I have to agree "truth" that was one of the best games I have seen in abl. Some Hugh shots down the stretch for both teams and it was back and forth. I thought Ashley Nitschke played very well for centrals as well as good contributions from Adam Todd and jarred Hammond. As well as the usual suspects of jye Watson and Justin wilky. For strut Oscar Forman had his usual great game and the supporting cast played well around him.

And I forgot to mention Justin Clayton who also played a great game.

Nitschke played well ... a massive three point play at a crucial time in the game

I enjoyed the atomasphere of the game it was great, very loud and just great. The ref's maintained control and both teams played with good sportsmanship.

As has been said, great game. Sabres women won 93-37 or something. No real contest but Lions girls did finish better than they started.

Monique 22 and 16, Sara Chapple 14 and 10, Brigid 14 and 9. Actually, only one girl for the Sabres not in double figures, and they had 9!

For the Lions, Karin Roberts had 10 (3/17) and Shay Bayly had 9 (3/14). Rebounds went to Sturt 60-39. Field goals to Sturt 48.7% to 17.9%(!)

Sturt men were playing despite a number of injures to Shepherd, Forman and Hackendorf (one eye down!) on top of missing Gower, Bauer and James-Martin. Lions looked to be in better shape, but were down by up to 17 early.

Centrals rallied in the third as others have already said and eventually got up by 11! Sturt retained the lead before the Lions pulled back. With scores tied 102-102, Oscar hit the jumper for the win with 0.2 seconds remaining before a full court shot missed from the Lions. He got the wine from Ricky Simpson (26 points and 18 rebounds, 6/11 threes).

I've been critical of Hammond before as the least effective starter in the league, but he came through with the goods this game and was chosen by Rick Castle to get the MVP wine for the Lions (17 points (5/9 FG), 8 rebounds and 2 steals).Made some solid long bombs and let the Sturt bench know about it!

Jye had 34, 6 and 6. Darren Ng was an assist short of a triple double (13, 13 and 9), and Tom Finkemeyer was solid for 23 and 12.

A special award this weekend of some sort for Mark Bauer. Went from barely getting garbage time minutes a few weeks ago to having 16 last night (5/5 FG and 6/6 FT) and something like 5/7 for 10 points today.

Another good performance was from Ash Nitschke -- from end of the bench at Norwood, handed by Sapwell to the Lions where they made decent use of him this game. That's a success story for the league, IMO. He had 9 and 6 in 16:37.

Boards went to Sturt 63-53. Accuracy also, 42.5% to 35.9%

It was my first visit to Starplex. Great facilities, definitely unrivalled in the state. So far away though for anyone nearer the city. Wow, long drive!

Big thanks to Allan and Jamie from Centrals for the complimentary entry and for the tour of facilities. Very hospitable and a lot of positivity out at the Lions in their men's ABL program.

Good to hear that the Lions made a game of it. Sounds like it would have been an awesome game to watch and am sorry I missed it.

At least the Centrals women seem to be improving as of late.

Good to see Bruce Northcote remembered to bring his shoes for this game.

Actually, I was surprised that the court announcer didn't mention my lack of white shoes ...

On another note - the siren (both 24 second, and normal buzzer) needs to be changed at Starplex as a matter of urgency. It can't be heard above the crowd noise (big ups to the blue army for generating a good atmosphere).

Thankfully, in this very close game, Sturt were shooting at the scoreboard end, so that we were able to determine visually that Oscar's shot went before the buzzer (0.2 secs). If it was the other end, we would have had no visual confirmation, and the siren is just not loud enough to accurately determine when the clock expires.

It didn't help that the backup air-horn broke during the game ...

Note to STOP people, and umpires doing games at Starplex - make sure that the STOP people are prepared to help the umpires out with clock expiring decisions at the non-scoreboard end.

your shoes are the least of your problems!

Bruce, weren't Sturt finishing the game at the end opposite the scoreboard? The only scoreboard I noticed was at the visitors bench end. In the fourth, Oscar took that shot from the foul line nearest the Lions bench.

Yes that is correct Isaac, was Bruce looking at the scoreboard instead of the final shot this would not be the first time that has happened. Another interesting point was when he called Oscar's 5th foul he waited for the STOP person to hold up the paddle, was he waiting for it to say 6 (did he think it was his 6th foul how can a ref keep count of an individuals foul count).

I didn't love the reffing, but didn't think that it decided the game. Oscar's shot was well before the buzzer (the clock stopped after it'd fallen through anyway).

I'm sure that the Lions would've been frustrated with the result, but the Lions kids on here talking up the game tells me that it was just a good, entertaining game with positives for both teams. For every call a Sturt guy might whinge about, there'd be another that a Lion might've been unhappy with.

Also, might as well add that I thought the MC did a good job. Bit dorky with the nicknames and obviously biased and pushing his luck baiting Sturt people, but generally positive and really added to the atmosphere.

Definitely worth putting on the Hot list is Darren Ng yelling "Eat it!" as he blocked one of the Lions in the last quarter. Gold!

The Whole woodville Under 20s Team love the Saying " Eat it " not a big fan of it personally

I no what you mean Truth not a big fan either

jye and wilky were making sum deposits that game

Wilkey actullay hit some shoots when we really needed them and he played some D ... Ive been a bit critcual of him being a selfish player but he has really impressed me this season

yes he is cool his cheques havent bounced 4 a bit now he keeps makeing deposits good game

hehehehehe there is something about you accountant

i all ways say green 4 the money and gold 4 the honeys i think the game was cool im sad that lions lost but thats the way the exchange rate gos good game from both teams

That game and the Sabres' two point loss to Forestville are games of the season so far for me. Great fightbacks, narrow margin, decent performances.

I also thought Wilkey put in a good game. Does seem to give and get when he plays his old team!

it was an awsome game though i wanted to see oscar dunk it. but the shot on the buzzer was devasting. i could see what was gonna happen as soon as he got in the post but there was nothing centrals could do about it he is just to big. centrals really does lack a tall player.

...and proper english...

good won curious monkey