UBL Round 1 Review
MEN:
Heading into their game against Victoria University, the Melbourne University men’s team were clear favourites and as the game began, it started to look like a potential blowout. A strong starting contingent of James Avgerinos, Joshua ‘Spud’ McNally, Dihan Wiggett, Wilson Amos, and Kai Garnaut did the work early, giving the team an early run.
The scoring began with none other than a trademark Wilson Amos midrange jumper off the back of a missed shot attempt by the Vultures. It has been a while since the fans have been able to bear witness to its beauty; Amos went down with a serious wrist injury in the UBL finals last year. Not that you could tell after his performance in this game.
His dominance continued to be the theme for the first half, Amos having his way, knocking down one after the other and finishing at the break with 18 points and ten rebounds. While Amos proved to be an issue to contain, the Winged Victory had most of their scoring success in transition, their speed and athleticism on display, and Dihan Wiggett distributing the ball like a pro.
Down by 20 points in the second quarter, it was looking dire for the Vultures, who so far had been passive on offence and weren’t providing any scoreboard pressure. That was until Deng Agoth put his foot down, scoring an incredible behind-the-back-wrap-around-lay-up in transition, getting fouled and making it a three-point play. This one play began a momentum swing for the Vultures, led by Agoth and joined soon after by Bailey Bruce and Mayuol Makuac, shortening the deficit to just nine points and forcing Melbourne University coach Joel Rimes to call a time-out. The Vultures then stepped up their defensive pressure, forcing tough shots and then a series of turnovers, which resulted in them closing the margin further to five points.
While speed and athleticism may have been an advantage for the Winged Victory early, it was the Vultures who lifted in physicality and tested the home side. The first half ended with only two points difference, and in a game that was earlier anticipated to be a blow-out, became quite the show.
After the break, it was clear that whichever team could look after the ball would be in control and have the best chance of securing the win. While the Vultures' overall aggression to the basket improved, they were not as efficient as the Winged Victory, who were able to take the lead back out to ten points. Despite it being the second half, the pace of the game did not waver, both teams continued to push the ball in transition. Unfortunately for the Vultures, they just couldn’t keep up with the scoring prowess of the Winged Victory; Matt Power, Kai Garnaut, and James Avgerinos each had their own moment. While both teams put up a high volume of shots, the Winged Victory’s offensive rebound rating was far above their opponents, therefore leading to more second-chance points, a stat that proved costly in the end. Agoth, Makuac, and Bruce put up a valiant effort for the Vultures, but ultimately their team fell short by seven points – an accomplishment considering how the game started!
WOMEN:
For the women's game, the match-up was a similar story to the men's, in that the home team was the suspected favourite, despite their low final standing in the previous year.
It was clear that the Winged Victory had an interior advantage over their opponents. The likes of Meera Coburn, Rachael Smith, and Kayla Salmons had much greater size. They looked to make the most of this early on, the game plan clearly to feed Coburn in the post and let her get to work. This proved successful as she was having her way in the paint, scoring her team’s first eight points! The Vultures responded, however, with two threes through Casidhe Green and Chelsea Suemai, not allowing the home side to get out on a run.
While the winged Victory may have had a different line-up out on the floor, seven of the ten players in the team – Meera Coburn, Lara Essex, Rachael Smith, Ruby Nicks, Victoria Poulos, Layla Prince, and Kayla Salmons – had played together before. Whether it was in BigV, UBL, or at Uni Nationals, specifically in 2024 when they won gold at Nationals and a BigV Championship for the Melbourne University Basketball Club.
The Winged Victory’s scoring output came from their defensive intensity, whether they were up in the full court or back in the half, their ball pressure was impressive, and they utilised their length well. The Vultures, on the other hand, made the most of their opponents’ poor box outs, capitalising on multiple occasions. At the other end, the Winged Victory failed to capitalise, with shots they were making early, failing to drop in the second quarter.
Towards the end of the first half, it was the Vultures who started to see the ball go through the ring, and thanks to a Keira Brown triple, they found themselves in front for the first time. This forced Melbourne University Head Coach, Kyle Ogden, to call a timeout, but to no avail, Brown getting a steal off the inbound and earning herself another two points. The game took a scrappy turn, the next three possessions resulting in a steals, before Prince found herself in trouble. The dual athlete's physicality on her drives turned into back-to-back offensive foul calls, seeing her exit the game with four fouls before main break.
With the scores level entering the second half, the game was set to be a close one. The Winged Victory began the new half with some set plays, intending to get some early points on the board and help their shooters find their rythm. Unfortunately, their three-point shooting didn’t improve until the fourth quarter. The third being a scrappy affair, where the Winged Victory fell into the Vultures trap. Lucky for them, thanks to the energy of Jess Freeman and Ruby Nicks, they were able to remain competitive.
An 11-point second-half output from both Kayla Salmons and Lara Essex was also extremely helpful, but in the end it was back-to-back clutch triples from Nicks that put the game away, sealing the win for Melbourne University by 11 points.
Make sure you get down to our next home game on 27 August at the Nona Lee Sports Centre, against Latrobe University. Tickets available here.