BOXSCORE


The Gold Coast Blaze kept their finals hopes alive with a comfortable 73-60 road win over the Melbourne Tigers on Sunday night.

The Blaze led from the start and were never headed as they snapped a three-game losing streak. For Melbourne, the loss marked its third straight set back and left them trailing the top four by two games.

Gold Coast was not intimidated by the sell out Tigers crowd and settled quickly. The led by one point at quarter time and a sharp start in the second period saw that edge extended to nine points.

From that point on the Gold Coast was never challenged, leading by as many as 17 points before coasting to the win.

The Blaze was dominating the rebounding count, and would end the night with a 50-26 edge on the glass. Its 17 offensive rebounds provided numerous second opportunities to score and Gold Coast took advantage to record the win.

Both teams shot under 40% from the field, but Gold Coast’s ability to recycle its offensive through its rebounding was the critical factor in the game, as was their 41 per cent three-point shooting.

Adris Deleon led the Blaze with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Adam Gibson added 16 points.

Cameron Tragardh, the NBL’s leading scorer, was held to just 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting in a pivotal battle with Mark Worthington. The Blaze centre also added 15 points to give Gold Coast the advantage in that key match-up.

Gold Coast improves its record to 7-8 and move into sixth place on the NBL ladder, while the Tigers drop to 9-9 and remain fifth.

Gold Coast Blaze 73 (Deleon 20, Gibson 16, Worthington 15)
Melbourne Tigers 60 (Tragardh 14, Dorsey 13, Dillon 10, Rush 10, Ubaka 10)

Crowd: 3500 at State Netball & Hockey Centre, Melbourne