NBL: Sydney Kings 100-87 New Zealand Breakers
AAP: Jerome Randle showed why he’s a former NBL MVP with a five-star display in Sydney’s comprehensive home win over the New Zealand Breakers.
The makeshift back-court combination of Jerome Randle and Kyle Adnam sparked the Kings to Sunday evening’s crushing 100-87 defeat of the Breakers at Qudos Bank Arena.
Called into the starting five after two-time NBL MVP Kevin Lisch was a late withdrawal, back-up playmaker Adnam answered with 14 points, three assists and zero turnovers in 26 minutes.
Randle was superb with 24 points, five assists and five rebounds, two-time Olympian Brad Newley (14) had one of his best games of the season, while former NBA star Andrew Bogut tormented the Breakers from start to finish with 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks.
Lisch (concussion) was rested after copping an accidental knock from teammate Dane Pineau on Saturday at training. American centre Shawn Long led the visitors with 25 points and Patrick Richard had 18.
W-League: Brisbane Roar 0-1 Adelaide United
AAP: Brisbane Roar missed the chance to take top spot off Melbourne Victory after Adelaide United claimed a smash-and-grab win at the home of the premiers on Sunday.
Last season’s table-toppers laid siege to the Adelaide goal, but instead it was the visitors who claimed all three points thanks to Veronica Latsko’s winner just after half-time at Richlands.
World Cup-winner Yuki Nagasato made her much-anticipated debut for the Roar and the Japanese forward showed glimpses of her quality in concert with English attacker Chioma Ubogagu. Adelaide goalkeeper Sarah Willacy made a miraculous save to deny Nagasato a debut goal and Ubogagu had a shot stopped on the line amid a catalogue of near-misses for the Roar.
Adelaide were not without their chances and Icelandic midfielder Gunnhildur Jonsdottir saw her effort crash off the underside of the crossbar. The win lifts Adelaide into fourth and continues a bright start for the only club in the league not to have experienced finals football.
“We got the foreign girls in a little bit earlier, the interstate girls were in a bit earlier and we just had a little bit more time to be able to prepare for the season,” said Adelaide coach Ivan Karlovic.
Brisbane coach Mel Andreatta indicated Nagasato will be the preferred centre forward option, despite often playing in a secondary forward role at international level. “I definitely think Yuki, and what she gave us back to goal, is certainly the right option as a nine,” Andreatta said.
Summary
OK folks, that’s all she wrote from yours truly. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure how action-packed today would be without any A-League fixtures but I was kept on my toes throughout.
The Kings really ... (I want to say ‘crowned’ but I’ve already used my quota of naff puns for the day) ... really ‘capped’ a great day of sport with an ominous performance against the Breakers that will have the rest of their NBL rivals on alert. I’ll put the match report from the Kings game up when it lands. Not that Melbourne United look in the least bit intimidated. They accounted for the Bullets just as easily.
Adelaide, who were lagging behind their W-League rivals purely because they’ve barely played this season, grabbed an excellent three points in Brisbane.
But the day really belonged to Abraham Ancer, who played brilliantly for four days to finish the weekend as a deserved (and comfortable) Australian Open champion. I suspect we’ll hear his name a lot more over the years.
That’s all from me anyway (apart from the Kings report). See you next month.
NBL: Sydney Kings 100-87 New Zealand Breakers
Comfortable in the end for the Kings, they were pushed by a good Breakers side but never really threatened. Jerome Randle was a happy man with a game high 24 points. “I had a good scoring game but everybody played great collectively,” he said, post-match. “He’s [Bogut] finding his groove, what he’s been doing his whole career. He’s been helping us a lot on defence.”
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NBL: Ha, glorious dunk from Deng Deng. Great pass by Jerome Randle to set it up. The Kings are enjoying themselves. The loud PA repeatedly reminds the crowd that they support Sydney. A very useful piece of information.
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NBL: The final quarter opens with the teams exchanging points, followed by a three-pointer to the Kings. They’re 18 points ahead now. It’s 84-66 with eight mins to go.
NBL: Crunch time coming up. We head into the final break at 79-64 to the Kings.
NBL: Sydney 77-62. A bit of daylight now for the Kings against the Breakers. The New Zealanders are battling gamely, and have pulled a few points back, but the hosts are just too strong, especially with Bogut pulling the strings. The purple reign of the Kings continues. Prince? Kings? So many levels. OK so it’s a pretty worn pun but I’m still sticking with it. Thirty seconds to go in the 3rd quarter.
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Here’s the report from that earlier NBL clash.
AAP: Defending champions Melbourne United stepped up in the fourth quarter to close out a 102-94 NBL victory over the Brisbane Bullets. Holding a 77-75 lead after three quarters at Melbourne Arena, United reeled off seven unanswered points early in the fourth to break away from the visitors.
Casper Ware led the way for Melbourne with 23 points and six assists with David Barlow scoring 18 and Chris Goulding 16. Melbourne improve their win-loss record to 8-3 on the season, joining top-ranked Perth on eight wins with the Wildcats having two games in hand.
United raced out to an early eight-point lead but Brisbane’s import pairing of Lamar Patterson and Stephen Holt combined for 21 first-half points as the visitors took a 44-43 lead into halftime. Neither team could make a decisive break in the third stanza but United dominated in crunch time, extending the lead to 11 during their fourth-quarter charge.
NBL: And we’re off again in the game between the Breakers and the Kings. Jerome Randle picking up where he left off. The Breakers hit back though. It’s 54-41.
The full report of Abraham Ancer’s Australian Open victory...
AAP: Abraham Ancer streeted the field to become the first Mexican to win the Australian Open golf crown.
The 27-year-old put his name on the Stonehaven Cup alongside legends Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer with a commanding five-stroke victory at The Lakes. Ancer closed with a three-under-par 69 on Sunday for a four-round total of 16-under 272, with New South Welshman Dimitrios Papadatos (67) finishing runner-up.
The winning margin was the biggest for an Open at The Lakes and the biggest at any Open since Jordan Spieth won the trophy for the first time at The Australian four years ago.
“It’s been crazy,” Ancer said of the love he’d received from the Australian crowds. “This win is all for my family. They’ve been there every single day of my life pushing me, or Mexican golf as well, and my dad who was watching me upstairs.”
Queenslander Jake McLeod, the winner of last week’s NSW Open, rebounded from the disappointment of falling out of contention on Saturday with a brilliant last-round 66 to finish third at 10 under. McLeod had been leading until being penalised a stroke for waiting too long for what he thought was a birdie putt to drop on the fourth hole of the third round.
Both McLeod and Papadatos joined Ancer in earning a start in next year’s British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland with their top-three finishes. But the day belonged to Ancer, who stylishly converted his five-stroke third-round lead into just his second professional tour win.
His only previous victory came on the secondary Web.com Tour at the 2015 Nova Scotia Open. Collecting birdies at the fourth, eighth and ninth holes, Ancer was seven clear by the turn and never truly challenged.
The breakthrough will send him to 60th in the world rankings and comes after blowing 54-hole leads twice on the US PGA Tour this year. His next aim will be to crack the world’s top 50 before December 31 to secure a spot in next year’s Masters field at Augusta National
NBL: It’s half-time between the Sydney Kings and New Zealand Breakers, with the Kings in front 59-39. They really pulled away in those last few minutes. As you’d expect, Andrew Bogut has been exceptional for the Kings.
W-League: Brisbane Roar 0-1 Adelaide United
W-League: Apologies for the extended absence there, other duties called from my Guardian overlords. And believe me, they’re an intimidating bunch. Like a left-leaning bikie gang. Anyway, the action has just finished between Brisbane and Adelaide, with Adelaide 1-0 to the good. Veronica Latsko the scorer.
Abraham Ancer wins the Australian Open
Confirmation of something we’ve known for a while now. Ancer a deserved winner. Certainly didn’t deserve me butchering his surname for the sake of a pun in the previous post. Rounds of 69, 69, 65 and 69. That’ll do it alright. He finishes five shots clear of Papadatos in second. Jake McLeod a shot further back in third after hitting six under for the day.
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Australian Open: The big question of course is what headlines the subs can come up with for tomorrow’s papers. “Ancer asks all the questions” or “Rivals have no answer for Ancer”. Please don’t judge me too harshly.
Australian Open: Abraham Ancer is on the home straight now. Looking very relaxed on the 18th. For the record, he’s leading by five over Papadatos. He’ll soak up the atmosphere on this last hole. Lot of applause from an appreciative crowd as he makes his way down the fairway.
WNBL weekend round-up
AAP: Melbourne import Lindsay Allen has seemingly rocketed into early-season MVP calculations after leading the Boomers to strong back-to-back WNBL wins in round six.
A week after earning player-of-the-round honours, the WNBA star tallied 47 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in wins over ladder leaders Perth and Townsville. Allen bucketed a game-high 26 points in Melbourne’s top-of-the-table clash against the Lynx to end their winning streak at six on Friday. Perth simply had no answers for the Las Vegas guard in an 89-69 boilover.
Allen then backed it up on Sunday with 21 against the defending champion Fire and the league’s leading scorer and reigning MVP Suzy Batkovic.
Melbourne were in control most of the way and entered half-time with a 13-point lead, before holding off a late push to prevail 79-75. The twin showings from Allen should ensure a fourth selection in the league’s team of the week in just six rounds. She is also the only player ranked in the top five for points and assists.
More importantly for the Boomers, not only do the consecutive victories extend their winning run to four, but consolidate second spot behind Perth. While Melbourne made a statement with a perfect weekend, Sydney’s horror campaign continued with a ninth-straight defeat to open the season.
The Flames were competitive until half-time against Bendigo, but mustered just four points in the third quarter and were eventually burned 67-55.
Townsville did manage a win over the weekend, with six-time MVP Batkovic getting 26 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in a 79-77 thriller over Adelaide. While Batkovic dominated the box score, it was teammate Tess Madgen who proved the hero with the game-winning three with 10 seconds remaining.
In other matches, Canberra forward Kelsey Griffin continued her impressive form with 25 points in the Capitals’ 77-65 victory over Dandenong.
The Rangers also trounced Bendigo 83-62.
WNBL: Another week, another defeat for the Sydney Uni Flames. They’ve gone down 67-55 to the Bendigo Spirit. After a good start, they only managed four points in the third quarter.
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Solid start and needed to soak up the pressure but it's level at half-time. #AUFC #BRIvADL pic.twitter.com/AtmfXXMxrt
— AUFC Women (@AUFCWomen) November 18, 2018
NBL: Melbourne United 102-94 Brisbane Bullets
It’s all over in Melbourne, United showing why they’re champions by digging out victory against a spirited Bullets team. Gutsy stuff, especially after such a tough run for Melbourne.
Some Socceroos team news for the Lebanon game.
AAP: A-League stars Rhyan Grant and Craig Goodwin have been included in a 24-man Socceroos squad to face Lebanon on Tuesday, with Tom Rogic and Robbie Kruse omitted to rest minor injuries.
Sydney FC defender Grant and Adelaide United winger Goodwin come in, along with Tim Cahill who will make his 108th and final appearance for Australia when farewelled before home fans at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The changes came on Sunday after the Socceroos 1-1 draw with fellow Asian heavyweights South Korea on Saturday night in Brisbane.
“There is a short turnaround to Tuesday’s match against Lebanon so Tom (Rogic) and Robbie (Kruse), who both performed well on Saturday evening but have minor knee and groin injuries respectively, won’t be risked,” said coach Graham Arnold.
Arnold has still to omit one more player to make way for Cahill, who is expected to get a 10-minute cameo off the bench late in the match. Grant and Goodwin were part of a four-man train-on group in Brisbane, with Thomas Deng and Dimitri Petratos, who weren’t called up for the Lebanon match.
“With limited matches and training days with the team leading up to next year’s AFC Asian Cup, it is important that we provide as many players as possible with the chance to integrate into our style and system, and Tuesday’s match against Lebanon gives us a great chance to do that,” said Arnold.
Socceroos squad: Mustafa Amini, Aziz Behich, Martin Boyle, Tim Cahill, Milos Degenek, Alex Gersbach, Craig Goodwin, Rhyan Grant, Jackson Irvine, James Jeggo, Tomi Juric, Matthew Jurman, Mitchell Langerak, Mathew Leckie, Massimo Luongo, Awer Mabil, Jamie Maclaren, Mark Millgan, Aaron Mooy, Andrew Nabbout, Josh Risdon, Mat Ryan, Trent Sainsbury, Danny Vukovic.
NBL: United pulling away in the final quarter. It’s not a massive lead - 98-90 - but in the context of what’s been such a tight game, and with only a couple of minutes to go, it must feel huge for Brisbane.
W-League: Still goalless in the clash between Adelaide and Brisbane at Lions Stadium by the way with 36 minutes gone.
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NBL: Final furlong and United just - juuuuust - starting to get some breathing space. There’s a time out with just under seven minutes to go. Pretty sure I just heard Andrej Lemanis drop the F bomb in his team talk. United up 88-83.
Australian Open: A double bogey from Marcus Fraser on the 15th undoes all his good work. He’d hit five birdies in the previous eight holes. McLeod and Papadatos are tied second again, six shots behind Ancer. He’s cruising now.
NBL: Into the fourth quarter and, I’m getting deja vu now, there’s very little in it between Melbourne United and the Brisbane Bullets. It was all square when I started this post but a three-pointer has just put United ahead 84-81. Eight minutes to go.
Australian Open: Just a matter of time for Ancer now surely. A birdie on the 14th keeps him well out in front, and with McLeod struggling on the 18th, only Marcus Fraser appears to be in touch. He’s currently second at 11 under, five off Ancer.
WNBL: The Capitals have comfortably accounted for the Rangers. It finished 77-65, with the Capitals taking their foot off the gas towards the end.
NBL: Five minutes to go between United and the Bullets and just three points in it. United lead 58-55 - story of the game, very tight. Still get the feeling United will have too much for Bullets come the final quarter though.
Australian Open: McLeod can only manage par on the 17th. A valiant effort on the final day nonetheless, wherever he ends up. A double bogey for Papadatos means it’s almost game over. He’s dropped down to fourth.
Currently ahead by only 4 shots #AusOpenGolf pic.twitter.com/ih4sg9alvX
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) November 18, 2018
Australian Open: Jake McLeod has hit three birdies in his last four holes. But with only the 17th and 18th left, it’s not going to be good enough to reach the summit. An excellent effort though. He must be ruing that 75 yesterday. Ancer juuuust misses a shot at birdie on the 13th, which would surely have wrapped things up. At least he’s keeping it interesting.
NBL: End of the second quarter and the Bullets are a solitary point ahead - 44-43. They were five down at quarter-time too. They’re in with a shot.
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Australian Open: A nervous finish for Ancer perhaps? It looked like it was going to be a fairly routine title victory about three holes ago - but he’s just bogeyed the 12th. Ancer now at 15 under with McLeod and Papadatos sniffing around at 11 under. McLeod is fast running out of holes though.
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NBL: Another tight quarter for the Bullets and United. The Bullets level things up with a three-pointer to make it 35-35. Just over three minutes to go in the quarter.
Australian Open: John Senden has finished with a flourish too. Hitting seven birdies on the day to end with a round of 66. He’s currently tied fifth.
Australian Open: Abraham Ancer is still all smiles but Papadatos and McLeod have chipped another shot off his lead. Ancer is 16 under with the two tied-second players on 11 under.
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NBL: Bit of a scrappy start to the second quarter between United and the Bullets, both teams defending well, if a little forcefully. Time out at 25-25. Every time United look like they’re about to pull away, the Bullets bring it back.
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Australian Open: In fact, scratch that. McLeod is on 10 under alongside Papadatos. Great final round from McLeod.
Australian Open: Ancer still has a firm grip on the Australian Open with a six-shot lead as he chips onto the green at the 10th. He’s barely put a foot wrong for four days. Dimitrios Papadatos is the man behind him. He’s four under for the day, one better than Ancer.
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NBL: We’re under way at Melbourne Arena, where the Bullets have started solidly against the reigning champions. Still early days but just a point in it - United in front 12-11.
WNBL: Meanwhile, the Capitals are 49-31 up against the Rangers heading into the third period. Having just been burnt, I’m not calling it a comfortable lead. I’ll stick with healthy.
WNBL: Well I almost gave the kiss of death to the Boomers. They ended up winning 79-75 against a fast-finishing Fire. Not quite as comfortable as it was looking when I wrote the preamble. I even did a comedy collar tug it got so tight.
Wallabies reaction
Some housekeeping first though. An update from Michael Cheika on the Wallabies after last night’s victory.
AAP: Michael Cheika is hopeful David Pocock will be fit for next week’s clash with England after the talismanic back-rower left the field early in the Wallabies’ win over Italy in Padova.
It was thought Pocock had sustained a concussion which, due to the HIA protocols, would have put him in serious doubt for the season finale against Eddie Jones’ side.
However, Cheika said Pocock had instead suffered a stinger in his left arm after being pinned at the bottom of a ruck in the 26-7 win at the Stadio Euganeo.
“He’s obviously got a pretty nasty stinger on his neck,” Cheika said. “It was giving him the burns down the arm for quite a while. We’ll just wait and see what happens and see how he recovers over the next couple of days.”
The win was another excellent defensive display from Cheika’s men who have now given up 16 points in two games, against a desperate Italian side who dominated large spells of possession in either half. Scott Sio’s yellow card for a deliberate knock-on during a sustained spell of second-half pressure from the home side when the score was 21-7 was a severe test for the tourists.
But they held strong and were able to come through and ice the game thanks to Will Genia’s late try. “We stuck solid, even when we had penalty advantages against us, we stayed at them,” Cheika said. “We didn’t want to let them over the line. We were a little bit disappointed with how we gave up the try.
“We could’ve been off the back of two games without a try being scored against us. (It’s) something we’ve been focusing on as a team to improve. Even there where it’s really quite tight you’ve got to fight hard and I thought we fought very hard down there. Then we lost a player and we were able to resist as well.”
Italy, who has never beaten Australia in 17 previous attempts, gave the tourists early notice of their intentions as they came racing out of the blocks. Only a gang tackle centimetres from the line denied Braam Steyn from opening the scoring in the seventh minute after Tommaso Benvenuti had waltzed through the Wallabies defence and chipped forward.
The hosts were left fuming three minutes later when Jake Gordon’s wayward pass was intercepted by Tito Tebaldi, who ran the ball under the posts, only to have the try called back by Pascal Gauzere for offside. It was harsh on Italy, who were the superior side in the opening half hour before the Wallabies finally clicked into gear with two tries before the break from Marika Koiroibete put them 14-0 up.
The second half saw the tourists extend their lead just after the restart when Taniela Tupou barrelled his way over the line. But the hosts hit back when Mattia Bellini scooped up a loose pass from Bernard Foley and sprinted 50 metres to get his side on the scoreboard.
Italy boss Conor O’Shea was furious that Gauzere did not refer the decision to disallow Tebaldi’s try to the TMO.
“I’m angry because we were denied the try,” O’Shea said. “When we play like that and we are not rewarded, I’m angry. Would that try change the game? I can’t say if it would. In any case, I am proud of this group because we played well.”
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Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to an A-League-less Sunday Sportwatch – with the W-League, WNBL, NBL and Australian Open (not that one) all jostling for the position of headline act on the domestic sport scene.
The WNBL is already halfway through its three-game program, with the UC Capitals taking on the Dandenong Rangers and the Melbourne Boomers currently cruising to victory over Townsville Fire. The winless Sydney Uni Flames face the Bendigo Spirit a bit later (2.45pm).
Elsewhere, Melbourne United and the Brisbane Bullets are primed for battle in the NBL (2.50pm). That will be followed by the Sydney Kings v the New Zealand Breakers (5.20pm).
Sandwiched between that lot is today’s sole W-League encounter between Brisbane and Adelaide, which kicks off at 4pm.
And I’ll be popping in and out of the final round of the Australian Open at The Lakes as the day goes on. Will Abraham Ancer manage the final-day pressure and maintain his lead at the top? Spoiler alert: yes. Might be a bit early to be taking a bow though.
