The Forestville men have ended their horror finals run against Norwood, upsetting the Minor Premiers 82-68 in the 2011 CABL Grand Final at Adelaide Arena on Saturday.

The Eagles trailed by eight points with 87 seconds left in the third quarter, before Rashad Tucker and Majok Deng inspired their team to 29 of the game’s last 36 points.

Tucker had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in the final 11.27 of action, including a couple of spectacular plays late to kill off the game.

Deng entered the game with 1.34 remaining in the third, and immediately produced the sort of energy that had been lacking from his teammates for most of the night.

In fact, neither team played at its regular standard during the first half, perhaps as a result of the nerves associated with a Grand Final.

It was not until Norwood’s Robin Eley produced an eight point purple patch midway through the third that either side began to rise to the occasion.

However, the rookie Deng proved the x-factor, dominating the paint by changing shots and grabbing rebounds, as well as running the lanes magnificently at the opportune moment.

As a result, the Eagles lifted.

Their pressure (sometimes only perceived) got to the Flames, particularly big man Nick Hambour, who missed three layups, and Andrew Webber, who failed on a number of open jumpers.

Meanwhile, Norwood captain David Cooper, who has dominated Forestville in recent times, only scored one point in the fourth, and his team managed only two field goals collectively.

In contrast, Eagles captain Brad Sullivan finally got going offensively, scoring 8 of his 12 points in the final quarter, as Forestville produced a 33 point turnaround from its blowout loss of a fortnight ago.

Tucker finished with 30 points, his second highest for the club, along with 15 rebounds and 7 assists, and was crowned the MVP of the Grand Final.

Deng ended the night with 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, but his most significant stat was his team’s 20 point advantage with him on the floor.

Eagles centre Neil Mottram was on the bench during his club’s frantic finish, however, he was large value for minutes and played a pivotal role in keeping his team within striking distance.

Mottram, who missed Forestville’s other three encounters with the Flames, scored 10 points and pulled down 6 boards, while having the better of his opposing centres.

Brad Haydon (10 points, 6 rebounds), Trent Fildes (9 points, 8 rebounds) and Adam Doyle (9 points, 4 rebounds) also played very well.

Todd Matthews was Norwood’s best with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, while Andrew Webber had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Eley was in good touch with 11 points on 4/6 shooting, including 3/5 threes, but as a whole the Eagles did a good job of closing him out.

Cooper was a workhorse as always with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Only two weeks ago, the Flames torched the Forestville defence by shooting 61 per cent from the field.

However, they shot almost half of that this time, only making 32 per cent of their shots.

After scoring 10 less points in the paint and 13 fewer points from the foul-line in their semi final defeat, the Eagles torched Norwood inside with 40 interior points to 14, while going plus-two at the stripe.

The Flames looked the better team early with an 11-0 run helping them a to a 13-5 lead.

Forestville had been trying to pass up good shots for better ones, but this only led to turnovers and wasted possessions.

However, the Eagles changed tack by allowing Tucker to operate alone up top, and it was not long before they were back in the game.

At quarter-time, Forestville had closed to within 2, 14-16.

There were five ties and six lead changes in the second.

Tucker continued to get into the paint, but struggled to finish off his good work, while Mottram was providing his team with all-round value.

At the other end, Norwood was strong on the perimeter, with Eley and Krause both connecting from distance.

The Flames could never open up a lead larger than four, while the Eagles could not build a greater advantage than three.

With neither team playing at the sort of intensity required to cease such a match, it was no surprise that only one point separated the sides at intermission, with Norwood up 38-37.

The Flames led for the entirety of the third, assisted by some hot shooting from Eley and some strong play on both backboards from Cooper.

They led by as much as nine, before the Eagles closed out the quarter strongly.

Capped off by a three point play from Haydon after an airball from Sullivan, Forestville trailed 58-61 with 10 minutes left.

The Eagles scored the first five points of the fourth via Tucker and Doyle, taking the lead for the first time since midway through the second.

Andrew Webber immediately levelled the scores, converting a difficult layup under pressure from the ever-present Deng, before Sullivan gave Forestville the lead for good with 7.03 remaining.

The Eagles had their offence working to perfection, in complete contrast to two weeks prior.

The Flames had plenty of opportunities around the basket, from the perimeter and at the foul-line, but Forestville’s pressure and desperation was clearly affecting the Minor Premiers.

With 4.34 remaining, Deng pulled down a huge contested offensive rebound, before putting the ball home to give Forestville a 72-64 lead. 

On three of the Eagles’ next four possessions, the shot came off the fingertips of Tucker, who delivered on all three occasions, as Forestville went up by 13.

When Keith Krause nailed a three with little over a minute remaining, the Flames had scored their first field goal for almost seven minutes.

During that time, the Eagles had scored 18 points to two to take the game away from Norwood and win their first premiership since 2006.

By James Woite