The South West Slammers took their momentum from a double overtime win to prevail on the road in the NBL1 West Men’s Division on Saturday night while the Lakeside Lightning also handed the Warwick Senators their first defeat of 2021.
Round 7 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division got underway at Herb Graham Recreation Centre on Friday night with the lone encounter seeing the Joondalup Wolves prove too good for the East Perth Eagles, winning 94-61.
The Saturday night Round 7 action got underway at Active West Stadium with the Geraldton Buccaneers at home to Perry Lakes, but it was the Hawks coming away with the 90-63 victory.
Ben Purser top-scored in a strong and even performance from the Hawks with 17 points and five assists while Mathiang Muo put up 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Buccs.
The Mandurah Magic continued to show just how far they have improved in 2021 under the coaching of Aaron Trahair with an impressive 82-74 victory at home to the Perth Redbacks on Saturday night.
Ben Smith put up 21 points and nine rebounds for Mandurah while Louis Timms had another big game for the Redbacks with 27 points and seven rebounds.
It was another thriller in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night and this time the Willetton Tigers overran the Goldfields Giants for the 74-73 victory at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.
Young gun Connor Mincherton hit the winning bucket for the Tigers on his way to 21 points and seven rebounds for the night. Julian Pesava top-scored for the Giants with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The Warwick Senators dominated last year’s West Coast Classic taking out the championship and had been supremely impressive starting off the NBL1 West season undefeated, but that changed on Saturday night with a 90-61 win for the Lakeside Lightning against them at Warwick Stadium.
Jay Bowie was superb for the Lightning with 26 points on 4/7 shooting from deep while Justin King had 19 points for the Senators.
The Rockingham Flames improved to 6-2 on the season with a solid 106-85 victory against the Cockburn Cougars at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
Justin Beard put up 23 points for Rockingham and Atem Bior 21 while Seva Chan and Jaarod Holmes delivered 17 points apiece for the Cougars.
The Saturday night action wrapped up at Ray Owen Sports Centre with Mark Worthington’s South West Slammers backing up their remarkable double overtime win last week to beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 90-80 on the road.
The Slammers improve to 2-5 as a result with Mitch Keller putting up 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists while the Eastern Suns remain winless despite 20 points and eight rebounds from Ryan Blanchett.
Round 7 isnt quite done yet either with the Perry Lakes Hawks to host the Joondalup Wolves at Bendat Basketball Centre on Tuesday night.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 7 – SATURDAY NIGHT
GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 63 lost to PERRY LAKES HAWKS 90
The Geraldton Buccaneers were back at home for the third straight Saturday night but it was the Perry Lakes Hawks who came away with the win on the road.
Having started the season on the road, the Buccs have now played three consecutive Saturday night home matches at Active West Stadium.
It started with a bang with that three-quarter court match-winner from Mat Wundenberg against the Rockingham Flames but last week Geraldton went down to the Lakeside Lightning, and it was Perry Lakes coming away from the road trip victorious this week.
Both teams come out firing in a high-scoring opening quarter made up of a combined 55 points, but it was the Hawks who pulled away to be leading the Buccaneers 33-22 by quarter-time.
Perry Lakes was able to put up another 22 points in the second quarter but also locked in defensively to hold Geraldton to just the seven points to head into half-time leading 55-29.
The Hawks maintained that advantage throughout the second half to end up winning 90-63 which sees Perry Lakes now sit atop the NBL1 West ladder at 5-1 while the Buccs are 12th at 1-3.
It was yet another terrific all-round performance from a Perry Lakes team that reached the Grand Final in the West Coast Classic last year.
Co-captain Ben Purser ended up top-scoring with 17 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals while Cooper Hamilton added 16 points on 4/6 shooting from three-point territory.
Ryan Smith also hit 3/4 from deep for 11 points with Mitch Clarke contributing 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, Rob Cassir nine points, three boards, three assists and three steals, and Matt Leary nine points, two rebounds and two assists.
Mathiang Muo did all he could to try and keep the Buccaneers in the contest with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals with Aaron Ralph finishing with 12 points and three boards, and Mat Wundenberg eight points and 12 rebounds.
MANDURAH MAGIC 82 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 74
It was another trip south for the Perth Redbacks on Saturday night and it was another narrow loss with the Mandurah Magic capitalising on a good start on their home court.
The Redbacks played twice on the road last weekend too splitting the games against the East Perth Eagles and Rockingham Flames, and for their lone game in Round 7 they trekked to Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Saturday night.
It loomed as a fascinating contest with the Magic out to continue their vast improvement so far in the 2021 NBL1 West season, and Mandurah was able to start strongly on their home court to be leading 25-16 by quarter-time.
The Magic extended their advantage as well in the second quarter with 21 points to 17 from the Redbacks to go into the half-time interval leading 46-33.
The Redbacks had to fire back in the third quarter to give themselves a sniff at the comeback victory, and they were able to do so with 24 points to 17 in the period to be within just six points by three quarter-time of the Magic.
Mandurah did enough in the fourth quarter to end up securing the 82-74 victory, though, with the result improving the Magic to a 3-3 record on the season while the Redbacks slip to 2-4 with a result of the loss.
Ben Smith is warming to his comeback season in the league nicely and he led the Magic on Saturday night with 21 points and nine rebounds on 8/15 shooting.
Fred Williams also put up 15 points and six rebounds for Mandurah, Jerami Grace 12 points, five assists and three boards, Akau Deng 11 points, and Brian Carlwell nine points and six rebounds.
Louis Timms is proving to be an outstanding pick up for the Redbacks for the 2021 NBL1 West season and he delivered another 27 points and seven rebounds on Saturday night in Mandurah.
Zac Gattorna is having a solid start to the season too with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Redbacks while knocking down 3/6 from three-point territory.
Tevin Jackson also had 10 points and three rebounds, Kyden Edman seven points and two boards, and the all-time league assists leader Joel Wagner five points, nine assists and four rebounds.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 73 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 74
Goldfields and Willetton have shown encouraging signs each so far in the NBL1 West season, and it was no surprise to see them play out a thriller in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night.
The Giants came into the contest having won three of their five matches so far in the NBL1 West competition while the Tigers had won four of their five under new coach Adam Nener setting the scene for Saturday night at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.
Little separated the teams for much of the night as well in what increasingly became a tight and tense affair with early season bragging rights on the line.
Scores were tied at 22-22 by quarter-time while Goldfields managed to then take a narrow 43-41 advantage over Willetton into the half-time break.
The Giants were able to hold the Tigers to just 12 points in the third quarter as they scored 17 and extended their lead to seven heading into the fourth period, and then early in the fourth Goldfields stretched their lead to 11 on a bucket from Fletcher Klasztorny.
The Tigers weren’t going away, though, and they slowly got closer at the foul line before a Lachlan Evans three-pointer closed the gap to four.
Julian Pesava steadied the Giants with his own bucket but then two free-throws for Willetton from Damien Scott, and then a three ball from Connor Mincherton made it a one-point ball game.
Pesava again pushed Goldfields out to a three-point edge with two minutes on the clock. Andrew Black and Dion Collins traded buckets to keep the Giants up three but Mincherton wasn’t done yet and nor were the Tigers.
The emerging Willetton star brough the Tigers back within a point and then out of a timeout, Michael Vigor found him for the game-winning shot to five the visitors the 74-73 comeback victory in Kalgoorlie.
Mincherton ended up the start of the night for Willetton not only hitting the game-winner but also delivering 21 points and seven rebounds.
Michael Vigor added 18 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the Tigers, Damien Scott 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Andrew Black 10 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals.
Julian Pesava top-scored for Goldfields with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals with Dion Collins contributing 13 points and 10 boards, Fletcher Klasztorny 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, Deng Kuany nine points and four boards, and Damon Ballantyne nine points.
WARWICK SENATORS 61 lost to LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 90
The Warwick Senators have looked unstoppable this NBL1 West season and dating back to 2020, but the Lakeside Lightning found a way to end their winning streak on Saturday night.
The Senators had put together an undefeated start to the NBL1 West season on the back of winning the championship in the West Coast Classic last year, which included a semi-final win against Lightning along the way.
But Lakeside had been building some impressive form this season too coming into Saturday night’s game at Warwick Stadium, and it was the Lightning who ended up leaving having made quite the statement with the big win.
Lakeside started impressively leading Warwick by seven points at quarter-time and by nine at half-time, but at 43-34 the game was still up for grabs at the main break.
It didn’t stay that way for long, though, with the Lightning breaking the contest wide open in the third quarter outscoring the Senators 29 points to 12. Another 18 points to 15 in the fourth and the Lightning came away from Warwick Stadium with the 90-61 win against the Senators.
As a result of the impressive 29-point road win, the Lightning improve to a 4-1 record on the season while the Senators drop from top spot with the loss at 5-1.
Under Dave Daniels as coach, the Lightning are a three-point shooting team and they blew the Senators away with their shooting on Saturday night hitting 16/39 from beyond the arc at 41 per cent. Warwick managed just 3/25 from deep at 12 per cent.
Jay Bowie had an outstanding night for Lakeside with 26 points and seven rebounds while hitting 4/7 from downtown with Kyle Armour contributing 16 points and five assists.
Jack Isenbarger added nine points and four assists, Ben Lee nine points and two assists, and Corey Shervill eight points and six rebounds.
Justin King top-scored for the Senators with 19 points and two assists with Cody Ellis finishing with 16 points and three steals, Ash Litterick eight points and 10 rebounds, and Caleb Davis seven points and nine boards.
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 106 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 85
The Rockingham Flames made it three wins in-a-row since their loss in Geraldton proving too strong for the Cockburn Cougars at home on Saturday night.
After that tough loss on the buzzer in Geraldton two weeks ago, the Flames have responded impressively firstly with a pair of wins last weekend against the Perry Lakes Hawks and Perth Redbacks, and then backing it up again.
The Flames were back on their home floor at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night hosting the Cougars, and Rockingham started well to lead Cockburn 26-20 by the end of the opening quarter.
Rockingham was able to extend its lead further with 28 points to 21 in the second term to go into the half-time break in control leading 54-41.
The Flames then completed the job with 28 points to 17 in the final period to end up winning 106-85 and to improve to a 5-2 record on the season while Cockburn is now 2-4 after Round 7.
Justin Beard delivered a standout performance for the Flames with 23 points and five rebounds on the back of shooting 3/4 from three-point range.
Atem Bior was impressive for Rockingham as well with 21 points and seven rebounds while Greg Hire contributed 12 points and eight boards, Ryan Godfrey 12 points and four assists, Cirkook Makuac Riak 11 points and three boards, and Brendan Redhead 10 points.
Championship winning point guard Seva Chan finished with 17 points and four assists with Jaarod Holmes adding 17 points and six rebounds for Cockburn. The pair knocked down a combined 6/13 from three-point territory as well.
Josh Hunt also had 15 points and three rebounds for the Cougars, Nathan Pond nine points and three boards, and Gavin Field nine points and three assists.
KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 80 lost to SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 90
Suddenly the South West Slammers have strung two wins together after beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on the road on Saturday night.
The Slammers had lost their opening five matches of the NBL1 West season before winning in stunning fashion in double overtime last Saturday night at home to the East Perth Eagles.
South West was then back on the road on Saturday night in Round 7 against the winless Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre, and were able to make it back-to-back victories.
While the Slammers were coming off the high of their win a week ago, the Eastern Suns were desperate to open their NBL1 West account on their home floor and managed to turn a two-point quarter-time deficit into a two-point half-time lead.
But the Slammers turned the tide in exciting fashion with a scintillating third quarter made up of 33 points as they went on to open up a match-winning advantage, which they ended up capitalising on to keep the Suns winless in 2021 by winning 90-80 on Saturday night.
The Slammers ended up winning the rebound count by 11 over the Eastern Suns and despite having 20 turnovers themselves, they shot the ball better at 47 per cent than the Suns and got to the foul line nine more times for the eventual 10-point win.
Mitch Keller has been an outstanding workhorse for the Slammers over the past 12 months and he put together another huge effort in the win on Saturday night made up of 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists on 11/17 shooting.
Rhys Barrett is developing nicely at South West as well with 19 points, two rebounds and two assists with Caleb Van De Griend contributing 11 points and eight rebounds, Devan Craig nine points and five boards, and Cody Hill nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
Ryan Blanchett top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 20 points and eight rebounds with Carl Aylett contributing 17 points and six assists, Jermaine Malie 13 points and eight rebounds, and Brendan Dinardo eight points, seven boards, three assists and three steals.