With wins for Worthing Thunder, Team Solent Kestrels, Bradford Dragons, Derby Trailblazers and the Loughborough Riders, there was plenty for NBL fans to enjoy across the country.
As it stands, Kestrels and Thunder sit pretty at the top of the table in first and second respectively, with 16 points apiece. The only thing that separates them is Team Solent's superior points difference.
There's a recap of all the action below, and each result is also clickable if you wish to view the live stats.
Thunder kept up the pressure on league leader's Team Solent Kestrels, with a triple-digit win over Team Newcastle on Saturday.
The tightly contested match saw the teams take two quarters each, but a dogged performance by Thunder in the third - outscoring their rivals 31-25 - helped them to secure their eighth win of the campaign.
Tom Ward put in a mega shift, playing nearly 40 minutes and recording a double-double of 17 points and 16 boards, whilst teammates Jarred Dixon and Zaire Taylor contributed to over a third of the Thunder score, with a cool 44 points between them.
Newcastle were unlucky to lose, pushing Thunder to the wire in the fourth quarter and players Brandon Federici and Ronald Blain scoring 29 points a piece, but a costly 15 turnovers meant extra scoring opportunities for their opponents and ultimately was their undoing.
Top performers from tonight’s win which sees us go 8-1 in the league pic.twitter.com/GTOuOt6bMC
— Worthing Thunder (@WorthingThunder) November 20, 2021
Beating sixth place BA London Lions (5-4) is no walk in the park, but Team Solent Kestrels (8-1) are on rampant form and routed the Londoners by 53 points.
The Kestrels' bench played a huge role in this victory, scoring 69 points between them, 28 of which belonged to leading scorer, guard Andre Arissol. The top of the NBL is becoming a two-horse race between the Kestrels and Worthing Thunder, but for now it's the South Coaster team's points difference keeping them in pole position.
Down at the other end of the table, the Bradford Dragons (3-4) put some daylight between them and Leicester Warriors (1-8) by beating them by six points. The 11th place Dragons ran a decent fast-break game to break up the Warriors' defence, and despite guard Delaney Powell scoring 34 points against them, the Dragons' trio of Ricky Fetske, Jermayne Laing and Zach Gachette all scored double-digits to secure the win.
Final game of the Saturday was hosted at Repton School in Derby, and was another blowout.
The Trailblazers (5-4) shot 44/72 field goals to amass a monstrous 121 points to the Oakland Wolves' 78 (1-7). Top scorer on the night was Jonas Dieterich, who was on fine form, scoring 34 points, whilst team mates Blake Bowman and Leighton Elliott-Sewell had 26 and 22 points respectively.
Essex Rebels (0-7) remain winless at the bottom of the NBL after losing to the Loughborough Riders (3-6) 94-70.
Joe Bielak (19) led the Riders scoring with Harrison Gamble chipping in with 16 as the Riders cruised to the W and the Rebels continued to struggle.
Worthing Thunder 108-103 Team Newcastle University - LIVE STATS
Team Solent Kestrels 115-62 London Lions II - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM
Bradford Dragons 82-76 Leicester Warriors - LIVE STATS
Derby Trailblazers 121-78 Oaklands Wolves - LIVE STATS
Loughborough Riders 94-70 Essex Rebels - LIVE STATS/LIVE STREAM
National Cup: Thames Valley Cavaliers 104-61 London Elite
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Main image credit - © Luke Simcock
