The Sturt Sabres (95) defeated The Eastern Mavericks (81) in round 6 of the Men’s CABL.

When the senior men took the court, Eastern shot out of the blocks with their strongest quarter of the season, but were chased down and beaten in the following three as Sturt took out the 14 point win 95-81.

The senior men’s game was a good battle, the Mavericks came out strong and played with intensity. Finishing their shots well, they put away 57 per cent of their first quarter attempts. Stuart Breheny’s 4 from 5 with a converted free throw gave him a game high 9 points at the first break, and with five other points contributors the Eastern Mavericks held a 5 point lead at quarter time.

Sturt’s Matthew Dougherty, John Marriott and Sam Daly all had quality first quarters, challenging the Mavs for the lead several times. Curtis Scipio steadied Eastern with 7 points and Daniel Lean and Shane Breheny added 4 each. Andy Thomas subbed in for the Sturt Sabres with a minute to go and was immediately effective when he scored from down town on the buzzer to narrow the margin 28-23.

The Mavericks' Mark Proctor got on the board in the second quarter, converting the bonus free throw after a foul to make it a 3 point play. With points for the Mav’s to Daniel Lean and Shane Breheny, Eastern maintained their lead as they went into a Sabres timeout.

When Sturt hit the team foul limit, Shane Breheny went to the line and converted both bonus free throws. Lean then called a post up play for Nicholas Heim, who converted with a nice basket. However in the final 3 minutes of the first half, Sturt made a run of five baskets including a big dunk to Marriott to turn a 7 point deficit into a 3 point lead at half time.

At the beginning of the third, Eastern’s Haydn Barns came out to play, making 2 regular baskets and then drilling one from behind the arc to bring the Mavericks back level with Sturt at 48 points each. This was the closest the Mavericks would get to regaining the lead as Sturt’s Mathew Dougherty and Sam Daly heated up for 7 points each and pushed the buffer out to 9 points at the last break.

The Mavericks gave it their all in the final term with 6 players contributing points, but multiple blocks by Sturt centre John Marriott hurt their chances and Mathew Dougherty made another 3 baskets from downtown to keep their noses in front. In the end it was these 3 pointers that made the difference, as Eastern were competitive everywhere else on the court with both teams scoring 42 points in the paint, drawing basically even on field goal percentage, free throws and assists. The Mavericks won both the steals and turnovers stats but couldn’t find an answer to Sturt's outside shooting.

Sturt’s Mathew Dougherty finished with a game high 26 points, Sam Daly with 22 and John Marriott reached a double-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds. Eastern’s Shane Breheny also recorded a double-double, pulling in 11 rebounds to go with his 18 points. Eastern Mavericks 81 (Shane Breheny 18, Barns 15, Scipio, St Breheny 13) defeated by Sturt Sabres 95.

This Saturday the Eastern Mavericks will take on the Forestville Eagles at the Wayville Sports Centre with the women's game at 6:30pm and the men at 8:15pm.

Sturt Sabres 95 (Matthew Dougherty 26, Sam Daly 22, John Marriott 19)
Eastern Mavericks 81 (Shane Breheny 18, Haydn Barns 15, Curtis Scipio 13)

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By Lachlan Eggers