In a game that it led from start to finish, the North Adelaide Rockets claimed its first men's title in 24 years, defeating the Norwood Flames 85-72.

In front of 2300 fans at the Distinctive Homes Dome, North was more dominant than in any of its previous games against Norwood. The mainly Norwood crowd were silenced early, as North raced to an early 28-16 lead.

The Rockets did an excellent job of pressuring Todd Matthews, forcing him to make difficult passes out of double teams, and also made smart decisions when closing out on open receivers. At the offensive end, Tom Rowe, who was injected into the starting lineup in the latter part of the season as Ryan Kersten's commitments with the New Zealand Breakers ramped up, scored his season average 7 points in the first quarter, and surprised the Flames with a couple of strong drives to the basket.

Dan Thompson kept Norwood in the hunt and led his team with 9 points in the first half, however he did not have enough teammates assisting in offensive. Norwood shot 2 of 18 from the three point line in the first half, partly because it was unable to get any open looks closer to the basket.

When Dusty Rychart left the game in the first quarter after picking up his second foul, Norwood were unable to capitalise. There were enough Rockets contributing that his absence wasn't a factor. Norwood correctly scouted Michael Zorich as a penetrator, but could not stop him from creating opportunities for others in the open court. At half time, Norwood was down by 22, and desperately looking for scorers.

A  Norwood run was expected, but its timeliness was up for debate. The Flames certainly improved in the third and David Cooper produced some good finishes around the basket. Despite this, they were unable to make much headway into the lead, and went into the final quarter down 19.

The crowd came to life as the Norwood charge finally eventuated. Todd Matthews, Max Papendiek and Dan Thompson scored in succession, and the lead was quickly reduced to 10. Half way through the quarter, North was forced to call a time out and the first doubts started to surface of their ability to hold on.

After a couple of quick North baskets allayed those fears and the end-game became a foul fest. North iced their final 11 points from the foul line, 6 of which came from Erik Burdon.

Rychart and Zorich were North's best, Rychart with 25 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks, and Zorich 3 assists off a triple double. Erik Burdon was also effective, and proved his worth as a defensive player.

For Norwood, Dan Thompson carried much of the scoring load with 20 points. David Cooper's 16 points was above his season average, as both had to compensate for the lack of scoring in other areas. North now looks forward to a Quarter Final opportunity against SEABL East champions Geelong, while Norwood contemplates a missed opportunity to reward their dominance of this year's competition.