Off-season Games Wrap: Seasons remain alive after trio of NBL1 victories

Melbourne United’s stars have kept their NBL1 South campaigns alive with three wins on Saturday evening to start the conference's postseason.

Starting at the Sabredome, Malith Machar put on a scoring clinic, knocking down triples and slashing to the hoop on his way to a 25-point outing.

Tom Koppens showcased his usual versatile skillset, filling up the statsheet and adding 17 points of his own, while Dash Daniels and Fabijan Krslovic contributed well off the bench.

All of this propelled Sandringham to a 13-point win in their elimination final against Hobart. The Sabres will next face Eltham, the only team to have defeated them in over two months, on Saturday 2 August from 7pm.

At MSAC, Tom Wilson and the Melbourne Tigers were also fighting for their lives against the Ballarat Miners.

After a tight opening term, Wilson was able to help lead his team to a double-digit lead in the second quarter which they never let go of.

The guard played all 40 minutes and was instrumental in the interior attack against the Miners, connecting on six of his nine attempts inside the arc in the 12-point win.

The victory sets up a semi-final battle on the road against the Kilsyth Cobras on Saturday 2 August from 7:30pm.

If the Tigers were to win, they would face off against Henry Sewell and the Knox Raiders, who won their qualifying final over Elthem by five points.

The 17-year-old came off the bench to contribute four points and three rebounds.

RESULTS

Saturday

Sandringham 111 def Hobart 98 (NBL1 South)
Machar - 25 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Koppens - 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block
Daniels - 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Krslovic - 4 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block

Melbourne 89 def Ballarat 77 (NBL1 South)
Wilson - 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

Knox 72 def Eltham 67 (NBL1 South)
Sewell - 4 points, 3 rebounds

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Photo - Mitchell Barlow