The Mandurah Magic delivered an impressive comeback to beat the Perth Redbacks in Friday night Men’s NBL1 West action while the Perry Lakes Hawks dominated again and the Willetton Tigers also won big.
The Magic were playing their second game of Round 17 already and bounced back to beat the Redbacks while the Hawks and Tigers also won big over teams out of playoff contention.
Round 17 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division got underway back on Tuesday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks winning big over a disappointing Mandurah Magic, 92-68 at Bendat Basketball Centre.
Then on Thursday night, the Warwick Senators got over the East Perth Eagles 87-74 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre and the Joondalup Wolves won a nail-biter 84-83 against the Cockburn Cougars at HBF Arena.
Then the Friday night action in the NBL1 West Men’s Division saw the Mandurah Magic get off to a slow start but rebound strongly from that and Tuesday’s loss to beat the Perth Redbacks 93-80 at Belmont Oasis.
Scott Machado attracted another big crowd and delivered 23 points while Jerami Grace top-scored for Mandurah with 27 points. The Redbacks were without Joel Wagner and Zac Gattorna but Marshall Nelson put up 26 points.
The Perry Lakes Hawks delivered their second dominant performance of Round 17 by beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 113-65 at Bendat Basketball Centre.
Matt Leary top-scored once more for Perry Lakes with 19 points on 5/8 shooting from downtown with Andrew Ferguson producing a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Cooper Lowe paced the Eastern Suns with 19 points and seven rebounds.
The Willetton Tigers consolidated themselves in the top four with a solid 102-74 victory also on Friday night against the South West Slammers at Willetton Basketball Stadium.
Tom Gerovich had 20 points for Williams with Michael Vigor delivering 18 points and 10 rebounds. Caleb Van De Griend top-scored for South West with 17 points and eight rebounds.
That all leads into a monster Saturday night in the NBL1 West Men’s Division with six matches meaning 12 of the 14 teams are all in action.
The Mandurah Magic and Rockingham Flames lock horns in a tantalising match up at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre while the Geraldton Buccaneers are at home to the Cockburn Cougars but without Mathiang Muo, Mat Wundenberg and Aaron Ralph.
The South West Slammers also play host to the Joondalup Wolves at Eaton Recreation Centre while the Goldfields Giants take on the East Perth Eagles in Kalgoorlie, and the Warwick Senators face the Willetton Tigers at Warwick Stadium.
The Lakeside Lightning also play the Perth Redbacks in another critical match up for both teams at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
The round then wraps up in Geraldton on Sunday afternoon with the Buccaneers playing host to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 17 – FRIDAY NIGHT
PERTH REDBACKS 80 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 93
The Mandurah Magic looked set to drop a second game this week with a slow start to the clash with the Perth Redbacks on Friday, but Scott Machado got plenty of help as his team worked their way on top for a crucial win.
Mandurah opened Round 17 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division back on Tuesday night with a disappointing 92-68 loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks at Bendat Basketball Centre which all but snuffed out their top four hopes.
The Magic would have expected to come out ready to respond in style at Belmont Oasis against the Redbacks on Friday night, especially with the news that Perth would be without the services of two of their most important players, Joel Wagner and Zac Gattorna.
However, the Redbacks still had their eyes on a top four finish and shot out of the gates in remarkable fashion after the Magic opened with triples to Scott Machado and Jerami Grace.
Marshall Nelson got the Redbacks rolling with a three before Tevin Jackson and Louis Timms joined in on the fun and all of a sudden the home team was leading 17-6.
That became 19-6 with a bucket to Derek Igbenoba and 21-6 with another basket to Timms, and 23-6 with two free-throws to Jackson. David Swaby hit the floor and made it 25-6 with Redbacks off to the perfect start and the Magic the worst imaginable coming off Tuesday’s loss.
Perth still led 27-12 by quarter-time but the Magic managed to stem the tide and slowly work their way back into the contest during the second quarter to cut the Redbacks lead to 48-39 by the major break.
However, the Magic had built up their confidence and the Redbacks went away from what worked so well in the opening quarter with the game going under a dramatic transformation.
Mandurah dominated the second half with Akau Deng a remarkable presence on the boards gathering everything in sight while Brian Carlwell became a presence inside and the back court of Scott Machado and Jerami Grace became dominant.
The Redbacks, without their leader Joel Wagner out there to steady things, turned individual and the Magic were able to turn the game on its head outscoring the home team 54 points to 32 in the second half to score the crucial 93-80 victory.
The Redbacks are now 12-7 with the loss and the Magic 13-7 with both teams backing up on Saturday night against Lakeside and Rockingham respectively.
It was a confidence-boosting win for the Magic after such a slow start away from home and Akau Deng was at the centre of it. He finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds but had zero points and one rebound at the half.
Jerami Grace ended up top-scoring with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists while Scott Machado delivered 23 points, five rebounds and five assists even though being guarded by Tevin Jackson made it a long night for the NBL superstar.
Brian Carlwell also had nine points, four rebounds and two blocks for the Magic, and import guard Fred Williams eight points and three boards.
Marshall Nelson had a frustrating night the longer it went but still put up 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Redbacks while hitting 4/9 from three-point range.
Louis Timms added 19 points and 15 rebounds in a hard working performance for the home side while David Swaby ended up with 12 points and five rebounds, Tevin Jackson 12 points, eight assists, six steals and three boards.
PERRY LAKES HAWKS 113 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 65
The Perry Lakes Hawks clearly want to lock away that top position and put together another dominant performance on Friday night to beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns by 48 points.
The Hawks opened Round 17 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division with a big win over the Mandurah Magic back on Tuesday night to improve to 16-4 on the season and to go a step closer to locking away the regular season championship.
They then hosted the out of contention Eastern Suns at Bendat Basketball Centre but with Joe Cook-Green coming off a 78-point weekend across two games last weekend for Kalamunda, Perry Lakes had to be mindful of the threat they posed.
The Hawks were ready from the outset and started strongly on their home floor with another 28 points to 18.
Perry Lakes really blew the game wide open then in the second quarter piling on 36 points while limiting Kalamunda to just the 19 with the Hawks having already opened up a match-winning 64-37 advantage by half-time.
It was more of the same in the third quarter with the Hawks ramming home their advantage with 30 more points to 10, as the lead got out of hand for the Eastern Suns.
Kalamunda did show some fight in the final period to their credit but Perry Lakes still cruised to the 113-65 win to remain in top spot with a 17-4 record on the season with the Eastern Suns slipping to 4-16 with the eighth consecutive defeat.
The Hawks scored the 48-point win even without the presence of games record holding co-captain Ben Purser with Matt Leary continuing his career-best season with another 19 points and six rebounds while hitting 5/8 from the three-point line.
Andrew Ferguson put up a double-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while Ryan Smith hit 3/4 from downtown for 16 points and six assists.
Harry Imison added 10 points and four assists, Mitch Clarke nine points and six assists, and Lewis Thomas eight points, five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
The Hawks did a terrific defensive job on Joe Cook-Green holding him to 13 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists on 3/11 shooting.
Cooper Lowe top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 19 points and seven rebounds with Brendan Dinardo adding seven points, Chris Johnson seven points, eight boards and four steals, Spencer Alone six points and Ryan Blanchett six points.
WILLETTON TIGERS 102 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 74
The Willetton Tigers couldn’t afford a slip up should they want to maintain their hold on a top four position and they didn’t have one at home to the South West Slammers on Friday night.
The Tigers snapped a four-game losing slide that all but ended their top two prospects with a thrilling buzzer-beating win over the Joondalup Wolves at HBF Arena last week that consolidated their hold on a top four finish at least with two rounds of the regular season remaining.
The Slammers had recorded their third win of the season just a couple of weeks ago against Goldfields Giants, but the Tigers opened up the game on fire to put off any chance of the upset.
Willetton scored 37 points in the first quarter to 22 from the Slammers, and even though the visitors won the second quarter, the Tigers still went into half-time in control leading 50-40.
The Slammers were still able to be a competitive outfit in the second half but the Tigers did pull away and ended up outscoring them 52 points to 34 to come away with the 102-74 win that strengthens their hold on a top four finish at 13-5.
Tom Gerovich played the best game of his young NBL1 West career with the Tigers delivering 20 points, five rebounds and two assists on 7/9 shooting from the field and 5/5 from the foul line.
Michael Vigor had a big night inside too for Willetton with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists with Hunter Clarke delivering 14 points and two rebounds, Michael Garbellini 11 points and five assists, Travis Fee 11 points and five boards, and Damien Scott eight points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Caleb Van De Griend top-scored for the Slammers with 17 points and eight rebounds with Tanner Vogel producing 11 points and four rebounds, Cory Richardson 10 points and four assists, Travis Vogel eight points, nine rebounds and three assists, and Cody Hill eight points, four assists and four steals.