United stars play a trio of nail-biting NBL1 finals

The start of the NBL1 finals produced some truly thrilling basketball around the country, with three of Melbourne United’s stars taking to the court on Saturday night.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The start of the NBL1 finals produced some truly thrilling basketball around the country, with three of our stars taking to the court on Saturday night.<br>Watch their highlights below and read more on their stats here: <a href="https://t.co/8gnQFNQnyL">https://t.co/8gnQFNQnyL</a> <a href="https://t.co/lNh4i4LoR6">pic.twitter.com/lNh4i4LoR6</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1683326780155785219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In the South, Campbell Blogg and the Sandringham Sabres outlasted the top-of-the-table Knox Raiders on the road to lock in their spot in a prelim final against either Frankston or Diamond Valley.

While he produced a quieter scoring output than usual, Blogg put together a solid contribution, scoring 11 points.

For their potential opponents in two weeks time, the Frankston Blues, Saturday was a night of heartbreak, as they fell one-point short against Mt Gambier in overtime.

Brad Newley came agonisingly close to securing the win in the dying seconds, however his fading bank-shot missed the mark, while his teammate Dan Trist’s tip-in was waved off after the buzzer.

Thanks to a strong regular season, Newley and the Blues remain alive, with a Saturday night semi-final on the cards next.

NBL1 South - Saturday 22th July:

~Knox Raiders 90 def by Sandringham Sabres 97

Blogg: 11 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes.~

Frankston Blues 96 def by Mt Gambier Pioneers 97 

Newley: 23 points, six rebounds, three assists in 36 minutes.

Over in the Central Conference, Malith Machar’s Forestville Eagles punched their tickets to the semi-finals with a win over Sturt at home.

Machar was exceptional in the win, scoring 18 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, setting up a blockbuster matchup with former United guard Mitch McCarron and the West Adelaide Bearcats on Sunday afternoon.

NBL1 Central - Saturday 22nd July:

~Forestville Eagles 90 def Sturt Sabres 89

Machar: 18 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 37 minutes.