Marlins And Dolphins Roll Over The Gold Coast
June 27, 2011, 05:01 PM AEST Courtesy of NBL Cairns Taipans
The Cairns ‘Bartercard’ Marlins and ‘Down Under Tours’ Dolphins have both tasted victory as they ‘rolled’ over visiting team, the Gold Coast Rollers on Friday night.
For the ‘Down Under Tours’ Dolphins, the night didn’t start off as planned, as Gold Coast jumped out to an emphatic 18-5 lead.
Starting for the missing superstar centre Cayla Francis for the 2nd week in a row, Nicole Cameron (9pts, 5rbs) started well for the Dolphins, as they slowly started to get themselves back in the game. The Dolphins finished the 1st quarter down, 27-11.
Rohanee Cox (17 pts, 14rbs, 5 steals, 5 blocks) and Juliana Paunovic ( 15pts, 4rbs) came to the party in the 2nd quarter, helping the Dolphins come back from a 16 point deficit at the end of the 1st quarter, to being up 5 at the main break. They also held the visiting Gold Coast team to a modest 5 points for the quarter.
The 2nd half seen the Dolphins start a lot better than they did the first half, jumping out to an 11 point lead, heading into the 4th quarter up 56-45.
Stifling defence and amazing ball movement at the start of the 4th quarter, seen the Dolphins putting a few of the nails into the already closed coffin, holding the Rollers again to a modest total of just 11 points in the quarter.
The Dolphins eventually ran out comfortable winners, 82-57.
Head Coach of the ‘Down Under Tours’ Dolphins Hassan Bin Tahal, commented on his team’s victory.
‘I don’t think the score really told the story of the game’ said Bin Tahal.
‘Obviously I am happy to get the victory, and we obviously did that pretty convincingly, but if we play only 2 of the 4 quarters next week against (league leaders) Gladstone, we will be on the other side of the score line.’
Bin Tahal also spoke about his excitement for next weekend’s game.
‘It will be a tough week at practice this week to get ready for Friday night, so I am really looking forward to that next challenge. They are the bench mark of the competition as we speak, so we will need to be ready to go come next Friday night. ’
The ‘Bartercard’ Marlins were matching up with the table topping and previously undefeated Gold Coast Rollers, in a match that could set up an intense next few weeks for the Marlins.
With the confidence that comes with a previously undefeated side, the visiting team jumped out early on the Marlins to a 9-2 lead, but the ‘Fish’ finished the period a lot better then what they started, with a Dwayne Vale (20 pts, 6rbs) buzzer beater to get the Gold Coast lead back to 4,with the Marlins heading into the first break down, 21-17.
The 2nd quarter seen both teams on a defensive stranglehold, with either side finding it difficult to put the ball in the hoop. The teams combined for a total of 22 points, in a low scoring quarter, with the visiting team heading into the half time break up, 33-27.
After the half time break, the Marlins made a concentrated effort on bringing an overall energy into the game. Insert Matthew Adekponya (12pts, 5rbs) into the contest.
Adekponya was everywhere for the home side, grabbing rebounds, deflecting passes and pushing the ball the other way, to help his side 52-49 lead heading into the final quarter.
Being undefeated for a reason, the Rollers started to muscle up on either end of the floor, with former Australian Boomer Scott McGregor (25pts, 10rbs) and Jason Aucoin (12pts, 16rbs) starting to fire for the visiting team.
At one stage, tempers started to flare, with centres McGregor and Marlins Paul Latter coming to blows after a hard, professional foul from Latter, lead into a tussle between both players, resulting in Latter receiving a technical foul, along with the Marlins Head Coach, Brad Burdon.
The Marlins weren’t going to let this stand in their way of victory with Taipans player Dean Brebner (12pts, 3rbs) hitting a massive 3 to seal the game and to finish the Gold Coast Rollers winning streaking, with the Marlins coming out victors, 72-64.
Head Coach of the ‘Bartercard’ Marlins Brad Burdon couldn’t of been more pleased with his troops efforts.
‘That is a massive win for us’ said Burdon.
‘Even though our first half wasn’t too pretty, we grinded that game out. They have a lot of experience with (Scott) McGregor and (Jason) Aucoin, but our boys stuck together and did what they needed to do to get that victory.’
Burdon also commented on the crowds influence during the game.
‘That was probably our biggest and most vocal crowd of the season. We have the best game night, best crowd in this league, and it is a pleasure to come out and coach in front of crowds like that, week in and week out.’
‘This win sets us up now. We have 4 massive games in a row, 2 games against Gladstone and 2 games against Rockhampton that we need to get. The guys should get a lot of confidence from this win and hopefully it carries over in the next couple of weeks.’
THE ‘DOWN UNDER TOURS’ DOLPHINS AND ‘BARTERCARD’ MARLINS PLAY AGAINST GLADSTONE FRIDAY NIGHT, 1ST OF JULY. GET IN EARLY TO SECURE YOUR TICKETS AT THE BENDIGO BANK BASKETBALL CENTRE, OR CALL THE FISH TANK ON 4041-2145. TIP OFF FOR THE DOLPHINS IS AT 6:30PM, 8:30PM FOR THE MARLINS.
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.