18 April; Phina Newton
UBL Round 5
Women's game
Round 5 of the UBL saw the Melbourne University Winged Victory take on the Federation University Falcons at Tin Alley on Wednesday night.
Federation Uni were without their leading scorer for the season, but still managed to perform, catching Melbourne University a little off guard. They were off to a strong start through their power forward Faith McKenzie. She was a menace to guard in the paint, using her aggressive cuts to the basket and strength down low to make some tough shots.
Luckily for Melbourne, Leila Davis was on her own scoring warpath down the other end, nailing threes and finding the bottom of the net with ease. She had 14 points in just the first quarter and was key to Melbourne having a strong lead in the first half.
It was Fed’s ball movement that allowed them some good looks, Melbourne opted to change into a zone defence that saw them have more success in guarding McKenzie and this slowed Fed’s momentum down.
This was until a late surge from Fed, in both the third and fourth quarter, which saw them come back from what was once a 20 points deficit, to within three. A couple of players in foul trouble saw Melbourne drop their intensity and their turnovers started to rise.
Hayley Cumming back in the point guard position made a big difference. Not only did she get her team sorted offensively, but she was also hitting several triples from deep, to keep Melbourne in front.
Melbourne was able to overcome the late charge from Fed and came away with a nine-point win.
Men's game
Round 5 of the UBL saw the Melbourne University Winged Victory take on the Federation University Falcons at Tin Alley on Wednesday night.
Sitting at the bottom of the ladder with zero wins to their name, Federation Uni were the underdogs going into this game. It was always going to be a tough ask for them coming up against the reigning champs.
Melbourne Uni wasted no time; co-captain Spud McNally found his shooting rhythm straight off the bat. Both teams were eager to get on the scoreboard, and this resulted in a very fast-paced game.
Despite a dominant start from Melbourne, Fed were able to stay in the game through their three-point shooting. Multiple players showing they could knock it down, both Nathan Raymond and Ethan Fiegart both showing confidence in their shot.
The margin stayed at 10 points for most of the game, Melbourne never really pulling away, as both teams continued to exchange buckets. Dihan Wiggett, did what he does best, making some very difficult shots look easy. At times, Melbourne lacked ball movement, and this led to their offence slowing down. This was until they started to find Matt Power in transition and suddenly things looked a lot better.
Melbourne was able to run over Fed in the end, winning by 20 points.