Cadee stars in Rollers' opening round success

Adelaide 36ers point guard Jason Cadee has again shown why he is one of the best players in the NBL1 competition, with two outstanding performances across last weekend.

The reigning NBL1 North MVP was back to his stat sheet-filling best as he led his Gold Coast Rollers to the perfect start to the 2024 season.

Cadee scored 21 points to go with 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Rollers used a dominant second half performance to defeat Ipswich Force 102-82 on Saturday night.

Gold Coast outscored the Force 27-17 in a defining third quarter push which saw the Rollers gain some revenge from the 2023 NBL1 North grand final series defeat to Ipswich.

Less than 24 hours later, the 186cm point guard had a triple double as Gold Coast defeated South West Metro Pirates 111-94 at Carrara Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Cadee scored a team-high 28 points to go with 12 rebounds and 12 assists as the Rollers exploded with a 33-19 second quarter to make it a 2-0 start to the season.

Swingman Nick Marshall poured in the points for Mount Gambier as the Pioneers split a home NBL1 South double-header across the weekend.

The Pioneers came back from a 19-point quarter time deficit on Saturday night to defeat Frankston Blues 93-87, with Marshall scoring 15 points to go with five rebounds and four assists.

But the Pioneers couldn’t make it two-from-two on home court on Sunday afternoon as Ballarat Miners used a strong second half performance to record a 105-94 win.

Marshall scored a team-high 29 points for Mount Gambier, to go with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.

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In NBL1 West, Sunday Dech scored a game-high 26 points to go with six rebounds and six assists for East Perth, but it wasn’t enough for the Eagles to get over the line, going down 94-93 to Perth Redbacks.

The Eagles opened an early nine-point lead in the first quarter, but the Redbacks bounced back across the next two quarters to take a five-point lead into the final 10 minutes.

Dech connected on two free throws to give the Eagles a 93-89 lead, but the Redbacks had all the clutch plays down the stretch to take the one-point win.

Star guard DJ Vasiljevic did not suit for the Waverley Falcons across the weekend during the club’s two-game trip to Tasmania.

The Falcons picked up two victories, a 97-77 win on Friday night against North West Tasmania, then 24 hours later Waverley were too strong for Hobart Chargers 93-85.