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25 January 2026  5 min read

WNBL & NBL National Cup finals 2026: Highlights, recaps, reaction & gallery

Manchester Mystics beat London Cavaliers in an instant classic to secure the WNBL National Cup, and Solent Kestrels eased past Manchester Magic to claim the NBL National Cup.

A recap of both games can be found below, including reactions and a gallery of images at the bottom of the page.

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Women’s National Cup Final: London Cavaliers 83-84 Manchester Mystics

In a game that will be remembered for years to come, Manchester survived a see-saw battle to snatch a last-gasp 84-83 victory against a heart-broken London Cavaliers.

Securing their first title in the competition's 61-year history, Mystics had to hold their nerve at the line with 0.6 seconds remaining as Chloe Andrew hit a pair of free throws to win it at the death.

In the pre-game, Manchester coach Rob Fairley suggested his side's route to success would be to make the game into a grind, and that certainly proved to be the case as both teams combined for 63 total fouls.

It was almost fitting that such a contest would be settled from the foul line. Manchester's race looked to be run as they sent Cavs' forward Helen Trailin to the stripe with 2.5 seconds remaining. Up 83-82, Trailin couldn't hit on either attempt, setting up the game's pivotal moment.

As Andrew battled for the ensuing rebound, she was adjudged to have been fouled - by Trailin - sending the Manchester product to the line to make history for her side.

Holding her nerve took huge resolve given the stakes involved, but sinking one shot then the other sparked jubilant scenes on her side's bench.

Kizzy Spence closed with a game-high 31 points, Andrew finished with 20, but it was Success Odemwingie who claimed the game's MVP award for a gutsy 16-point, 15-rebound double-double against an opponent enjoying a significant height advantage across their roster.

Janice Monakana (29pts, 11reb) and Mrashi Karumba-Roberts (18pts, 15reb) nearly pushed their side to a first Cup Final win since 2022/23, but they'd instead fall short by the narrowest of margins.

"I'm really proud of myself," said Odemwingie after the game. "This is my third season with the team and I never expected to win this MVP. I'm really proud of the team, we fought all the way here and the defence [helped us win the Cup].

"We stuck to what we know. The Cavs are a big team and we're smaller, so looking inside and making passes and playing as a team."

Mystics' head coach Rob Fairley added: "The game was so nervy, I don't know how to describe the feeling right now. 

"They stuck together so well. There's a lot [from the performance to be proud of]. Nat [Feurtado] and Rehana [Khalil] accepting the trophy. They coach our junior teams. They've come up through the system and for them to be at this stage of their careers [and win a national trophy], I'm so proud of them.

"And then from the flip side, you've got the young [Mystics] in a national final for the first time and to be able to pull it through at the end there is just awesome."

Box Score

Men’s National Cup Final: Manchester Magic 74-93 Solent Kestrels

Solent Kestrels produced a professional display to seal their third NBL National Cup win, beating an under-strength Manchester Magic 93-74.

Rolling with a seven-man rotation, Manchester were outmatched for large periods against the D1M Pool B title challengers but still battled hard to keep themselves in the contest.

That fight couldn't slow an efficient afternoon from the 2021/22 winners though, building a double-digit lead by the midpoint of the second quarter and never letting their advantage drop below that mark the rest of the way.

Losing veteran Tyme Regent-Bascombe ahead of the game and the influential Pharroh Gordon to an training injury on Thursday, made a difficult task that much harder. It wasn't an issue Solent shared, shooting 56% (40/71 FGs) that included 69% from two-point range.

MVP honours went to Solent's Luke Busumbru after his 28 points on 10/12 shooting, adding seven rebounds and three assists to a perfect 3/3 shooting day from beyond the arc.

Andre Arissol chipped in with 20 points, Greg Durand had 12 more, and Solent used all but one of their 12-man roster for at least five minutes.

Jack Walton (19pts, 5reb), Demi Babalola (18pts, 6reb) and Aaron Bile (17pts) all played well in defeat for 2015/16 winners Manchester, who's wait for a fifth title goes on.

"It was one of the goals that we had for the season and felt like we had the group to make a cup run like this and the guys, credit to them, they delivered on the day," said Solent head coach Matt Guymon.

"We know Manchester well; we've played them the last couple of years in the playoffs. They're one of the best clubs in the country for a reason and they've got a number of key threats that we had to deal with. We went into it with a defensive mind to start out, trying to limit their impact and we thought if we could do that we could generate some scores the other way."

A happy Busumbru was pleased with his team's effort, saying: "[I feel] relieved. Really good team, they play some good basketball; they space you out; the point guard's really good, he's got a good flow to the game and made some shots early.

"We tried to make sure we stayed in the game in that first quarter and then tried to impose our will a little bit defensively. We feel like we can guard for all four quarters, we have solutions to their defence and we executed quite well."

Box Score