The North Adelaide Rockets have continued their stunning turnaround with a hard-fought 94-85 victory over Forestville at Wayville on Saturday.

Just two hours after the Rockets’ women’s upset victory, the North men made it a double-boilover, securing a fifth straight win to maintain fourth position on the CABL ladder.

On a night when the skyhook was back in fashion, Ryan Franceschinis had 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, while Matthew Lycett had 24 points and 9 boards, and Rhys Elliot scored 14 points on 6/6 shooting in just 19 minutes, leading the Rockets’ charge.

In his last game for North before returning to Sweden, Rhys Carter had 14 points, 7 boards, 5 assists and 4 steals.
Carter has played extremely well and his leadership will be sorely missed, although the Rockets do have Brandon Brine to return to the line-up.

The road win was North’s 11th in their past 13 away matches, a stunning record, especially considering their two losses have totalled just two points.

The Rockets had 25 assists to just 11 turnovers, and shot 50% from the field and 35% from the three-point line.
This proved enough to counter Forestville’s 50-35 rebound advantage, which led to a 20-6 lead in second chance points.

However, the Eagles shot just 43% from the field, and connected on just 1/9 three-point shots.

Brad Sullivan top-scored for the Eagles with 23 points on 75% shooting, but attempted just two three-point field goals, making one.

Sullivan had attempted 36 three-pointers in his past three matches, connecting on 14 of them.

Rashad Tucker had another great all-round game with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists, but no other Eagle scored in double-figures.

Nic Blair and Brad Haydon totalled just two points apiece, well down on their respective averages of 9.9 ppg and 11.8 ppg.

The shining light for Forestville was Majok Deng, who had a career-high 8 points on 4/6 shooting.

After conceding the first eight points of the game, a Carter trey got North going, producing a quick turnaround to lead 24-19 at quarter-time.

The second quarter was tight, with the Rockets unable to build on their handy advantage.

The Eagles regained the lead with 2.46 remaining, following two free throws from Adam Doyle, before two late bombs from Josh Bond, his only field goals of the night, got the visitors back on top 43-41 by the major break.

The third quarter was also North Adelaide, who outscored the home side 23-16.

Franceschinis scored 7 points in the period, while Lycett chipped in with 6, as the Rockets built a nine point buffer heading into the fourth.

Two early baskets from Elliot and a three from Carter helped North establish a double-digit advantage for the first time in the match, leading 73-61 with 7.42 remaining.

Forestville Coach Andy Simons quickly brought the big guns back in, before the Eagles went on a 14-4 run over the next 4.44.

Sullivan was on fire during this span with six quick points, with Rockets Coach Tracy York calling two time-outs to stop the rot.

However, for all Forestville’s good work, the game turned back North’s way in a hurry.

Following Sullivan’s basket, Lycett established good position on the block against Tim Smyth, before being fouled by the rookie and converting the basket.

On the next possession, Tucker missed the shot, with Lycett grabbing a crucial defensive rebound.

The Rockets played a long offence, before Rowe was fouled and knocked down 2/2.

The verdict on the Eagles’ next play was the same: Tucker missing, Lycett pulling down the board.

After missing on his first attempt, Franceschinis secured an offensive rebound, and then was fouled by Tucker.

Tucker did not like the call and neither did Simons, who was called for a technical foul.

Franceschinis hit a perfect 4/4, and the game was North’s for good.

Defining moment: Forestville was on a roll halfway through the fourth, forcing turnovers and getting easy points on the break. The Eagles were just two points in arrears with less than three minutes to go, but after Lycett scored against Smyth to double the visitors’ advantage, the stuffing was knocked out of the home side, who never again threatened.

North Adelaide verdict: The Rockets have one of the youngest teams in the competition, and do not have the quantity of NBL and international basketballers that many of their rivals do. Yet, in its past five matches, North is 5-0. It is fantastic for the competition to have a team of young enthusiastic ballers aiming to make the grade playing at such a high level. The loss of Carter may hurt, but the Rockets have been the surprise-packet of the season thus far, so do not be surprised if they pull off a few more scalps. With half the season gone, North is 5-4 and sitting fourth.

Forestville verdict: For the second time this season, Forestville’s three-game winning streak has ended with a home loss. The Eagles showed what they were capable of in patches, but could not put it all together over four quarters. Overall, this was one of their more disappointing performances of the season, but give full-credit to the Rockets, who forced Forestville out of its comfort zone for most of the night. At the halfway mark, Forestville sits in third position with a 6-3 win-loss record.

By James Woite