'A Starling is born': Alex calls game for Forestville

• Six clubs play seven men's games across three days in Adelaide
• Canberra defend the title as the sixth seed after missing an East final
• The top two after two rounds meet in Sunday's championship game

DAY 1 RESULTS

Forestville Eagles def. GC Rollers 85-84

Alex Starling was the hero for the hometown Forestville Eagles, hitting the final five points of the game, including a game-winning jump shot to help his NBL1 Central championship team earn a one-point comeback victory over an undermanned Gold Coast Rollers.

The Rollers were the best team for most of the night and looked to have all but sealed victory with an 84-80 lead in the dying stages, only for Starling to knock down a tough three-pointer, before Ash McGrath missed two free-throws for Gold Coast, allowing the former Adelaide 36er to win the game and send the home crowd into a frenzy.

Starling was the player of the game with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Boston Mazlin led the way with 19 points for the Rollers.

Canberra Gunners def. Rockingham Flames 110-93

Canberra's chances of winning back-to-back NBL1 National Finals is still alive after a Will Mayfield masterclass led the team from the nation's capital to a 17-point win over the Rockingham Flames.

Mayfield had 29 points and six rebounds as the fairytale team from 2025 took a step closer to repeating their story from last season.

Rockingham big man, Blake Jones, had 45 points to lead his side.

Frankston Blues def. Norths Bears 93-79

The Frankston Blues kept their dominant form from the end of the NBL1 South season rolling after establishing themselves as the favourite to take out the national title with a 14-point win over the Norths Bears.

Jack Stanwix top-scored for the Blues with 24 points but had three other teammates in double figures as Frankston's firepower proved too much for the Bears.

Lewis Holey led the scoring off the bench for Norths with 17 points.

'Bottom Gun': Gunners defend title from sixth (tournament preview)

Canberra Gunners open their defence of the NBL1 men's national title against Rockingham Flames at 8pm ACST on Friday (tonight), seeded sixth and last of the six clubs in Adelaide.

They are the only club in the field that did not win anything to get here.

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basketball.com.au's Bec Cole (It's a Cole World) and podcast partners Jacinta Govind, Jake Burfitt and Christopher Caldicott are part of the commentary teams.

Every other club is here because it won something. Norths Bears took out the East and are seeded first, Forestville Eagles won Central, Rockingham won the West, Gold Coast Rollers won the North and Frankston Blues won the South. Canberra are here by right, as reigning national champions, after an early exit from the NBL1 East finals.

The numbers say the same thing the seeding does. Across the six clubs Canberra scored the fewest points a game at 83.33 and Gold Coast the most at 113.79, a gap of more than 30 points, and Canberra are last in the field for assists and field-goal percentage as well. Those are season averages across six different conferences, so they measure different competitions rather than a level playing field, but the spread is real.

Norths Bears open the whole tournament against Frankston at 4pm ACST, and Forestville play Gold Coast at 8:30pm.

Every club plays once on Friday and once on Saturday. The top two after those two rounds meet in the championship game at 1:30pm ACST on Sunday. There are no semi-finals.

Twelve teams, more than 120 players and coaches, and the first time the NBL1 National Finals have been held in Adelaide. Canberra, the Sunshine Coast, Joondalup and Melbourne have all hosted before.