Gold Coast Rollers finish on top of NBL1 North basketball competition after buzzer-beater controversy

Controversy has erupted over a season-defining buzzer-beater that has put the Gold Coast Rollers in the box seat to win a second straight NBL1 North title. Go inside the moment that put tens of thousands of dollars on the line.

Preston Le Gassick Gold Coast Rollers in NBL1 North 2023. Pic credit: Vanessa Timothy

CONTROVERSY has erupted over a season-defining buzzer-beater that has put the Gold Coast Rollers in the box seat to win a second straight NBL1 North title.

Questions were raised as to whether Rollers guard Jason Cadee’s final bucket in the dying seconds of Gold Coast’s 90-88 win over the Logan Thunder at Carrara Stadium on Friday night came before the buzzer ended.

The win in the last regular season game guarenteed Gold Coast top spot on the ladder ahead of Logan, meaning the Rollers will get to play all their finals games at home, starting this Saturday against Rip City.

If officials deemed the shot to be after the buzzer it would have sent the game into overtime where Logan could have snatched victory and secured a home final that could deliver tens of thousands of dollars in ticket sales and other revenue.

Jason Cadee (right) was the man who secured the win for Gold Coast.

It’s understood Logan officials were left seething and are contemplating lodging a formal appeal.

“At our level we don’t have live replays, so the referees make a call based on what they see,”

said Gold Coast Rollers General Manager Joel McInnes.

“It was obviously a great result for us and a fantastic way to win 16 straight. I think I was standing on my seat by the end.”

The score swung in Thunder’s favour for most of the game, but a last-second floater from Cadee in the dying second was all it took to seal the deal.

Gold Coast were on the back foot at halftime and there was little change in the third quarter until Todd Blanchfield snagged a three-point bomb to put the Rollers in front with three minutes on the clock.

It was the momentum shift Gold Coast needed to get going in the final term.

As time ran down, it was Shaun Bruce who slipped up on offence and allowed Cadee to steal the ball, taking it down court and executing a floater.

It adds inevitable tension between the sides as finals could see them face off once again.

On top of scoring the winning basket, Cadee boasted a triple-double with 10 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.

Preston Le Gassick Gold Coast Rollers in NBL1 North 2023. Picture credit: Vanessa Timothy

Blanchfield finished with 26 points, 14 rebounds and three assists while Preston Le Gassick put on 17 points.

On the visitors bench it was Shaun Bruce who was named an MVP nominee with 18 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds.

The Rollers are set to take on Rip City for their quarter final clash.

“They’ll be pretty hungry to get revenge for last year,” McInnes said.

In the 2022 finals series, it was the Rollers who put a stopper on Rip City’s grand final hopes after the reverse took place in 2021.

Only time will tell whether the pressure of such a close game will affect the Rollers’ now 16-game victory streak.

It was a less successful night for the Lady Rollers, who put up a fight but were unable to topple Thunder’s winning streak.

The third quarter which Thunder won 27-14 made all the difference to the 75-66 scoreline.

Mikaela Ruef was without a doubt the visitor’s strongest unit, racking up 31 points, 22 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

Gold Coast’s Arianna Moorer managed 33 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to go with Cate Reese’s 11 points and four rebounds.

Despite the loss, the Lady Rollers finished seventh on the ladder and will progress to play-offs.