Vegagroup NSW Universities Basketball Challenge Delivers Unforgettable Grand Finals

As university sport continues to drive student engagement across the country, events like the Vegagroup NSW Universities Basketball Challenge highlight the energy, rivalry and community that sit at the heart of university sport in Australia.

In March this year Sydney Uni Sport invited UNSW, UTS and Macquarie University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams to their own “March Madness” competition, known as the Vegagroup NSW Universities Basketball Challenge.

Over three ‘Friday-night-lights’ sessions at SUSAC’s Showcourt, the four universities went toe-to-toe in a round robin event in front of 400 screaming fans each week.

The top two teams, USyd and UTS in both cases, then played each other in the Grand Final on Friday evening 17 April at SUSAC.

In front of 600 fans, USyd’s women’s team scored some critical points in the last few seconds of the game for an extremely exciting win.

In the men’s grand final, things were even closer as the scores were level with six seconds to go and UTS on a fast break.

As luck would have it, USyd student Myles Buvac secured a steal and passed the ball quickly to his teammate, Sam Stolyes, who was waiting at halfway.

With less than one second remaining, Sam launched a shot from halfway which sailed straight through the net as the final siren blew to secure USyd the win and their second title of the night.

The crowd went crazy and stormed the court in what was one of the most memorable student engagement nights of the decade.

Sydney Uni Sport thanks the sponsors of the event, Vegagroup Contractors, as well as the University, USU and UniSport Australia for helping deliver a standout student experience.

The Vegagroup NSW Universities Basketball Challenge was streamed live and free on UniSportTV.

All images supplied by Sydney Uni Sport, copyright Karen Watson.