QBL: Marlins douse the Heat, Spartans silence the Thunder

May 04, 2017

The 2017 QBL men's season got off to a great start last weekend, with some excellent games, beginning with Cairns hosting Townsville and wrapping up with Gold Coast taking on the Brisbane Capitals.

Round 1 in Review

Cairns 88 - Townsville 70

The reigning champions got their season started with a bang following an 18-point win over arch-rivals Townsville Heat. Damon Heuir picked up where he left off last season, leading all scorers with 29 points while his back court partner Anthony Fisher chipped in with 15 points and 8 assists.

Tight throughout the first three quarters, Cairns ran away with it in the fourth, outscoring Townsville 36-14. The Heat were lead superbly by Peter Crawford's 16 points and 6 assists, while import Justin Baker chipped in with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Brisbane Spartans 75 - Logan 58

The Brisbane Spartans returned to the QBL in a big way, taking down local rivals Logan Thunder by 17. Bullets players Adam Gibson (22 points, 7 rebounds & 7 assists) and Tom Jervis (21 points, 17 rebounds & 4 blocks) were tremendous for the Spartans. Mitch Philp chimed in with 12 points in the win.

Logan lead at the half 35-31 but were restricted to only 23 second half points as Brisbane pulled away for the victory. Logan's dynamic duo of Mitch Young and Michael Cedar combined for only 24 points on a combined 6-of-30 shooting which was never going to be good enough.

USC Rip 79 - Sunshine Coast 76

This was arguably the game of the round that went down to the final seconds before the Rip were able to seal the win. Former NBL star Lance Hurdle was huge for the Rip, scoring 24 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists while playing all 40 minutes of the game. The Tueta brothers marked their return to the QBL by combining for 26 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists.

The young Phoenix squad were able to hang with the Rip thanks to a big night from big man Illiwa Baldwin who lead Sunshine Coast with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Toby Zaremba put up 14 points and Tom Fullarton added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Sunshine Coast is a young squad and they are waiting on the arrival of Sydney Kings big man Jeromie Hill, so they would be proud of their effort but disappointed in the result.

Other results:

Mackay 94 - Rockhampton 72
Ipswich 83 - Toowoomba 80
Mackay 87 - Gladstone 66
Capitals 98 - Gold Coast 81 (replay below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhlO-NXwCEY

Round 2 Preview

Friday 5 May 8:00PM | Toowoomba @ Logan (see live streaming details below)

Both teams are looking for their first win of the season. Can Toowoomba handle Logan's size? Can Logan slow down Toowoomba's guards?

Friday 5 May 8:30PM | South West @ Townsville

Pirates have a tall task first up as they take on the Heat. South West carry some injuries to key players into this weekend...can they overcome them?

Saturday 6 May 7:00PM | Ipswich @ Gold Coast

Gold Coast should have their full squad for this one. Do they want to run and gun with Ipswich or slow things down to a half court game? How does Ipswich defend Torrey Craig?

Saturday 6 May 7:30PM | Capitals @ Sunshine Coast

The Phoenix dropped a tough one last weekend while Brisbane rode a dominant 1st half to the win. Can Sunny Coast handle the constant Brisbane pressure?

Saturday 6 May 7:30PM | Gladstone @ Rockhampton

Both teams hung with Mackay for a bit last week. Can Gladstone Power up the offense this week? Will Rocky be able to slow down Ray Willis?

Saturday 6 May 7:30PM | Spartans @ USC Rip

Spartans made an emphatic return to the QBL in Round 1 while USC scored a close win. How do the Rip stop Tom Jervis? Can Brisbane contain Lance Hurdle?

Saturday 6 May 8:00PM | South West @ Cairns

This is the 2nd game of a back-to-back for South West, this time in Cairns against the defending champions. How will the Pirates handle 2 games in 2 days plus all that travel?

The Pick and Roll

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