Newcastle Hunters US import Austin Thornton led his team to a 93-87 win against the Maitland Mustangs at the Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday night.
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Thornton was in scintillating form scoring 39 points, collecting 15 rebounds and making five assists in what had been billed as the battle of the big guns against Maitland’s Karl Moore.
Moore had a double-double performance of his own with 22 points and 12 rebounds and is sure to make a huge impact this season.
However, it was Thornton who made the biggest impact imposing himself from the start with strong runs at the board and ensure the Kibble Mallon Cup stays in the Hunters’ possession for another year..
The Hunters made the early running and were out to a seven-point lead until the Mustangs rallied in front of a packed home crowd to finish the first quarter with the score 24-23.
The second term was squared with 24 points a piece. The third term proved the turning point with Newcastle establishing a 73-67 lead.
Newcastle were able to maintain the break to win their opening two games of the season and share top spot on the Waratah Champions League with Hills Hornets.
In the end Newcastle’s superior shooting percentage prevailed as Maitland threw up more shots.
The Hunter landed 24 of 40 two pointers (60%) and in 10 of 28 (35%) from three-point territory to Maitland’s 28/53 (52%) and 6/22 (27%).
For the Hunters, Thornton received strong support from Jacob Foy who scored 23 points and Benjamin Hawkesley 13.
While on the losing end, Maitland will be pleased by a more even performance across the court. Captain Terrell Turner scored 17, fellow guard Jack Edwards 15 and Daniel Milburn 10. Sam Huggins had a strong all round game scoring eight points and making eight rebounds.
Maitland are sixth on the table with one win and one loss and are away to the Sydney Comets next Saturday.
The Mustangs youth men also went down to Newcastle, losing 79-87. Daniel Millburn top scored for Maitland with 29 points, Nicholas Rinkin scored 18 and Connor Edwards 11.
Maitland are seventh with a one and one record. They beat Ryde Bulls 65-61 in the opening round and also travel to take on the Sydney Comets on Saturday.
The Mustangs Division 1 women reversed the trend of the day with a big 67-48 win against Newcastle.
Janica Duncombe led the scoring for the Mustangs with 16, Emily Tudman scored 10, Karlee Grayson nine and Amanda Bendeich eight as every contributed to the score.
The Mustangs women are in action next against Tamworth in Tamworth on April 7.