A 41-point outburst from Mathiang Muo saw the Geraldton Buccaneers start their road weekend with a big win in the NBL1 West Men’s Division on Saturday night wins also for the Perth Redbacks, Lakeside Lightning, Willetton Tigers and Warwick Senators.
Round 8 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division began on Friday night with three matches which saw the Lakeside Lightning defeat the South West Slammers 96-65.
The East Perth Eagles also defeated the Cockburn Cougars 69-63 and the Rockingham Flames were too good for the Mandurah Magic 95-69.
That led into the five matches in a packed Saturday night schedule in the NBL1 West Men’s Division with the Geraldton Buccaneers making the trek down to Mandurah and beating the Magic 89-72.
It was an impressive win for the Buccs with Mathiang Muo unstoppable with 41 points while hitting 9/14 from three-point territory. Fred Williams top-scored for the Mandurah with 16 points.
The Perth Redbacks then returned to the winner’s list beating the Cockburn Cougars 89-72 at Wally Hagan Stadium.
Zac Gattorna led the Redbacks to the road victory with 26 points while Louis Timms added 19 points and 10 rebounds with Jaarod Holmes adding 22 points and six boards.
The Warwick Senators bounced back from their first loss of the season to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 87-77 at Warwick Stadium.
Caleb Davis and Alier Riak had 17 points apiece for the Senators while Andrew Ferguson had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Perry Lakes.
The Lakeside Lightning continued their hot form backing up their big win on Friday with a similarly emphatic performance to defeat the Goldfields Giants 118-90 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
Jay Bowie didn’t play on Friday but he sure did on Saturday to lead the Lightning with 27 points on 4/8 shooting from three-point land with Jerome Reid finishing with 16 points for the Giants.
The Willetton Tigers had to battle hard but ended up keeping the Kalamunda Eastern Suns winless in 2021 so far with the 72-65 win at Willetton Basketball Stadium.
Connor Mincherton and Lachlan Evans both put up 16 points for the Tigers with Chris Johnson top-scoring for the Eastern Suns with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
With the Buccs and Giants in town, there are two more matches on Sunday from noon as well in the NBL1 West Men’s Division.
The Joondalup Wolves are hosting the Goldfields Giants at HBF Arena with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at home to the Geraldton Buccaneers at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 8 – SATURDAY NIGHT
MANDURAH MAGIC 71 lost to GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 86
The Geraldton Buccaneers returned to their road and got their double-header weekend off to the perfect start thanks to Mathiang Muo’s to beat the Mandurah Magic.
The Magic had played already in Round 8 of the NBL1 West Men’s Division on Friday night only to lose on the road to the Rockingham Flames while the Buccs were hitting the road for the first time after three consecutive home clashes.
From those Geraldton was able to beat the Rockingham Flames but lose to the Lakeside Lightning and Perry Lakes Hawks, and with former Buccs coach Aaron Trahair in charge of the Magic now, it’s always a fascinating contest.
The two teams went to battle at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Saturday night with the Buccaneers starting impressively to lead 22-15 by quarter-time.
Geraldton put their foot down further to just about put the game out of reach of Mandurah by half-time with the Buccs scoring another 26 points to 11 in the second quarter to lead 48-26 by the half.
It was a relatively even second half and in fact the Magic were able to outscore the Buccaneers 45 points to 38, but it didn’t stop Geraldton from recording the impressive 86-71 victory away from home.
The star of the match and the undoubted difference in the game proved to be the performance from Mathiang Muo for the Buccaneers.
The former East Perth Eagles championship winner was at his unstoppable best for Geraldton finishing with 41 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists on 15/23 shooting from the floor and 9/14 from three-point range in the best individual performance we’ve see so far this NBL1 West season.
Aaron Ralph added 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals as well for the Buccs with Elijah Barbour contributing 12 points and four rebounds, and Titgyeth Kwajakwan eight points and two steals.
Fred Williams put up 16 points, two assists and two steals for the Magic with Jerami Grace adding 16 points and four assists, and Riley Parker 10 points and four assists.
COCKBURN COUGARS 72 lost to PERTH REDBACKS 89
The Perth Redbacks scored an important win away from home on Saturday night to end their run of four consecutive road matches while handing the Cockburn Cougars their second loss of the weekend.
The Cougars had played on Friday night to open Round 8 and lost on the road to the East Perth Eagles while the Redbacks were playing their fourth consecutive away match and looking for a second win from those.
So it was always going to be an intriguing contest at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday night and it was a tight opening to the clash with scores all locked together at 22-22 by quarter-time.
It remained a seesaw contest throughout the second quarter as well and with Perth scoring 26 points to 24 of those from Cockburn, it was the Redbacks who held a narrow 48-46 advantage going into half-time.
The second half was then all the Redbacks as they put together some of their best form so far this NBL1 West season. They scored 22 points to 15 from the Cougars in the third quarter, and another 19 to 11 in the fourth.
That meant the Redbacks came away from Wally Hagan Stadium with the 89-72 win over the Cougars to improve to a 3-4 record after the four consecutive road matches.
Cockburn now sits at 2-6 following the pair of Round 8 losses away to East Perth and at home to Perth.
Zac Gattorna put together his best performance of the season for the Redbacks delivering 26 points and seven rebounds on the back of hitting 4/8 from three-point territory.
Louis Timms continued his impressive form as he adjusts to life with the Redbacks too with 19 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.
Tevin Jackson was impressive as well with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds with Lachlan Bertram contributing 10 points, Joel Wagner eight points, three rebounds and two steals, and Derek Igbenoba five points and three boards.
Jaarod Holmes top-scored for Cockburn with 22 points and six rebounds while Gavin Field contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Josh Hunt nine points and Daniel Rogers eight points and 15 rebounds.
WARWICK SENATORS 87 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 77
The Warwick Senators bounced back from their first loss of the season to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks on Saturday night in a rematch of last year’s West Coast Classic Grand Final.
On the back of winning the championship in last year’s West Coast Classic, the Senators opened the NBL1 West season on fire too winning their first five matches before a surprise 29-point loss at home to the Lakeside Lightning.
Meanwhile, Perry Lakes too has started 2021 impressively in the NBL1 West after reaching last year’s Grand Final having dropped just the one game and coming off an impressive Round 7 where they beat the Giants in Kalgoorlie before thrashing the Joondalup Wolves at home on Tuesday.
On the back of that tremendous battle the two teams had in the Grand Final of last year, nothing less was expected on Saturday night at Warwick Stadium.
Perry Lakes kept that momentum going from Tuesday night to start strongly too with 24 points to 19 in the opening quarter. But the Senators hit back hard and emphatically with 28 points to 15 in the second term to go into half-time leading 47-39.
That ultimately was enough to set up the impressive victory with a tightly contested second half that saw Warwick still narrowly outscore Perry Lakes 40 points to 38.
The Senators ended up winning 87-77 to improve to 6-1 on the season while the Hawks are 6-2.
Alier Riak is enjoying his return to the Senators putting 17 points and six rebounds on the back of hitting 3/5 from downtown while Caleb Davis finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Corban Wroe also had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists for Warwick, Justin King 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Cody Ellis 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Ash Litterick eight points and eight boards.
Andrew Ferguson put up 19 points and 10 rebounds for Perry Lakes with his front court Lewis Thomas back too and delivering 15 points, five rebounds and three assists but the Hawks dearly missed co-captains Ben Purser and Rob Cassir, and fellow star veteran Ryan Smith.
Matthew Leary also had 17 points, six rebounds and four steals, and Mitch Clarke nine points and seven rebounds.
WILLETTON TIGERS 72 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 65
The Willetton Tigers kept their winning form going and kept the Kalamunda Eastern Suns winless at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
Willetton came into the game on the back of a three-game winning streak since a Round 5 loss to Perry Lakes while Kalamunda was still searching for its first NBL1 West victory having lost their opening five matches.
The two teams went to battle on Saturday night at Willetton Basketball Stadium and it turned out to be a bit of a low scoring grind most of the way.
The Tigers managed to open up a four-point lead by quarter-time and stretched that advantage marginally with 18 points to 16 to lead 39-33 by the half-time break.
Kalamunda kept fighting hard but they could just never quite bridge the gap with Willetton going on to score the 72-65 victory to improve to a 6-1 record on the season after eight rounds while the Eastern Suns are 0-6 still with a game to go in Round 8 on Sunday.
Connor Mincherton continues to be one of the most exciting young talents in the competition with another 16 points and five rebounds for Willetton while Lachlan Evans is enjoying the most minutes of his career too with 16 points, four boards and two steals.
Roosevelt Williams contributed 13 points and five rebounds for the Tigers, Damien Scott 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Andrew Black nine points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Chris Johnson top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 14 points, 13 rebounds and four assists while Brendan Dinardo contributed 10 points, three rebounds and three assists, Ryan Blanchett nine points, nine boards and four assists, and Jermaine Malie seven points.
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 118 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 90
The ominous form from the Lakeside Lightning continued back on their home floor on Saturday night with a 28-point victory against the Goldfields Giants.
Lakeside handed the South West Slammers a 31-point defeat at Eaton Recreation Centre on Friday night to open Round 8 on the back of giving the Warwick Senators their first defeat to the tune of 29 points last Saturday and having won big in Geraldton the week before that.
So the Lightning couldn’t have been in any better form ahead of hosting the travelling Giants at Lakeside Recreation Centre on Saturday night with Goldfields having lost a thriller at home in Kalgoorlie to a point last week to the Willetton Tigers.
Lakeside welcomed back a trio of handy players who didn’t play on Friday night as well with the rebounding legend Jarrad Prue, star import Jay Bowie and emerging Perth Wildcats development player Corey Shervill all back to take on the Giants.
And the Lightning put on a show right from the outset of the game as they piled on 37 points in the opening quarter to also hold an 18-point edge by quarter-time.
Goldfields were tremendous in the second quarter to be able to steady the ship and to fire back with 32 points of their own to cut Lakeside’s half-time advantage to 64-51.
The Lightning caught fire once again coming out of the half to rack up another 35 points in the third quarter and set them up for the eventual 118-90 victory to improve to 6-1 on the season with the Giants 3-4 ahead of another road clash on Sunday.
It was quite the three-point shooting show from the Lightning as they went for 20/40 at 50 per cent on the way to the 28-point triumph.
Jay Bowie made up for not playing on Friday delivering 27 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals while hitting 4/8 from downtown with Corey Shervill also putting up 16 points, four boards, three assists and three steals.
Jarrad Prue pulled in 11 rebounds while Jack Isenbarger scored 17 points on the back of going 5/6 from three-point territory. Ben Lee and Rowan Mackenzie scored 13 points each, and Kyle Armour 11 to go with five assists and four rebounds.
Jerome Reid top-scored for the Giants with 16 points while Deng Kuany added 15 points and four steals, Julian Pesava 14 points and five rebounds, Tom Atkinson 12 points and three assists, and Damon Ballantyne 10 points and five assists.