Men's Qualifying Final Preview - Sturt v Norwood
(Includes Round 3 & 12 results when the Teams last played)
Sturt v Norwood, Sat, July 31st, 8.15pm at Pasadena
R 3: Sturt 83 (Daly 25, Maynard 11) def Norwood 59 (Ottey 12, Matthews 11)
R 12: Norwood 82 (Matthews 23, Webber, Cooper 14) def Sturt 73 (Holmes 21, D Ng 20)
When the sides met in Round 3 the makeup of the teams was vastly different to that which has qualified for finals. Sturt set up the win back then with a productive first quarter when they outscored the Flames 19-7. At the end of the match Sturt had 4 players in double figures, led by Thomas Daly who finished with 25 points, he finished the game high scorer. Norwood struggled offensively that day only racking up 19 first half points.
When the sides met later in the season Norwood was strengthened by the inclusion of Keith Krause and David Cooper. In the return match, they defeated the Sabres at Mars by 9 points. That win was achieved with a good third quarter when they outscored the visitors 30-18.
The teams enter this contest with differing results from their final minor round games. Sturt were convincing winners over North with Darren Ng, Jacob Holmes and Thomas Daly combining for 61 of their 91 points. Ng finished the game high scorer with 30 points including five 3 pointers.
Norwood looked gone at halftime in their clash with Forestville when they fell behind 50-34. In the last period they staged a major comeback levelling the scores at 81-81 with 1:44 remaining. Norwood lost that match 85-83 on a late basket to Riley Luettgerodt.
Both teams have an abundance of talent and players with NBL experience. Norwood’s font court of David Cooper, Keith Krause and Dan Thompson, who joined the team later in the season after recovering from injury, will pose a big threat to Sturt’s chances of advancing to the second semi-final. Sturt have four players in Thomas Daly, Corey Maynard, Darren Ng and Jacob Holmes who have all averaged more than 10 points per game this season.
The teams clashed last season in a semi-final. In that game which was a ‘nail biter’, Sturt prevailed by a solitary point. Both teams have players who can score from either inside the paint or outside the arc.
It would not surprise if this match goes down to the wire in what is expected to be a high standard affair.
Last Modified on 31/07/2010 11:01
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