The race for top four positions in the NBL1 West Men’s Division heated up further with wins for the Perth Redbacks, Warwick Senators, Rockingham Flames and Mandurah Magic on Saturday night while teams in there currently, the Lakeside Lightning and Willetton went down.
It was a fascinating Saturday night in the Men’s Division for Round 14 with the Hawks bouncing back while the Lightning and Tigers suffered losses as the chasing pack for top four spots the Redbacks, Senators, Flames and Magic all won.
The Wolfpack continued to struggle with a fourth straight loss while the Buccs ended their losing streak and it was all part of a fascinating evening of action.
Round 14 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division got underway on Friday night with three matches which saw the Cockburn Cougars defeat the South West Slammers 90-73, the Lakeside Lightning down the Perry Lakes Hawks 91-86 and the East Perth Eagles beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 82-76.
The Perth Redbacks maintained their hot form to make it four straight wins and eight of the last nine with the 89-77 victory against the Lakeside Lightning at Belmont Oasis.
Both teams were without key players with no Marshall Nelson for the Redbacks and no Jay Bowie, Corey Shervill or Jarrad Prue for the Lightning, but Perth proved too strong with Zac Gattorna delivering 32 points and Louis Timms 22. Rowan Mackenzie had 17 points for the Lightning.
The Perry Lakes Hawks bounced back from losing to Lakeside on Friday night by beating the South West Slammers 95-69 at Bendat Basketball Centre.
Andrew Ferguson put up 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks while Ryan Smith drained 6/9 threes for 19 points. Caleb Van De Griend finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for South West.
The Warwick Senators continued the struggles of the Joondalup Wolves by handing the Wolfpack a fourth consecutive loss with their 90-77 victory at HBF Arena.
Justin King had 19 points for the Senators, Caleb Davis 18, Cody Ellis 17 and Alier Riak 13. Lochlan Cummings top-scored for Joondalup with 18 points.
Despite the absence of championship legends with almost 900 games between them Aaron Ralph and Mat Wundenberg, the Geraldton Buccaneers snapped their losing slide at the expense of the East Perth Eagles on Saturday night.
The Buccs won 75-72 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre with Elijah Barbour putting up 27 points and Mathiang Muo 21. Lee Roberts had 27 points and 12 rebounds in the loss for East Perth.
The Mandurah Magic and Willetton Tigers played out their second thriller since the arrival of Scott Machado and he helped his side to the 65-62 win at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
Machado had 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Magic while the Tigers dearly missed championship winning veterans Damien Scott and Michael Vigor. Andrew Black top-scored with 13 points.
The Rockingham Flames made the trip to Kalgoorlie and came back with a fourth consecutive win after beating the Goldfields Giants 96-60 at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium to stay in touch for a top four finish.
Justin Beard put up 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Atem Bior 19 points and 12 boards for the Flames while Jerome Reid had 14 points for Goldfields.
The round now concludes on Sunday afternoon with the Goldfields Giants hosting the Cockburn Cougars in Kalgoorlie and the Warwick Senators taking on the Geraldton Buccaneers at Warwick Senators.
Both games tip off at 12pm.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 14 – SATURDAY NIGHT
PERTH REDBACKS 89 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 77
The Perth Redbacks and Lakeside Lightning are two on-fire teams and even with missing some key players, it set the stage for a tremendous match up at Belmont Oasis on Saturday night.
The Redbacks came into the game on their home floor having their past three matches to be knocking on the door of a top four spot while the Lightning knocked off the Perry Lakes Hawks the previous night to move into top spot.
That meant the Lightning had six matches in-a-row to take that first place but they did arrive at Belmont Oasis on Saturday without the services of three key players – Jarrad Prue, Jay Bowie and Corey Shervill.
The Redbacks were also without prolific scorer Marshall Nelson and it was the Lightning who were covering better for their missing stars in the opening half to lead 21-20 by quarter-time.
Lakeside then pulled away further in the second quarter with 28 points to just 20 from Perth and that saw the visitors leading 49-40 by the half-time interval.
The Redbacks needed to respond and they did so to put together a dominant second quarter beginning with 24 points to 18 in the third quarter as they closed their deficit to three by three quarter-time.
Perth was able to run over top of Lakeside from there in the fourth quarter with 25 points to 10 to end up with the critical and impressive 89-77 win on their home floor.
The win means that the Redbacks have now won four matches in-a-row and eight of their past nine to be knocking on the door of a top four position with a 10-5 record.
After taking over top spot 24 hours earlier, Lakeside fell back to second at 12-3 as a result of their six-game winning streak being broken.
The Lightning might have won the rebound battle even without Jarrad Prue 48 to 40 but the Redbacks were able to force Lakeside into 19 turnovers while turning it over just the 12 times themselves.
In the absence of Marshall Nelson, Zac Gattorna came up huge on the scoring front for the Redbacks putting up 32 points, eight rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 12/21 from the floor and 5/9 from beyond the three-point line.
Louis Timms contributed strongly too for Perth with 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals while Joel Wagner put up 11 points, seven assists and five boards, Tevin Jackson 11 points, five assists and four rebounds, and Kyden Edman nine points, six boards, three assists and three steals.
Rowan Mackenzie top-scored once more for Lakeside with 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists while Jack Isenbarger put up 16 points and three boards, Nick Palleschi 11 points and seven rebounds, and Ben Lee 10 points and 10 rebounds.
PERRY LAKES HAWKS 95 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 69
The Perry Lakes Hawks bounced back strongly from a rare loss on Friday night to beat the South West Slammers at home on Saturday.
The Hawks went down to the Lakeside Lightning on the road on Friday to open Round 15 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division. That result saw Perry Lakes lose top spot on the table but they had a chance to reclaim it with a win over the Slammers following the news of Lakeside losing to the Perth Redbacks.
The Slammers might have been on a seven-game losing streak on arrival at Bendat Basketball Centre, but they have been battling hard this season under the coaching of Mark Worthington and that included a competitive showing on Friday at home to the Cockburn Cougars.
Spurred on by their six-game winning streak coming to an end the night before, Perry Lakes started well on their home floor with 25 points to 15 in the opening quarter.
The Hawks continued on that momentum in the second term too with another 21 points to eight and that saw them in control leading 46 to 23 at the half-time break.
The Slammers did well to not drop their heads despite only putting up the 23 points in the first half and came out a much more competitive unit for the second half.
South West was able to show encouraging signs throughout the second half with their 46 points even if Perry Lakes still narrowly stretched their lead to end up winning 95-69.
It was an important win for the Hawks who now improve to a 13-3 record on the season to reclaim top position while the Slammers remain in bottom spot at 2-13 but they can take heart from what they produced after half-time on Saturday night away from home.
The Slammers fought hard and that was highlighted by the fact they won the rebound count 50 to 45 for the night. Their 24 turnovers to seven didn’t help, but you couldn’t question their effort for the most part even if Perry Lakes took a massive 25 extra field goals.
Perry Lakes fell in love with the three ball jacking up 45 of them and hitting 13 which was led by the 6/9 from former Slammer Ryan Smith on his way to 19 points.
Andrew Ferguson top-scored for the Hawks with 20 points and 11 rebounds with Ben Purser adding 13 points and five assists, Rob Cassir 10 points and four assists, and Mitch Clarke eight points, for rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Caleb Van De Griend top-scored for South West with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Rhys Barrett added nine points and four assists, Leigh Rickwood-Pitt eight points and nine rebounds, Cody Hill eight points and four assists, Jack Flynn eight points and five rebounds, Mitch Keller eight points and five boards, and Cory Richardson eight points and four rebounds.
JOONDALUP WOLVES 77 lost to WARWICK SENATORS 90
Local rivals Joondalup Wolves and Warwick Senators locked horns at HBF Arena on Saturday night with plenty on the line for both clubs.
The Wolves have had the wood over the Senators for a long time especially during their run of reaching five consecutive Grand Finals in the SBL between 2015 and 2019.
However, the Senators had been a playoff team through that stretch too and then broke through to be the standout team in 2020 of the West Coast Classic on the way to the championship which included a breakthrough performance against the Wolfpack.
Both teams hadn’t been in the best of form recently coming into Saturday night’s game at HBF Arena, though, raising the stakes of the contest as the playoffs approach.
The Senators had won last up, though, against the Eastern Suns and started the better away to the Wolves to lead 20-16. But it was still a tight contest by half-time with Warwick only clinging to a 35-33 advantage.
The game was right up for grabs at the start of the second half and the Senators responded to the challenge by putting up 23 points and holding the Wolfpack to just the 14.
That gave the Senators the 58-47 lead and the maintained that through the fourth term to end up winning 90-77 but both teams put on quite the offensive show to close out the game combining for 62 points.
It was an important win for the Senators as it strengthened their push for a top four finish while it was a fourth consecutive defeat for Joondalup who are just clinging to eighth position with a 7-8 record now.
Justin King put up 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Warwick but he had plenty of support with Caleb Davis also finishing with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists on 7/11 shooting from the floor.
Cody Ellis added 17 points, five assists and three steals, Alier Riak 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, Ash Litterick eight points and five boards, and George Pearl six points, four rebounds and two assists.
Lochlan Cummings top-scored for the struggling Wolfpack with 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals with Jonathan Wade contributing 12 points, four boards and three assists, and Jordan Wellsteed nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
EAST PERTH EAGLES 72 lost to GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 75
The Geraldton Buccaneers might have been missing two of the club’s all-time greats, but they came to Perth shorthanded but high on motivation and knocked off the East Perth Eagles on Saturday night.
East Perth had recorded its fourth win of the season the previous night against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns so they had every right to enter Saturday’s game against the Buccaneers at Herb Graham Recreation Centre full of confidence.
The Buccaneers arrived in town for their road double-header knowing they will be without the services of championship winning club greats Mat Wundenberg and Aaron Ralph through injury for the rest of the season, so from the outside it was easy to write them off.
It was a tight opening to the game but neither team could really get going in the first quarter combining for just the 27 points with the Buccs going into quarter-time leading the Eagles 14-13.
Geraldton was able to find some offensive momentum in the second quarter, though, with the visitors putting up 23 points and holding East Perth to just another 14 and going into the half-time interval leading 37-27.
The Eagles weren’t about to throw away the chance to make it back-to-back wins, though, and responded with a terrific third quarter with 26 points to 17 to set up a terrific finish.
Logan Thwaites opened the scoring in the fourth term to put East Perth in front but Geraldton responded with an 8-2 run to regain a five-point edge, which soon became six after a three ball from Taine Wattie.
Triples from Mitch Benger and Lee Robers for East Perth had scores level again with 4:30 left on the clock with Wattie then answering with another three ball for the Buccaneers.
The Kiwi continued to have all the answers with another bucket, and then yet another triple to keep the Buccs up six, and they would end up winning 75-72 following free-throws to Elijah Barbour and a couple of late Kieran Berry three-point attempts that could have forced overtime.
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Buccs and saw Brandon Holloway, Mathiang Muo, Elijah Barbour and Will Galvin all playing 35 minutes or more in the absence of Ralph and Wundenberg.
Barbour produced his best game of the season for Geraldton with 27 points on 5/11 shooting from downtown with Muo adding 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Taine Wattie finished with 14 points and eight rebounds while hitting 4/7 from the three-point line too with Holloway contributing eight points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Galvin 10 rebounds opposed to Lee Roberts most of the night.
Speaking of Roberts, he still had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles with Andrej Donlagic contributing 11 points, nine boards and six assists, and Mitch Benger 10 points and four assists.
MANDURAH MAGIC 65 defeated WILLETTON TIGERS 62
The Mandurah Magic and Willetton Tigers played out a second tight affair since the arrival of Scott Machado, and this time it was the Magic coming out three-point victors on their home floor.
Machado made his NBL1 West debut against the Tigers at Willetton Basketball Stadium back on June 19 with an eventual three-point win for Willetton over his Mandurah team, but both teams had different form coming into Saturday night at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
The Tigers had lost to the Redbacks the previous Saturday night not helped by the absence of Damien Scott and Michael Vigor while the Magic had beaten the Giants, Slammers and Wolves since that loss to Willetton.
Willetton’s hopes weren’t helped once again with the absence of championship winners Scott and Vigor, and the Magic managed to open up a 16-11 lead by quarter-time.
Mandurah pulled away a little further during the second quarter with another 21 points to 15 to head into half-time leading Willetton 37-26.
The Tigers showed good fighting spiring, though, in the second half and had closed the deficit to four by three quarter-time.
However, the Magic opened up a handy game once more and held onto that most of the fourth term until a late 6-2 run from the Tigers had them back within three. They couldn’t get off a shot to attempt to force timeout, though, and Mandurah held on for the 65-62 win.
The result improves the Magic to a 9-6 record in seventh position having now won four in-a-row while Willetton has lost two straight to sit in third spot at 11-3.
Scott Machado ended up with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals in the win for the Magic with Fred Williams contributing 15 points and six rebounds, and Jerami Grace 14 points and four boards.
Andrew Black top-scored for the Tigers with 13 points and three assists with Roosevelt Williams adding 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Michael Garbellini eight points and three boards, Hunter Clarke eight points, four rebounds and three assists, and Tom Gerovich eight points and nine boards.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 60 lost to ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 96
The Rockingham Flames kept their hopes of a top four finish in the NBL1 West Men’s Division alive with a 36-point win in Kalgoorlie over the Goldfields Giants on Saturday night.
The Flames made the trip to Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium looking to start to string wins consistently together to make a run for the top four as they took on a Giants outfit struggling for form and depth and consistently putting out the same line-up.
Rockingham started well enough away from home with 21 points to 16 in the opening quarter before the Flames really pulled away in the second period and just about put the result to bed with 26 points to 12.
That saw Rockingham lead 47-26 by half-time and the Flames didn’t let up in the second half with another 25 points to 12 in the third quarter, and 24 to 20 in the fourth to end up beating Goldfields 96-60.
The 36-point win gives the Flames consecutive wins to improve to a 10-6 record on the season to be knocking on the door of the top four just behind the Senators and Redbacks who are both 10-5.
Goldfields, meanwhile, has now lost five matches in-a-row ahead of hosting the Cockburn Cougars on Sunday to close out Round 15 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division.
It was a dominant performance on the glass from Rockingham as they pulled in 57 rebounds to 40 on the back of shooting 35/79 at 44 per cent opposed to 22/72 at 31 per cent from the Giants.
Justin Beard ended up top-scoring for the Flames with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals while connecting on 3/5 from three-point territory.
Atem Bior added 19 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists for Rockingham with Travis Durnin adding 15 points and eight boards, Ryan Godfrey 11 points, three rebounds and two assists, Brendan Redhead eight points and four assists, and Jake Amos eight points and two assists.
Jerome Reid finished with 14 points and three rebounds for the Giants, Dion Collins 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, Deng Kuany seven points and four boards, Hamish Cummings seven points and two assists, and Tom Atkinson seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.