University Basketball League 2022 week one wrap-up

Posted 24th March 2022

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Image Credit: Sports Imagery Australia

Week one of the 2022 UBL season brought plenty of excitement and gruelling upsets during the 16 games held in three states across Australia this week.

The first games of UBL 2022 tipped off at Fed Falcons’ (Federation University) home courts at Ballarat, one of four new universities to join the league in 2022. The women’s match-up was evenly balanced, with Fed Falcons edging out The University of Melbourne 52-44.

In the men’s game, The University of Melbourne ran from the first quarter, demonstrating a dominant display over Fed Falcons 115-57 (with Monti Buck’s incredible dunk the highlight of the match).

The second West Australian teams to join the UBL in 2022, Curtin Uni Carnabys (Curtin University), hosted one of the founding Victorian teams, La Trobe University, to kickstart day two of the league.

The home court advantage couldn’t get the Curtin Uni Carnabys the win for the men against the 2021 finalists, with a final score of 85-52 to La Trobe University.

The women’s match-up contained plenty of 3pts for both sides, but the Curtin Uni Carnabys couldn’t compete with the dominance of La Trobe University, falling to the founding team 66-87.

Victoria University opened their second UBL season with a strong victory over newcomers RMIT at the RMIT Sports Centre, reinforcing their strong form in the women’s division with a 84-27 win. However, RMIT were able to prevent the double sweep from Victoria University in the men’s match in an exhilarating win, 82-75, proving themselves to be a team to watch this season.

In an overtime thriller, men’s team USC Spartans (University of the Sunshine Coast) secured their first win over UWA Maali (The University of Western Australia) 89-83 in one of the matches of the week at UWA Maali’s home stadium. The USC Spartans women met with strong defence in the UWA Maali side 55-33 to claim two from two for the travelling Spartans.

Day two showcased back-to-back victories for The University of Sydney against their local Sydney rivals UTS (University of Technology Sydney) with the men nabbing the win 82-79 and the women holding strong 55-40 in what was some fierce competition from the local teams.

The final day of the week provided much anticipation with UWA Maali matching up against the first South Australian squad to join the competition this year, AU Waatu (The University of Adelaide). The UWA Maali women finished with a slim winning margin of 62-60. The men’s AU Waatu team came out firing on their debut with a comfortable win of 92-71 over the UWA Maali men.

The Curtin Uni Carnabys women came out reinvigorated in their second match, going head-to-head with USC Spartans to take the victory 72-65. The men’s match was a spectacular display of grit for both teams, heading into double overtime with the Curtin Uni Carnabys displaying a late surge in points to win 102-91. Incredible performances from both teams.

The remaining matches of week one started off with a bang, with Victoria University seeing both the women’s and men’s teams take down Fed Falcons in a confident display at East Cranbourne, the women winning 104-50 and the men 122-57.

Looking ahead to week two, it will be an action packed three days. Tipping off on Monday afternoon is La Trobe University taking on Victoria University at the La Trobe Sports Stadium, with both teams hoping to continue their dominant performances of week one.

New team Fed Falcons will take on fellow Victorian newcomers RMIT, the dark horses of the competition. Will the USC Spartans reignite their winning campaign against The University of Sydney on day three?

Find out by watching all of the games, live and free, at UniSportTV.