1979 NBL season

1979 NBL season
League National Basketball League
Sport Basketball
Duration 24 February 1979 – 23 March 1979
10 June 1979 (Grand Final)
Number of teams 10
TV partner(s)
Regular season
Top seed St. Kilda Saints
Season MVP Ken Richardson
Top scorer Cal Bruton (597 - 33.2 ppg)
Final
Champions St. Kilda Saints
  Runners-up Canberra Cannons
Final MVP Larry Sengstock

The 1979 NBL season was the inaugural season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 24 February 1979 and 2 June 1979, and was followed by Grand final on 10 June 1979.

Regular season

The home and away season took place over 15 rounds between 24 February 1979 and 23 March 1979 with grand final on 10 June 1979.

Round 1

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
24 February Glenelg Tigers 68–65 City of Sydney Astronauts Apollo Stadium
24 February Brisbane Bullets 70–77 Canberra Cannons Auchenflower, Brisbane
24 February Newcastle Falcons 62–78 Nunawading Spectres Burwood Stadium
25 February St. Kilda Saints 94–92 Newcastle Falcons Albert Park Basketball Stadium
25 February West Adelaide Bearcats 101–77 City of Sydney Astronauts Apollo Stadium
25 February Bankstown Bruins 79–82 Canberra Cannons Bankstown Stadium

Round 2

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
3 March City of Sydney Astronauts 86–91 Canberra Cannons Alexandria Stadium
3 March West Adelaide Bearcats 73–66 Nunawading Spectres Apollo Entertainment Centre
3 March Illawarra Hawks 91–88 St. Kilda Saints Beaton Park Basketball Stadium
3 March Newcastle Falcons 97–69 Brisbane Bullets Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre
4 March Glenelg Tigers 68–74 Nunawading Spectres Apollo Entertainment Centre
4 March Bankstown Bruins 74–101 St. Kilda Saints Bankstown Stadium
4 March Illawarra Hawks 74–78 Canberra Cannons Beaton Park Basketball Stadium
4 March Newcastle Falcons 83–81 City of Sydney Astronauts Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre

Round 3

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
10 March Illawarra Hawks 74–71 Bankstown Bruins Beaton Park Basketball Stadium
10 March Canberra Cannons 75–65 West Adelaide Bearcats Canberra Showgrounds
10 March Newcastle Falcons 99–87 Glenelg Tigers Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre
11 March City of Sydney Astronauts 81–80 Glenelg Tigers Alexandria Stadium
11 March Brisbane Bullets 68–78 West Adelaide Bearcats Auchenflower, Brisbane
11 March Nunawading Spectres 75–72 St. Kilda Saints Burwood Stadium

Round 4

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
17 March West Adelaide Bearcats 76–72 St. Kilda Saints Apollo Entertainment Centre
17 March Bankstown Bruins 77–84 Brisbane Bullets Bankstown Stadium
17 March Canberra Cannons 80–69 Illawarra Hawks Canberra Showgrounds
17 March Newcastle Falcons 77–78 Nunawading Spectres Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre
18 March City of Sydney Astronauts 81–96 Nunawading Spectres Alexandria Stadium
18 March Glenelg Tigers 73–87 St. Kilda Saints Apollo Entertainment Centre
18 March Illawarra Hawks 94–96 Brisbane Bullets Beaton Park Basketball Stadium

Round 5

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
24 March St. Kilda Saints 88–70 Canberra Cannons Albert Park
24 March Glenelg Tigers 64–73 Bankstown Bruins Apollo Entertainment Centre
24 March Newcastle Falcons 79–77 Illawarra Hawks Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre
25 March City of Sydney Astronauts 92–82 Illawarra Hawks Alexandria Stadium
25 March West Adelaide Bearcats 91–88 Bankstown Bruins Apollo Entertainment Centre
25 March Nunawading Spectres 71–59 Canberra Cannons Burwood Stadium
31 March Illawarra Hawks 72–91 West Adelaide Bearcats Beaton Park Basketball Stadium

Round 6

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
31 March City of Sydney Astronauts 90–76 Bankstown Bruins Albert Park
31 March St. Kilda Saints 86–54 Glenelg Tigers Albert Park
1 April Canberra Cannons 86–80 Brisbane Bullets Canberra Showgrounds
1 April City of Sydney Astronauts 107–95 Brisbane Bullets Alexandria Stadium
1 April Bankstown Bruins 70–92 West Adelaide Bearcats Bankstown Stadium
1 April Nunawading Spectres 77–53 Glenelg Tigers Burwood Stadium

Round 7

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
7 April Glenelg Tigers 75–77 West Adelaide Bearcats Apollo Entertainment Centre
7 April Brisbane Bullets 101–86 Bankstown Bruins Auchenflower, Brisbane
7 April Nunawading Spectes 77–47 Illawarra Hawks Burwood Stadium
7 April Canberra Cannons 76–83 City of Sydney Astronauts Canberra Showgrounds
8 April St. Kilda Saints 89–81 Illawarra Hawks Albert Park
8 April Brisbane Bullets 99–80 Newcastle Falcons Auchenflower, Brisbane

Round 8

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
19 April Glenelg Tigers 75–77 Canberra Cannons Apollo Entertainment Centre

Round 9

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
21 April St. Kilda Saints 75–77 Bankstown Bruins Albert Park
22 April West Adelaide Bearcats 64–65 Canberra Cannons Apollo Entertainment Centre
22 April Nundawading Spectes 93–81 Bankstown Bruins Burwood Stadium

Round 10

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
28 April St. Kilda Saints 95–76 Nunawading Spectes Albert Park
28 April Brisbane Bullets 91–74 Glenelg Tigers Auchenflower, Brisbane
28 April Bankstown Bruins 91–86 Illawarra Hawks Bankstown Stadium
28 April Newcastle Falcons 94–89 West Adelaide Bearcats Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre
29 April City of Sydney Astronauts 86–84 West Adelaide Bearcats Apollo Entertainment Centre
29 April Illawarra Hawks 90–100 City of Sydney Astronauts Beaton Park Basketball Stadium
29 April Canberra Cannons 80–75 Glenelg Tigers Canberra Showgrounds

Round 11

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
5 May St. Kilda Saints 117–92 Brisbane Bullets Albert Park
5 May Newcastle Falcons 96–103 Bankstown Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre
6 May Nunawading Spectes 84–97 Brisbane Bullets Burwood Stadium
6 May Canberra Cannons 94–85 Newcastle Falcons Canberra Showgrounds

Round 12

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
12 May Illawarra Hawks 110–83 Glenelg Tigers Beaton Park Basketball Stadium
12 May Nunawading Spectres 72–58 West Adelaide Bearcats Burwood Stadium
12 May Newcastle Falcons 84–77 Canberra Cannons Newcastle Sports Entertainment Centre
13 May St. Kilda Saints 92–85 West Adelaide Bearcats Albert Park
13 May City of Sydney Astronauts 99–119 Newcastle Falcons Alexandria Stadium
13 May Brisbane Bullets 91–85 Illawarra Hawks Auchenflower, Brisbane
13 May Bankstown Bruins 84–100 Glenelg Tigers Bankstown Stadium

Round 13

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
19 May City of Sydney Astronauts 78–103 St. Kilda Saints Alexandria Stadium
19 May West Adelaide Bearcats 108–85 Newcastle Falcons Apollo Entertainment Centre
19 May Glenelg Tigers 68–74 Illawarra Hawks Apollo Entertainment Centre
19 May Brisbane Bullets 105–85 Nunawading Spectres Albert Park
20 May West Adelaide Bearcats 74–71 Illawarra Hawks Apollo Entertainment Centre
20 May Glenelg Tigers 79–77 Newcastle Falcons Apollo Entertainment Centre
20 May Brisbane Bullets 81–98 St. Kilda Saints Bankstown Stadium
20 May Bankstown Bruins 83–87 City of Sydney Astronauts Bankstown Stadium
20 May Canberra Cannons 84–70 Nunawading Spectres Canberra Showgrounds

Round 14

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
26 May West Adelaide Bearcats 97–76 Glenelg Tigers Apollo Entertainment Centre
26 May Brisbane Bullets 104–88 City of Sydney Astronauts Auchenflower, Brisbane
26 May Bankstown Bruins 92–93 Nunawading Spectres Bankstown Stadium
26 May Newcastle Falcons 79–92 St. Kilda Saints Albert Park
27 May Illawarra Hawks 84–93 Nunawading Spectres Beatin Park Basketball Stadium
27 May Canberra Cannons 93–98 St. Kilda Saints Canberra Showgrounds

Round 15

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
2 June West Adelaide Bearcats 120–93 Brisbane Bullets Apollo Entertainment Centre
2 June Illawarra Hawks 81–80 Newcastle Falcons Beaton Park Basketball Stadium
2 June Nunawading Spectres 81–61 City of Sydney Astronauts Burwood Stadium
2 June Canberra Cannons 101–86 Bankstown Bruins Canberra Showgrounds
3 June St. Kilda Saints 97–86 City of Sydney Astronauts Albert Park
3 June Glenelg Tigers 92–112 Brisbane Bullets Apollo Entertainment Centre
3 June Bankstown Bruins 84–93 Newcastle Falcons Bankstown Stadium

Ladder

This is the ladder at the end of season, before the finals. In all, 90 games were played, 18 for each team. The top two teams then played a sudden death grand final.

Team Pld Won Lost Last 5 Streak Home Away % Pts % Won
1 St. Kilda Saints 19 16 3 5-0 W14 10-0 6-3 115 84
2 Nunawading Spectres 18 13 5 3-2 W3 7-1 6-4 106 72
3 Canberra Cannons 19 13 6 2-3 L1 7-2 6-4 103 68
4 West Adelaide Bearcats 18 12 6 4-1 W4 8-1 4-5 109 66
5 Brisbane Bullets 18 10 8 3-2 W1 6-3 4-5 100 55
6 Newcastle Falcons 18 8 10 1-4 W1 6-4 2-6 99 44
7 City of Sydney Astronauts 18 8 10 1-4 L3 5-4 3-6 94 44
8 Bankstown Bruins 18 3 15 0-5 L5 1-8 2-7 90 16
9 Glenelg Tigers 18 3 15 2-3 L2 2-7 1-8 87 16

There was only one final played in this season and it was contested by the Top 2 teams.

Grand Final

The Saints won on a reverse layup just before the buzzer by Peter Vitols.

Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue
10 June St. Kilda Saints 94–93 Canberra Cannons Albert Park Basketball Stadium

Awards

Award Player Team
NBL MVP Ken Richardson West Adelaide Bearcats
Grand Final MVP Larry Sengstock St. Kilda Saints

Stats

Points Per Game

  1. Calvin Bruton - 33.2 PPG (18 games for the Brisbane Bullets)
  2. Ken Richardson - 26.2 PPG (18 games for the West Adelaide Bearcats)
  3. Dave Ankeney - 26.1 PPG (18 games for the Newcastle Falcons)
  4. Jim Slacke - 23.8 PPG (18 games for the Illawarra Hawks)
  5. Cal Stamp - 23.3 PPG (18 games for the Canberra Cannons)

Field Goal %

  1. Dave Ankeney - 50.0% (18 games for the Newcastle Falcons) (165/330)
  2. Dan Riley - 50.0% (18 games for the Newcastle Falcons) (146/292)
  3. Glen Ryan - 50.0% (17 games for the Newcastle Falcons) (63/126)
  4. Darrell Corcoran - 50.0% (18 games for the West Sydney Westars) (66/132)
  5. Richard Dunphy - 50.0% (16 games for the West Sydney Westars) (109/218)

Foul Shot %

  1. Jim Slacke - 80.8% (63/78)
  2. David Leslie - 80.6% (54/67)
  3. David Symth - 78.7% (48/61)
  4. Calvin Bruton - 78.5% (113/144)
  5. Gary Fox - 77.8% (49/63)