Men’s Norwood Flames vs Southern Tigers
The Norwood Flames (3-5) are going up against the Southern Tigers (2-5), the Tigers have been the best defensive team in the central division so far, holding teams to the fewest points against them. The Flames have a tough game ahead as they look to continue their push into the post-season picture. The Flames have been an elite offensive team, so the battle of offence versus defence will commence in round 8.
The offensive firepower of the Flames wasn’t enough to get the jump early on the Tigers. The defensive prowess of the Tigers was on full display as they limited the opportunities for the Flames early, jumping out to an early 7-point lead. An offensive explosion was able to bring the Flames back into the game and a layup from Issac Miller-Jose was able to finally get the lead for the Flames towards the end of the quarter. A battle ensued, with both teams answering each other’s scores, trying to maintain the slim advantage on the way to the quarters close. The Flames were able to come out on top in this battle, leading the quarter with a 2-point lead, 22-24.
The second quarter started with a more defensive focus, with both teams forcing turnovers and tough possessions for each other. The Flames established a small run but Nicholas Logan of the Southern Tigers forced the game back to even before Blake Morrow and the Flames fought back for momentum and created a 7-point margin. The Tigers tried to keep the game competitive but an offensive explosion from the Flames continued to expand their lead throughout the quarter. This offensive firepower completely outclassed the Tigers and opened up a 16-point lead by halftime, 38-54.
The Flames’ offensive display brought on a 20-point lead early in the third. The Tigers began to fight back effectively, limiting the offence of the Flames and using their defensive efforts to score on the other end, this allowed them to hold the Flames’ lead around the 18-point, stopping the Flames’ momentum and preventing them from ending the game too early. However, a spark of 3-point shooting ignited a run from the Flames, this run created a massive amount of momentum and energy which the Flames utilised to score in bunches and expand their lead to 27 before the end of the penultimate period, 57-84.
The final quarter saw more domination from the Flames. Being able to find any shots they wanted, continuing to expand their lead and stopping the Tigers from finding any momentum in the quarter. This absolute demolition of the usually sound defence of the Tigers created a void in their gameplan and saw the Flames being able to do whatever they wanted on their way to the win. During the last few minutes of the game Morgan Farrell-Oates got his first NBL1 minutes of 2024, while Jett Swaffer hit the court for his very first NBL1 minutes. Jett made the most of his minutes going on to make the first shot of his NBL1 career, a kick-out corner triple which highlighted the win from the Flames, 71-106.
