NBL1 Recap 7, 8 and 9 July

The NBL1 competition is heating up as the regular season starts to wrap up, with most teams playing their second last games.

Todd Blanchfields Gold Coast Rollers made it 15 straight wins to remain on top of the NBL1 North in their championship defence beating the Red City Roar 110-80 on Saturday night.

Before returning to the Illawarra for the upcoming NBL season, Todd Blanchfield was tremendous again for Gold Coast with 33 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocks on 14/24 shooting from the floor and 4/11 from beyond the arc.

Gold Coast will look to continue on a roll as they face the second placed Logan Thunder on Friday 14 July at 8pm in the last round of regular season.

North Gold Coast Seahawks hopes of still making the playoffs were ended by the Rockhampton Rockets who beat them 86-75 on Saturday night. Biwali Bayles contributed 14 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.

The Seahawks will play back to back games in the last round of regular season in NBL1 North, first up against the Sunshine Coast Phoenix at 8:30pm on Friday 14 July, and then take on the South West Metro Pirates on Saturday 15 July, tipping off at 7pm.

The West Adelaide Bearcats continue to dominate in NBL1 Central, winning back-to-back games on the weekend. Lachlan Olbrich added 19 points and 12 rebounds in his sides convincing win against the Eastern Mavericks, 120-89.

The Bearcats followed up on Sunday with a close 87-86 win against the Central District Lions, with Olbrich contributing 14 points, nine rebounds and 5 assists.

See Olbrich in the final regular season game as the first placed Bearcats face the Southern Tigers away on Saturday 15 July, tipping off at 8:15pm ACST.

Mason Peatling’s Knox Raiders moved closer to the regular season championship beating the Dandenong Rangers 112-87.

Peatling contributed 11 points and five rebounds, and the league-leading Raiders have now won their past eight matches, sitting on top of the NBL1 South ladder with one regular season game remaining.

The Raiders will play back-to-back games to round out the season, hitting the road against the Kilsyth Cobras on Saturday 15 July at 7:30pm, before heading home on Sunday 16 July against the Bendigo Braves at 2pm.

The Illawarra Hawks hit the road against Maitland Mustangs on Saturday night, going down 105-87.

Noah Pagotto delivered 31 points and 10 rebounds for Illawarra, Davo Hickey 20 points, 12 boards, eight assists and two blocks, and Lucas Walker 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The team faced the Newcastle Falcons on Sunday, with a 66-63 road victory. Davo Hickey contributed 17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

The Hawks are back home for their second last game of the season, with the Central Coast Crusaders on Saturday 15 July at 7pm.

The Sydney Comets recorded their ninth victory of the NBL1 East season by defeating the Bankstown Bruins 95-74 on the road on Friday night. Wani Swaka Lo Buluk added 23 points, four rebounds and four assists for Sydney.

The Comets are north bound on Sunday 16 July against the Hornsby Kuringai Spider, tipping off at 2pm.