A TOP four thriller in the NBL1 North Men’s competition saw Logan Thunder come from behind to defeat Brisbane Capitals in an entertaining contest. The Thunder trailed by two points in the final minute, but drew a foul and converted the And-One chance in order to secure the 86-83 victory.

BRISBANE CAPITALS 19 | 20 | 17 | 19 | 8 (83)
LOGAN THUNDER 16 | 20 | 23 | 16 | 11 (86)

Coming into the match, the third placed Thunder were 9-3, with the Capitals snapping at their heels thanks to an 8-4 record. A win would make the race for finals very interesting considering both are set to go challenge the top two teams, and the match lived up to expectations.

In an enthralling encounter, Brisbane race out to a three-point lead at the first break, dominating the paint with 12 points to two and getting on top in that regard. Their shooting left a little to be desired, but it had not hurt them yet as the Capitals still held a 39-36 lead at half-time.

That changed in the third term when the visitors began to silence the Auchenflower Stadium crowd with an impressive 23-17 term off the back of an impressive shooting display, and capitalise inside the paint with 14 points.

However the final quarter was one to savour. Logan Thunder had blown out to a lead of 10 points courtesy of a fade away jumper from Christopher Cedar with three and a half minutes left on the clock. Though the game looked done and dusted, the Capitals had other ideas, with a 10-0 run to finish the quarter.

Even in the last 30 seconds, Callum Dalton missed a chance to essentially seal the deal for Logan with a three-point advantage. Matthew Johns rebounded and got it down the court, with the Capitals finding an open look for Isaih Tueta who made no mistake.

He drained a triple to level the scores. Another costly turnover from the Thunder almost saw Samuel McDaniel secure an incredible victory with a steal and then three-point attempt, but it missed and the sides were sent to overtime.

In overtime it was Brisbane that started to have first say, taking the lead and going ahead each time the Thunder responded. Missed chances from the both sides had many unsure of which was the game would go, and no sooner had Dalton put his Thunder in front, Gabriel Hadley knocked down a three-pointer and the Capitals were back on top.

Cedar drew the Thunder level again with 45 seconds on the clock, drawing a foul in the process. He made no mistake from the charity stripe for the Thunder to edge ahead 84-83, before a missed chance from Hadley sent the ball up the other end and Zac Triplett made a memorable dunk with six seconds on the clock. Hadley made a last ditch Hail Mary effort to get the Capitals back level again, but missed that long-range shot as well, and the Capitals had to settle for an 83-86 loss.

Triplett’s winning dunk meant he finished with a team-high 21 points as well as nine rebounds for the Thunder, while Dalton pumped out a huge double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds. Cedar (20 points) and Shaun Bruce (15 points, eight rebound and five assists) were also prominent in the win.

Hadley was the main resistance, putting up 23 points, as well as six rebounds and three assists. McDaniel (15 points, three rebound and three assists) while also busy, while Johns came close to a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

AROUND THE COURTS

Southern District Spartans won a one-point thriller over Gold Coast Rollers as Jeremy Kendle (27 points, 10 assists) and Corey Shervill (22 points, 11 rebounds) both picked up double-doubles for the winners. Reed Nottage (23 points, 12 rebounds) and Jason Cadee (21 points, 10 assists) achieved the feat for the losers.

Townsville Heat handed South West Metro Pirates their second defeat of the weekend in an equally tight contest, getting up by a point, 92-91. Richard Peachey (29 points, five rebounds) was the star there, while Kai Woodfall (24 points, three rebounds and four assists) worked hard for the Pirates who also went down to Cairns Marlins on the Friday evening.

In other results, Ipswich Force picked up a 29-point win over Northside Wizards at home, before going down by five points to Sunshine Coast Phoenix on the road. Ladder leaders Mackay Meteors also returned home from Rockhampton with the points, defeating the Rockets by 15 points (109-94), while Darwin Salties completely dismantled North Gold Coast Seahawks, 121-88.