Sydney University opened the 2022 University Basketball League season with wins over the University of Technology Sydney in both men’s and women’s competitions at the Sydney University courts on Tuesday.
Michael Yooung posted 20 points in Sydney University men’s nail-biting 82-79 win over UTS, with Joshua Paik (19) and Matthew Wacher (13) also posting double figures.
Alex Higgins-Titsha (17) and Archer Woodhill (16) led the scoring for UTS.
Sydney University led 20-15 at the first break and 41-32 at half-time before UTS hit back in the third quarter to go to the break leading 59-55. The tense final quarter saw Sydney University post 27-20 to collect the opening round points.
Sydney University’s women’s team posted a 55-40 result over UTS with Holly Wills leading the scoring with 14 points, while Daila Walker led the scoring for UTS with eight.
The Sydney University teams will travel to South Australia to take on the University of Adelaide in Round 2 matches on Tuesday, March 29.
The University Basketball League Australia (UBL) is back for its second season in 2022 with 11 women’s and 11 men’s teams taking to the courts for an epic eight-week battle across the country culminating in a two-week final series.
This season welcomes The University of Adelaide, Curtin University, Federation University Australia and RMIT University to join the founding universities La Trobe University, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, University of the Sunshine Coast, University of Technology Sydney, The University of Western Australia and Victoria University.
The inaugural season in 2021 was disrupted due to the Covid pandemic, with the University of Sydney leading both competitions at the time. It will be a tougher ask this season with the expanded competition including five states and over 100 games being played.
The 2022 UBL will include eight weeks of round games. Which commenced on Monday, 21 March, and culminate in a new home and away finals format to determine the 2022 UBL champions.
“The opportunity to represent their university in a national tournament was highly valued by the seven founding teams in 2021 so we are looking forward to a bigger and better UBL in 2022,” UniSport CEO Mark Sinderberry said.
