Playoff seedings on the line in final round

The 2023 NBL1 playoffs are fast approaching and this weekend’s final round of the regular season has a lot of permutations and your Adelaide 36ers NBL24 roster players are going to have a big say in the outcome.

NBL24 recruit Jason Cadee continues to dish out the assists as Gold Coast Rollers easily accounted for Red City Roar 110-80 at Paul Bancroft Centre on Saturday night.

Cadee scored 19 points, dished 19 assists and pulled down eight rebounds as the Rollers stormed away in the second half for the comfortable victory.

The Rollers, who sit on top of the NBL1 North standings with a 16-2 record, play Logan Thunder (14-3, 2^nd) at Carrara Stadium this Saturday night.

To keep top spot, Gold Coast have to beat Logan or hope the Thunder drop their Sunday afternoon clash against Southern District Spartans.

Kyrin Galloway battled an illness and only played 12 minutes in Ipswich Force’s 105-103 overtime win against Brisbane Capitals at Auchenflower Stadium on Saturday night.

With his playing time limited, Galloway still came up with 10 points as the Force locked in their third seed placing in the NBL1 North standings.

Ipswich (13-5, 3^rd) face Sunshine Coast Phoenix (8-9, 10^th) at home on Saturday night.

Nick Marshall had a mixed weekend as Mount Gambier Pioneers split their two-game road trip to Tasmania.

The 198cm swingman scored 18 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished two assists in the Pioneers’ 102-87 loss to Hobart Chargers last Friday night.

Mount Gambier spent the entire match playing catch up as the Chargers opened up a double digit lead early on in the contest.

Less than 24 hours later, the Pioneers escaped Launceston with an 81-80 win against North West Tasmania Thunder.

Marshall had 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals as the Pioneers kept their chances of a top two finish alive in the NBL1 South standings.

Mount Gambier (14-6, 4^th ) face a tough road double header in Melbourne this weekend. The Pioneers play Waverley Falcons (12-8, 6^th) on Saturday night before travelling to battle Eltham Wildcats (12-8, 5^th) on Sunday afternoon.

Mount Gambier must win both games to give themselves a chance of finishing the regular season in second position.

Split the road double and the Pioneers guarantee themselves a home final in the first week of the playoffs, two losses could see Mount Gambier spend the post season on the road.

Alex Starling brought the highlights and his South Adelaide Panthers won both games across last round’s double header.

Starling scored a game-high 24 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished six assists as the Panthers defeated Southern Tigers 95-74 at Morphett Vale last Thursday night.

The 199cm forward brought the Mitchell Park crowd to life during the third quarter of the Panthers’ 95-66 win against Norwood Flames on Saturday night.

Starling finished with a game-high 14 rebounds to go with nine points and four assists as South Adelaide moved into third position on the standings.

The Panthers can cement their place in the top three with a win against Woodville Warriors (10-7, 5^th) at Mitchell Park this Saturday night. A loss combined with a Sturt win against Eastern will see South Adelaide drop to fourth position.

Unfortunately, the 2023 NBL1 Central season for Keanu Rasmussen is over after injuring his right ankle against Southern Tigers.

The 190cm combo guard missed both games last weekend as the Sabres split their double header.

Sturt fought back late in a final quarter charge which saw the Sabres hold off Central District Lions 91-82 at Springbank.

But the Sabres could not back up their Saturday night success on Sunday afternoon, going down 96-85 to Woodville Warriors at St Clair.

Sunday’s loss has Sturt now in fourth place with an 11-6 record ahead of this Saturday night’s trip to Mount Barker to play Eastern Mavericks (4-13, 9^th).

Sturt must beat the Mavericks to cement fourth place and can move up to third if Woodville defeat South Adelaide. A loss to Eastern could see the Sabres drop to fifth position but Sturt can’t miss the playoffs.

Newly signed NBL24 Development Player Fraser Roxburgh came up huge for West Adelaide as the Bearcats went 2-0 across the weekend, without Mitch McCarron.

Roxburgh, who had 20 points and six rebounds, stuck a huge three-pointer within the final minute of overtime as the Bearcats defeated Central District Lions 87-86 at Starplex.

On Saturday night, Roxburgh had nine points and four rebounds as the Bearcats used a 46-13 third quarter avalanche to get past Eastern Mavericks 120-89 at Port Adelaide.

West Adelaide has locked in first place on the NBL1 Central standings regardless of their result this Saturday night against Southern Tigers (0-17, 10^th) at Morphett Vale.

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Akech Aliir, who also signed as a NBL24 Development Player last week, was a key component to North Adelaide Rockets going 2-0 on their weekend double header.

Aliir had 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Rockets easily accounted for Eastern Mavericks 94-64 at Mount Barker on Friday night before hauling in eight rebounds to go with five points and four assists as North Adelaide defeated Southern Tigers 92-83 at The Lights Community Centre on Saturday night.

North Adelaide’s playoff hopes are over after the Warriors' win against the Sabres, but the Rockets can stop arch-rival Norwood Flames (9-8, 6^th) in their push for the top five with a win this Saturday night at home.