw shooting with Joe Palmer providing 21 points and seven rebounds with a perfect 3/3 three-point shooting.

Joe Lubarsky added 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Ryan Rapp 12 points, eight boards, seven assists and three steals, and Sam Davidson put up 18 points with 3/5 shooting from three-point territory.

Kyle Adnam did all he could to keep Sandringham in the contest with 28 points and two assists on 11/21 field goal shooting.

Malith Machar is coming off a breakout finish to the NBL season at Melbourne United and produced 20 points and six rebounds with 4/9 three-point shooting with Dane Pineau battling hard as always with 11 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks with five of those boards offensive.

Waverley Falcons (92) defeated Melbourne Tigers (73)

The Waverley Falcons knocked down 15 three-pointers and overcame 27 points and 14 rebounds from George Blagojevic to beat the Melbourne Tigers 92-73.

Both teams started their seasons back on Sunday with Waverley losing at home to the Sandringham Sabres while the Tigers scored a first up home victory against the Mount Gambier Pioneers.

It was just a one-point lead by quarter-time for the Falcons which stretched to seven by half-time but then the home team took over further with 48 points to 36 in the second half on the way to the 19-point victory at home.

Waverley ended up shooting 15/35 from behind the three-point line with Miles Gibson going 4/5 for 21 points with seven rebounds.

Malik Meunier made 3/11 from long-range for 20 points with eight assists, four rebounds and six steals with Gabe Hadley ending up with 17 points and three boards even if he only managed 1/8 shooting from behind the arc.

Michael Harper made 3/4 from downtown for 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals with Jordan Anderson also going 2/3 for six points in 12 minutes.

Blagojevic finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and two assists in his second game with Melbourne with Josh Sykes adding 13 points and nine boards, and reigning MVP Tom Wilson 11 points, six rebounds and six assists.