Mar 31, 20223 min read

Home teams hold strong in week two UBL22

Image Credit: Angelo Di Carlo (Cohesion Co)

The home team advantage rang true this week, with only three of the 16 games going to the travelling teams during the second week of UBL22.

Local rivals La Trobe University and Victoria University kicked off the round at La Trobe Sports Stadium on Monday evening, with the four teams showing high hopes of progressing to the finals this year. Victoria University pushed the La Trobe University women to the last quarter, with La Trobe University holding on to produce a fine win for the home side 68-46.

The men’s match could have gone either way, with Victoria University edging out the home side in the dying minutes of the game 92-88. La Trobe University men’s captain #2 Christian Yammouni (Bachelor of Health Science) was a standout on the court, finishing with 27 points and 7 rebounds for his team.

Fed Falcons hosted RMIT to kickstart day two. Dominant individual displays from #13 Stephanie Fell from RMIT (Bachelor of Nursing), with 6 points and 23 rebounds and Fed Falcons #13 Faith McKenzie (Bachelor of Secondary Education) nabbing 20 points, 22 rebounds and 3 assists to give the Fed Falcons their second win for the season 68-57.

However, the RMIT men were able to prevent the double sweep for the Falcons, dominating the game from the first quarter, 120-63.

A convincing sweep was evident at the hand of The University of Sydney in both divisions against AU Waatu. Just one of two NSW universities competing in the 2022 UBL season, The University of Sydney controlled the game from the start to seal the win 90-36 in the women's game.

The AU Waatu men couldn’t match the strength of The University of Sydney in their afternoon game with the home side winning comfortably 98-54.

Down south at the Victoria University Community Sports Stadium, #10 from Victoria University Mitch Dielemans (23 points, 8 assists) strongly contributed to a great win for Victoria University against Curtin Uni Carnabys men 81-70. Following suit in similar flare, #4 Ebony Sans (Bachelor of Psychological Studies) of the Victoria University women’s team, with 24 points and 10 rebounds, helped secure the double sweep for Victoria University 79-48.

The UTS match up against USC Spartans saw a tight finish in the women's game with a final score of 53-50 to UTS. The UTS men bounced back from their close result against The University of Sydney in week one to close out the match against the USC Spartans 76-50.

The USC Spartans backed up their matches against UTS to then take on The University of Sydney. The University of Sydney showed they are the team to beat, too strong in the men's game winning comfortably 98-54 after a slow start. The women's game was a close 74-69, with the USC Spartans unable to get the final points for the win.

UTS made a strong display against AU Waatu, convincingly winning 77-29 in the women's match and 96-48 in the men’s match.

The University of Melbourne match-up against West Australian team Curtin Uni Carnabys saw a dominant display from the women of Curtin Uni Carnabys, to come out on top 66-50.

The men's match saw Joel Rimes #12 (PHD Immunology) produce an incredibly strong display with 33 points and 6 assists for The University of Melbourne in their victory 87-77. A commendable mention to #1 Lachlan Bertram (Science & Engineering) of the Curtin Uni Carnabys, taking 25 points and 9 rebounds for the travelling team.

Looking ahead to week three, the action will head north to Queensland where the USC Spartans will host newcomers AU Waatu and Fed Falcons at the USC Stadium for their first home games of 2022. Will the southern teams be able to brave the QLD heat?

Both Sydney teams will make their way across the continent to Perth to continue their dominance on the court in Western Australia but will face some heavy resistance from UWA Maali who, after a week’s break, will no doubt be feeling fresh and raring to go.

By Alexandra Rees (The University of Newcastle)

Check out all of the results here, plus you can see every game LIVE and FREE at UniSportTV.