Mayen stars but Saints fall to Rams

Adelaide 36ers NBL25 free agent signing Lat Mayen has continued his strong showing in the NZNBL as eight rostered players were in action across the weekend.

Mayen scored 15 points, dished four assists, and grabbed three rebounds but his Wellington Saints fell 107-84 to Canterbury Rams at TSB Arena.

Wellington were unable to pull back an early first half shooting blitz from the Rams, who took a 17-point lead into the main interval.

The loss has put the Saints into fourth position on the standings, ahead of this round’s double-header road trip away to Tauranga Whai (7^th, 5-7) on Wednesday night before backing up against Auckland Tuatara (1^st, 11-2) on Saturday night.

A near triple double from Jason Cadee wasn’t enough for Gold Coast Rollers, who have lost four of their past five matches, on their home court on Saturday night.

Cadee scored a game-high 26 points, dished 10 assists and grabbed nine rebounds as the Rollers fell 10-3-98 to Mackay Meteors at Carrara Stadium.

Gold Coast now sits at a 3-4 record in 10^th position and face Ipswich Force (8^th, 3-5) back on home court this Saturday night.

A team-high 30 points from Nick Marshall was not enough for Mount Gambier Pioneers in a tough 91-89 NBL1 South loss to Eltham Wildcats at Wulanda Recreation Centre on Friday night.

Marshall, who also had eight rebounds to go with an assist and a steal, made a tip-in to tie the game, but was a millisecond late as the Wildcats won a two-point thriller.

Mount Gambier, who now go to a 9-3 record, will be back in action on home court this Saturday night when the Pioneers face Geelong United (16^th, 4-8) this Friday night, before travelling next weekend to play Keilor Thunder (7^th, 8-5).

DJ Vasiljevic fired Waverley Falcons to a huge 117-77 success against North West Tasmania Thunder on home court on Sunday afternoon.

Waverley were on fire early, led by Vasiljevic who scored a game-high 22 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, to take a 34-15 lead after the first 10 minutes.

The Falcons will now face Nunawading Spectres (10th, 6-6) this Saturday night before returning to their home court to face Sandringham Sabres (4^th, 8-4) on Friday, June 7^th as NBL1 South plays Round 9 across the next two weekends.

In NBL1 West, Sunday Dech ran the show for East Perth Eagles in their huge road win against Joondalup Wolves at HBF Arena on Friday night.

Dech, who even got upstairs to throw down a breakaway dunk, scored 16 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished four assists, and had two steals as the Eagles outscored the Wolves in the first three quarters to hold on for a tough 95-86 success.

But the Eagles couldn’t replicate their Friday night heroics against league leading Geraldton Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon, going down 97-76.

Dech again was a standout for East Perth, scoring a team-high 20 points to go with five assists and five rebounds, but the Eagles trailed at every major break.

East Perth, who now sit at a 6-5 record face a double-header this weekend, playing at home on Friday night against Perth Redbacks before travelling to face Goldfield Giants at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium on Sunday night.

New Adelaide 36ers signing Ben Griscti made his 2024 NBL1 Central debut for Sturt in the Sabres’ huge 98-58 win against North Adelaide Rockets at Springbank on Saturday night.

Griscti scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished two assists and had one massive block as the Sabres cruised past the Rockets.

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Jacob Rigoni added a game-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds as Sturt took a 15-point lead into the main interval and stamped their authority on the contest after half time.

Sturt now moves to an 8-2 record to sit in second place before this Saturday night’s top of the table clash against Forestville Eagles (1^st, 9-1) at Wayville Sports Centre.

Alex Starling had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds as his South Adelaide Panthers held off the in-form West Adelaide Bearcats 59-56 at Mitchell Park Sports and Community Centre.

In an uncharacteristically low-scoring contest, Starling hit a clutch free throw to give the Panthers a one-point lead in the final minute as South Adelaide moved to a 7-3 record to consolidate third position in the standings.

South Adelaide will now face Southern Tigers (9^th, 2-8) this Saturday night at Morphett Vale Stadium.