North Gold Coast Seahawks v USC
Rip City
The Seahawks were no match for
Southern Districts at Rowland Cowan
Stadium in round 14 being blown out
by 20 points. North Gold Coast only
trailed by 5 entering the fourth but a
quick 7-0 run by the Spartans quickly
extended the lead and all up ending
North Gold Coast’s hopes of a road
victory. The Seahawks had five players
reach double figures in scoring but
struggled to contain the Spartans bigs
as they were outrebounded by 7 on
the offensive glass and a -24 in points
in the paint. The Seahawks will close
their 2019 campaign with a home
game against seventh-placed Rip City.
Two big round 14 home wins over
South West Metro and Ipswich have
put USC in a commanding position
for a finals berth. Like the Phoenix,
Rip’s fate is in their own hands with
a victory locking in seventh position
and potentially even a rise to sixth in
Rockhampton suffer two losses. Look
for Jerron Jamerson to put in work
against his old team and lead USC to
win and into the finals.
South West Metro Pirates v Logan
Thunder
Despite finding themselves at 4-8
at the completion of round 11 South
West somehow enter the final round
of the season with the possibility
of still playing finals. The Pirates
were able to get past the struggling
Mountaineers on Sunday after their
loss to USC on Friday to keep their
season alive. Ryan Vines stuffed the
stat sheet on his way to 18 points, 10
assists and 7 boards, whilst Pwono
had 25 of his own. Logan on the other
hand could have locked in a finals
berth with a win over the Phoenix
but fell by 6 points on their home
court. The Thunder were kept to 71
points which is their lowest total of
the season. Coleman (25) and Ammar
(15) tried their best to steady the ship
as Cedar and Young struggled from
the find combing for 3-22. Both teams
find themselves in a position where
they are relying on other results to go
their way in order to make the finals,
although a loss would eliminate them
completely. The Pirates appear to be
playing slightly more consistent of late
and we think they will record a narrow
victory.
Gladstone Port City Power Surge v
Gold Coast Rollers
Despite falling behind by as much as
28 in their match against the Heat,
the Power continued to battle in the
fourth quarter eventually bringing the
margin back to 8 by the final buzzer.
Tipene (30 points) and Young (28
points and 8 assists) were huge for
the visitors as they fell to their 15th
straight loss on the season. Gladstone
will close out their season in front of
their home crowd as the Gold Coast
Rollers search for their 15th win of the
regular season. The Rollers blew the
visiting Mountaineers off the court in
round 14, running away 37 points the
better. Thalo Green scored an efficient
25 points in 24 minutes, whilst Parker
finished 2 assists shy of a triple double
with 14 points, 14 boards and 8 dimes.
Gold Coast are locked into the 2/3
seed entering the finals but will still be
hoping for a Townsville loss to ensure
a home semi final given they win in
the opening week of the finals. Gold
Coast comfortably.
Townsville Heat v Rockhampton
Rockets
The Heat enter the final round of the
QBL regular season with their fate
in their own hands. With a home
quarter final locked in, a win will see
Townsville finish in second position
and a loss could see them drop
to third if Gold Coast can defeat
Gladstone. Townsville blew their
round 14 lead over Gladstone to as
many as 28 before emptying their
bench and allowing the visitors to get
the final margin back to a respectable
8 points. Josh Wilcher continued
his hot run of form with 25 points,
7 rebounds and 7 assists in only 26
minutes. The Rockets will be backing
up after their Friday night hit out
against the Meteors. Two losses for
Rockhampton could see them drop
to as low as seventh if USC can get a
road win over North Gold Coast. This
would ultimately set up a rematch
against Townsville in Week 1 of the
finals. Given a Townsville win locks in
home court for the first two weeks of
the finals, the Heat have a lot more
on the line and therefore we expect
Townsville to win their fourth in a row.
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