THE most remarkable of game winners from Geraldton Buccaneers legend Mat Wundenberg highlighted Saturday night in the NBL1 West Men’s Division with wins also for the Joondalup Wolves, Goldfields Giants, Lakeside Lightning and Cockburn Cougars.
Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division began on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks getting their first win of the season at the expense of the East Perth Eagles, winning 79-65 at Belmont Oasis.
The other Friday night match up saw the Warwick Senators keep their undefeated form going handing the Joondalup Wolves their first defeat with the 100-78 victory at Warwick Stadium.
The talking point of the night’s action in the NBL1 West Men’s Division without question was the remarkable game-winner from Buccs captain Mat Wundenberg.
He has done an enormous amount during his career with the Buccaneers including leading them to the 2019 championship, but three-point shooting hasn’t exactly been a strong suit.
But on Saturday night with time running down and scores tied with the Rockingham Flames at 82-82, Geraldton got the rebound, Wundenberg then heaved up a three-quarter prayer and in remarkable fashion, it dropped and the Geraldton locals went nuts celebrating the 85-82 victory.
Making it all the more remarkable is the fact it’s the sixth three-pointer only of his 440-game career, and first since 2014.
On top of that on Saturday night, the Joondalup Wolves bounced back from losing on Friday to Warick by going to overtime against the Mandurah Magic before prevailing 110-104.
Lochlan Cummings put up 29 points for the Wolfpack on 5/10 shooting from downtown with veterans Rob Huntington and Trian Iliadis adding 20 points each. Jerami Grace was terrific again for the Magic with 25 points and five assists.
The Goldfields Giants hit the road this weekend and started off their double-header in style beating the East Perth Eagles 86-73 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre. Tom Atkinson had 19 points for the Giants and Deng Kuany 18 while Logan Thwaites put up 17 points and eight rebounds for East Perth.
It was the battle of undefeated teams at Willetton Basketball Stadium, and the Perry Lakes Hawks improved to 3-0 by beating the now 2-1 Willetton Tigers 86-68. Lewis Thomas produced 23 points and eight rebounds for Perry Lakes with Damien Scott putting up 24 points for Willetton.
The Lakeside Lightning produced another dominant performance at Lakeside Recreation Centre beating the South West Slammers 121-52. Corey Shervill hit 5/10 from deep for 25 points for the Lightning on the back of what he’s done this season in the NBL with the Perth Wildcats.
Two teams searching for their first wins of the season met at Ray Owen Sports Centre and it was the Cockburn Cougars getting their wish with the 115-94 victory over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
Gavin Field put up 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Cockburn with Chris Johnson delivering 30 points for Kalamunda, Chuatwech Reath 22 and Ryan Blanchett 21.
Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division will conclude with two more matches on Sunday afternoon with the Cockburn Cougars playing the Goldfields Giants at Wally Hagan Stadium, and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns facing the Willetton Tigers at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 5 – SATURDAY NIGHT
GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 85 defeated ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 82
The Geraldton Buccaneers got to host their first official home game since winning the SBL championship in 2019 and what a spectacular night it turned out to be against the Rockingham Flames.
The Buccs celebrated that championship triumph from the final SBL season on Saturday night when they got to play their first ever NBL1 West game in front of their home fans at Active West Stadium.
They were chasing their first win of the season too having lost first up in Kalgoorlie to the Giants while Rockingham were after a third win already and regained the services of Greg Hire for the first time in 2021 in the process.
The game appeared destined to go down to the wire the whole way, and perhaps still should have gone into overtime but you can’t change history now.
Scores were tied at 25-apiece by quarter-time and the Buccaneers only led the Flames narrowly 40-37 by half-time.
The Buccs pulled away a little further to lead by six at three quarter-time but the Flames were a determined outfit and when captain Ryan Godfrey hit a bucket four minutes into the fourth term, Rockingham took a one-point lead.
The Flames maintained their narrow edge until Dylan Myers hit a three for Geraldton with 2:45 remaining. Mathiang Muo then stretched the lead for the Buccs to three before Justin Beard hit a huge three to tie scores back up.
Godfrey and Aaron Ralph then traded three-point bombs in the final seconds to leave scores level before Godfrey missed a potential winner. Mat Wundenberg grabbed the rebound for Geraldton, threw up a miracle heave from three-quarter court and somehow it banked in for the winner.
He was the most unlikely of heroes for the Buccs having only previously made five three-pointers in his 440-game career with Geraldton. It was his first triple since 2014 and without doubt the most memorable.
On top of the game winner, Wundenberg finished the night with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals while fellow championship star veteran Ralph had 16 points and 12 rebounds while hitting 4/9 from three-point land.
But it was Mathiang Muo who delivered the huge performance all night for Geraldton with 34 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals while Taine Wattie added 11 points and four assists.
Travis Durnin finished with 18 points and nine rebounds for Rockingham, Callum Beard 17 points and seven boards, Greg Hire 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Ryan Godfrey 13 points and four assists.
As an interesting footnote to this result, subsequent viewing of the replays has led the league to admitting that the wrong decision was made to count Wundenberg’s winning shot. The vision shows that he released the shot after time had expired meaning the game should have gone to overtime, but the win for the Buccaneers will stand and the shot still counts.
JOONDALUP WOLVES 110 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 104
The Joondalup Wolves ended up bouncing back from their first loss of the season the night before but it took overtime for them to overcome the Mandurah Magic in a cracking contest.
The Wolfpack won their opening two games of the NBL1 West season before falling to the Warwick Senators on Friday night to open Round 5 while the Magic have shown rapid improvement already in 2021 winning two of their opening three matches.
Mandurah brought that newfound form and confident with them all the way to HBF Arena as well and started promisingly to lead 26-21 by quarter-time before adding another 25 points to 23 in the second quarter to go into half-time leading 51-44.
It was a high-scoring and exciting third quarter as the two teams combined for 58 points with the Wolves closing their deficit to five by three quarter-time.
There was always a sense the game would be going down to the wire and Seb Salinas made it a two-point game when hit a three to open the last quarter.
With just over three minutes to go Jerami Grace and Trian Iliadis hit threes for their respective sides with scores level at 87-87. But Mandurah again pulled away by four soon after with baskets to Xavier Shaw and Fred Williams, and then the Magic still led by three with under a minute to go.
Ultimately Lochlan Cummings hit the game tying three for Joondalup to send the game into overtime but again Mandurah was able to turn the tide and take an early four-point lead in the extra period.
It was Iliadis that who turned the tide of the Wolves again, though with his own run of seven straight points before Salinas joined in to give them a five-point lead. Grace hit another triple to keep Mandurah close before a three-point play from Shaw had scores level once more.
From there it was Cummings who hit the final six games of the game to give the Wolfpack the 110-104 victory.
Lochlan Cummings was terrific for Joondalup with 29 points, five rebounds and three assists while hitting 5/10 from three-point land.
Rob Huntington also had 20 points and four rebounds for the Wolves, Trian Iliadis 20 points, six steals, four assists and three boards, Jonathan Wade 16 points and seven rebounds, and Seb Salinas 10 points and six boards.
Jerami Grace is continuing to show why he could very well have an NBL future by delivering 25 points and five assists for Mandurah with Fred Williams adding 21 points and five assists, Xavier Shaw 16 points and nine rebounds, Brian Carlwell 14 points, Riley Parker 14 points, six steals and four assists, and Ben Smith 14 points.
EAST PERTH EAGLES 73 lost to GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 86
The Goldfields Giants hit the road for the first time this NBL1 West season and came away with a strong win against the Goldfields Giants.
The Giants played their first two games in the NBL1 West at home in Kalgoorlie starting with a first up loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks before a big win over the Geraldton Buccaneers as they prepared to face an East Perth team coming off a loss to the Perth Redbacks the previous night.
The Giants were down in Perth for the first time this year but they were ready to fire racing out to a fast start with 26 points to 12 in the opening quarter at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.
Things really quietened down offensively in the second quarter for both teams and they combined for just the 25 points, but Goldfields went into half-time still in control leading 39-24.
It was a pretty even affair throughout the second half but that suited the Giants just fine who already had a handy lead and they would go on to record the 86-73 road victory.
Both teams put up some monster rebound numbers with Goldfields collecting 62 of them and East Perth 50 on the back of plenty of missed shots on either side.
They also combined for 42 offensive rebounds but also 45 turnovers so neither coach would have come away too happy with the execution.
The Giants did enough to win, though, with Tom Atkinson finishing with 19 points and seven rebounds, Deng Kuany 18 points and six boards, Jerome Reid 13 points and four rebounds, Damon Ballantyne 13 points and five steals, and Julian Pesava 10 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
Logan Thwaites top-scored for East Perth with 17 points and eight rebounds while Jarrad Anastasio had 16 points and 11 boards, Junior Tshikele 14 points and four assists, and Kieran Berry 10 points and four rebounds.
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 121 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 52
The Lakeside Lightning are building some ominous form in the NBL1 West Men’s Division following a 79-point win at home to the South West Slammers on Saturday night.
The Lightning got their first NBL1 West win on the board last Saturday night to the tune of 61 points over the East Perth Eagles, and they backed it up this Saturday with a huge performance against the Slammers at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
The Slammers have now lost all five matches so far this season by an average of 38.8 points.
The Lightning got off to a strong start on their home floor with 29 points to 12 in the opening quarter. Another 28 points to 14 in the second and already they had blown the game wide open leading 57-26 at half-time.
Lakeside wasn’t about to take its foot off the pedal either, putting up 34 points in the third quarter and 30 in the fourth to outscore South West 64 points to 26 after half-time to claim the eventual 121-52 victory.
There were some remarkable numbers with the Lightning winning the rebound count 49 to 34 while dishing out a monstrous 38 assists and forcing the Slammers into 26 turnovers.
Lakeside also shot 52.9 per cent from the field and ended up going 20/49 at 40.8 per cent from three-point territory.
There were some standout individual performances from the Lightning too including from 387-game, three-time championship winning legend Jarrad Prue.
He just happens to be club president as well this year and is by far and away the all-time leader in rebounds in league history, and he had 14 points and 17 rebounds on Saturday including seven offensive boards to go with three steals and two blocks.
Corey Shervill top-scored for the Lightning on the back of the experienced he’s gone on the NBL floor with the Perth Wildcats this season. He had 25 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals including hitting 5/10 from three-point range.
Kyle Armour has made a successful return from his knee reconstruction with 18 points and six assists with Jack Isenbarger putting up 18 points on 6/12 shooting from deep. Liam Patterson also had 11 points and Isaac Grida 11.
Caleb Van De Griend top-scored for the Slammers with 21 points and seven rebounds. Ngor Nai also had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Mitch Keller nine points and four boards.
KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 94 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 115
Both Kalamunda and Cockburn began their double-header weekends on Saturday night with the Cougars putting together an impressive road win by 21 points over the Eastern Suns.
The Suns were back at home at Ray Owen Sports Centre looking for their first win over the season while the Cougars were in the same boat setting the stage for a fascinating contest.
Both Kalamunda and Cockburn entered the game having yet to taste victory in life in NBL1 West, and it was the visiting Cougars that started the better with 28 points to 22 in the opening term.
But the Eastern Suns turned things around in the second term to make a real game of it, and in front of their vocal home fans out in the hills, they went into half-time leading 51-46.
The stage was set for a cracking second half but Cockburn gradually worked back on top through the third quarter to tie scores up at three quarter-time, and then they dominated the fourth term.
The Cougars piled on a massive 38 points in the final quarter and restricted the Eastern Suns to just the 17 to end up winning 115-94 to taste victory for the first time this season.
One of the Cougars all-time greats and favourite sons Gavin Field is showing no signs of slowing down and put together 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the win.
Josh Hunt also had 19 points and six rebounds for Cockburn, Nic Pozoglou 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Seva Chan 16 points and six assists.
Chris Johnson was impressive for the Eastern Suns with 30 points, four rebounds and four steals with Chuatwech Reath adding 22 points and four steals, and Ryan Blanchett 21 points and seven rebounds.