Both Melbourne teams are through to the 2026 UBL Semi-Finals after a thrilling Quarter-Finals at the Sports Centre.
The UniSport New Balance University Basketball League Quarter Finals at Nona Lee Sports Centre were always bound to be an exciting time for players and fans alike, and with both the men and women’s teams playing, the home crowd was set for a treat.
Fresh off the back of a stint at UniSport Nationals, where they won Silver (Women) and Bronze (Men) respectively, both teams had to dig deep. Neither team had a second chance, there was no room for error if they wanted to progress to the next stage of finals.
The women were up first, having finished second on the ladder in the South West conference, they took on the North East conference’s third-placed team, the University of Newcastle.
Statistically, there wasn’t much between the two teams going into the game, but UniMelb certainly looked more at home, shooting at a higher clip from both 2pt and 3pt range. Four players were in double figures, and in the absence of firecracker Georgia Ryan, it was crucial that the team’s top performing players maintained their strong form.
Leila Davis (13pts, 6rebs, 3ast, 3stl) continued to be dominant, but foul trouble kept her from completely taking over. Eliza Bannan (14pts, 6rebs, 5ast) provided another solid performance, playing in both the point guard and small forward positions. It was Elle Price (19pts) and Victoria Poulos (21pts) who got the crowd on their feet, they combined for seven of the team’s ten three-pointers.
It wasn’t purely their offence that got them over the line; defensively, they forced UON into 26 turnovers for the game, getting 12 steals and blocking three shots. Their defensive pressure is an advantage they will need to continue to utilise as they head into their next game against the University of Tasmania.
For Ai Yamada, making finals in her first season as UBL Head Coach is super special,
“I am so excited, I am really having fun with the girls and am just so pumped for the Semi Finals.”
With the crowd up and about after the girls’ big 30-point win, the men’s team were ready to ride that momentum into their game. After finishing top of the ladder in the South West conference, they took on the North East conference’s fourth place, the University of Sunshine Coast Mari.
This team were not intimidated by the Tin Alley faithful, despite being clear underdogs, they took it to the home side and spent more of the game in the lead than they did down.
It was the usual suspects leading UniMelb; Alek Bandilovski (7pts, 5rebs, 7ast, 4stl) had a true all-rounder game, Wilson Amos (18pts) and Kai Garnaut (15) had high scoring outputs, but it was Dihan Wiggett (18pts, 9rebs, 4ast, 3stl) and Josh ‘Spud’ McNally (15pts, 5 3pm) who really brought it home.
The game was as close as they come, with 30 lead changes throughout, and no more than three points between them at each of the breaks, the crowd was on the edge of their seats heading into the final minutes.
Down by six with just under four minutes to go, Wiggett and Spud did what they do best: defensive stops and big-time plays. Spud put on a show from the three-point line and Wiggett made sure there was no chance of UniSC Mari making a comeback.
While it made for a great contest and there was plenty to cheer about, the boys won’t want their next game to be quite as close. They play at HOME at 7pm on October 19 against the University of Sydney in the Semi-Finals.
