Scott Machado’s debut for the Mandurah Magic saw the game in his hand on the buzzer against the Willetton Tigers while other Saturday night Round 10 NBL1 West action saw a come from behind win for the Kalamunda Eastern Suns among other impressive showings.
The Eastern Suns finished all over the top of the Giants for their second win of the season while the Lakeside Lightning kept on winning, the Geraldton Buccaneers got a home win, the Perth Redbacks kept their form rolling while Perry Lakes won again and Willetton maintained top spot despite taking on Machado and his Magic.
Round 10 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division got underway with two matches on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks continuing their winning ways beating the Joondalup Wolves 100-87 while the Lakeside Lightning defeated the Warwick Senators 94-80.
Saturday night in the NBL1 West began at Active West Stadium with the Geraldton Buccaneers snapping a two-game losing run to beat the East Perth Eagles 81-62.
Mathiang Muo was too much for the Buccs up against the team he won a championship with back in 2014 with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Logan Thwaites top-scored for East Perth with 17 points.
The Perth Redbacks made it four straight victories by defeating the South West Slammers 88-53 at Eaton Recreation Centre.
Zac Gattorna was terrific for the Redbacks with 23 points and eight rebounds while Mitch Keller again worked tirelessly for the Slammers with 21 points and nine rebounds.
The Perry Lakes Hawks then made it three straight wins proving too good for the struggling Cockburn Cougars, winning 89-71 at Wally Hagan Stadium.
Mitch Clarke had 18 points and six rebounds for Perry Lakes and Andrew Ferguson 16 points and seven boards with Nic Pozoglou top-scoring for Cockburn with 15 points.
The main event of the night clearly took place at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the league-leading Willetton Tigers hosting Mandurah Magic and their new superstar signing, Scott Machado from the Cairns Taipans.
Machado also helped the Magic pull of a remarkable comeback too but his three-point attempt on the buzzer that would have forced overtime rimmed out with the Tigers winning 94-91.
Damien Scott put up 31 points for Willetton and Connor Mincherton 22 while Machado had 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Mandurah.
It was another thriller at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium in Kalgoorlie and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns stormed home to overrun the Goldfields Giants turning a six-point three quarter-time deficit into a 99-96 victory.
Chris Johnson put up 27 points and nine rebounds for the Eastern Suns in their second win of the season while Deng Kuany had 22 points for the Giants, Hamish Cummings 20 and Jerome Reid 19.
The Lakeside Lightning maintained their hot form backing up beating the Senators on Friday to defeat the Rockingham Flames 95-81 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
Jay Bowie delivered 26 points on 6/11 three-point shooting for Lakeside with Kyle Armour adding 25 points and seven assists. Atem Bior put up 25 points and 11 rebounds for Rockingham.
Round 10 isn’t done yet with a game to come in Geraldton on Sunday afternoon at 2pm with the Buccaneers hosting the Joondalup Wolves in a tantalising rematch from the 2019 Grand Final.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 10 – SATURDAY NIGHT
GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 81 defeated EAST PERTH EAGLES 62
The Geraldton Buccaneers began their double-header at home with an impressive 19-point win over the East Perth Eagles on Saturday night.
The Eagles arrived in Geraldton having been struggling for form losing eight of their past nine matches but the season has been a bit of a struggle so far for the Buccs with them having won just two of their opening seven matches.
However, it was East Perth who started strongly against the 2019 champions with the Eagles putting up 24 points to 21 in the opening quarter in Geraldton.
The Buccaneers needed to respond and they did so in the second period with 20 points to 13 and that saw them hold a 41-37 lead over the Eagles by the half-time break.
The Buccs then took complete control of the contest in the third quarter as they held East Perth to just the 10 points while being able to score 22 themselves to lead by 16 at three quarter-time.
Geraldton then closed the deal to end up winning 81-62 for their third win of the season ahead of hosting the Joondalup Wolves on Sunday afternoon while East Perth slipped to 2-10 after 10 rounds.
Mathiang Muo was the standout on the night for Geraldton opposed to the team he helped win the 2014 championship. Muo ended the evening for the Buccs with 26 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Aaron Ralph put up 13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals for Geraldton while Brandon Holloway marked his return with nine points, Mat Wundenberg had eight points and 12 rebounds, and Elijah Barbour eight points, three boards and two assists.
Logan Thwaites ended up top-scoring for East Perth with 17 points and three rebounds while connecting on all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Junior Tshikele added 11 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Eagles, Mitch Benger 10 points, five boards and three steals, and Jarrad Anastasio 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 53 lost to PERTH REDBACKS 88
The South West Slammers have been able to pull off a couple of shock upsets so far this season in the NBL1 West Men’s Division, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday night at home to the Perth Redbacks.
The Slammers have been able to score upsets against Eagles and Eastern Suns so far this season so they have been no pushovers under the coaching of Mark Worthington, especially down at home at Eaton Recreation Centre.
However, the Redbacks hit the road on Saturday night in their best form of the season making it three straight wins when they beat the Joondalup Wolves at Belmont Oasis on Friday night on the back of impressive victories against the Cougars and Senators.
The Redbacks continued that form from the outset down south on Saturday night even with Marshall Nelson not backing up from his first appearance of the season the night before in the win against the Wolves.
Perth held South West to just the nine points in the opening quarter while scoring 18 themselves and the Redbacks then really got rolling offensively in the second quarter putting another 29 points on the board.
They were also able to limit the Slammers to 16 points and that saw the visitors take a comfortable 45-25 lead into half-time.
The Redbacks put up another 25 points in the third quarter and held the Slammers to 14, and another 16 to 14 in the fourth period and Perth went on to record the empathic 88-53 win.
The 35-point victory sees the Redbacks having now won four straight matches for a 6-4 record while the Slammers are 2-8 after 10 rounds.
The Slammers actually won the rebound count for the night but the Redbacks caught fire from three-point land with 15/34 at 44 per cent while forcing the Slammers into the 24 turnovers.
Zac Gattorna stepped up in the absence of Marshall Nelson for the Redbacks to top-score with 23 points and eight rebounds while connecting on 6/11 from three-point territory.
He got plenty of help too with Louis Timms delivering another 19 points and eight rebounds with Tevin Jackson adding 19 points, seven steals and three assists.
Matt Giorgi also had nine points on three three-pointers with Denzel Jackson contributing seven points and five rebounds, and Joel Wagner eight more assists.
Mitch Keller continues to fight valiantly for the Slammers producing another 21 points and nine rebounds while Rhys Barrett contributed 12 points and five rebounds, and Caleb Van De Griend 10 points and 11 boards.
COCKBURN COUGARS 71 lost to PERRY LAKES HAWKS 89
The Cockburn Cougars and Perry Lakes Hawks came into Saturday’s game at Wally Hagan Stadium in vastly contrasting form so far in 2021, and the game followed those form lines.
The Cougars and Hawks were making their only appearances of Round 10 in the NBL1 West competition, and Perry Lakes were able to continue their winning form and continue the struggles of Cockburn.
Despite being at home, the Cougars came into the game on a five-game losing streak while the Hawks had won five of their past six.
Perry Lakes was fresh off big wins against the Lightning and Slammers last week, and continued that on in the first quarter on Saturday night putting 30 points on the board while holding Cockburn to just 11 to already put the game just about out of reach by quarter-time.
It was more of the same in the second quarter with the Hawks putting up another 25 points to 12 and the game was all but over at half-time with Perry Lakes in control 55-23.
To the credit of Cockburn they did win the second half 48 points to 34 to show some encouraging signs to take forward, but ultimately it was quite the comfortable 89-71 win for Perry Lakes who improves to 9-2 on the season while the Cougars slip to 2-8.
Mitch Clarke finished up with 18 points, six rebounds and two assists for Perry Lakes while Andrew Ferguson contributed 16 points and seven boards, Matt Leary 11 points and four rebounds, Cooper Hamilton nine points and Ben Purser nine points, five boards and five assists.
Nic Pozoglou top-scored for Cockburn with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists with Zac Watkinson adding 11 points, Gavin Field nine points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Nathan Pond eight points and four boards.
WILLETTON TIGERS 94 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 91
This was the most anticipated match of the season with Scott Machado joining the Mandurah Magic and it delivered with the Willetton Tigers continuing to impress to hold on for the three-point win with Machado having a shot at forcing overtime on the buzzer.
The stage for Saturday night’s contest was set and it certainly didn’t disappoint with Machado doing all he could to keep the Magic alive against the league-leaders.
Machado was happy to play the role of distributor early but the Tigers raced to a 12-4 lead. Eventually Machado drained a three just before quarter-time and he helped the Magic level up with Willetton at 22-22.
Machado got a lot more aggressive in the second quarter putting up 17 points himself including knocking down three huge three-pointers in the final two minutes including one from way downtown.
However, Willetton went into half-time lead 48-45 with former Cockburn championship winner and Wildcats development player Damien Scott on fire with 17 points himself.
The Tigers then changed things up defensively on Machado in the second half with coach Adam Nener giving the job to the longer Dylan Hampson.
He hounded the superstar point guard the rest of the game and limited his scoring influence, and up the other end Willetton was able to pull away with emerging star Connor Mincherton catching fire to appear to shoot the Tigers to a match-winning advantage.
Willetton led by 14 points with just under five minutes to go after an impressive Scott bucket on the on-point pass from big man Michael Vigor, but the Magic and Machado weren’t done yet despite still being down 14 with 3:30 left.
They were working harder and eventually a putback from Jerami Grace got him going and he hit a three on the next trip down, and suddenly Mandurah was back within seven as Willetton called for time.
Machado found Akau Deng inside for a finish to make the deficit five. Vigor responded with a strong and-one up the other end but still Mandurah weren’t with Machado hitting two free-throws and Mincherton missing two.
Machado then found Cousteau Kyle to hit the open three and it was a three-point ball game.
Machado forced Vigor into a travel and from that turnover, the Magic called for time to talk over their last play. It ended up with Machado getting a good look at the three too, but it rimmed out and Willetton clung to the 94-91 victory to improve to 8-1 and retain top spot on the table.
All eyes were on Machado and he didn’t disappoint with the game in his hands as the buzzer expired as he tried to force overtime. He ended the night with 31 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals on 11/18 shooting and 6/12 from downtown.
However, there was a lot to like from a Willetton perspective with the extra eyes watching. Damien Scott was brilliant with 31 points, four rebounds and four assists while Connor Mincherton continued his emergence hitting 6/8 from deep for 22 points.
Hunter Clarke delivered 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Willetton, Michael Vigor 13 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, and Roosevelt Williams seven points while Dylan Hampson’s second half defence on Machado was impressive.
On top of what Machado did, Jerami Grace had 21 points and nine rebounds for Mandurah, Fred Williams 12 points, nine boards and four assists, and Riley Parker 11 points.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 96 lost to KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 99
The Kalamunda Eastern Suns hit the road to Kalgoorlie and finished all over the top of the Goldfields Giants to return home with the three-point victory.
The Eastern Suns made the trip to Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium on Saturday night having won just one of their nine matches this season so it was a big task to score the road win up against the Giants.
Both teams put on quite the show to start the match as well as they put up a combined 61 points in the opening quarter with the Eastern Suns going into quarter-time leading the Giants 32-29.
Goldfields were able to work their way on top, though, during the second period with 26 to 21 to see them able to take a 55-53 lead into half-time.
The tremendous contest continued in the third quarter but Goldfields continued to gradually pull away from Kalamunda with another 25 points to 21 to see them take an 80-74 advantage into three quarter-time.
However, it took less than two minutes for the Eastern Suns to close that gap with the opening six points of the last quarter to tie scores up. Ryan Blanchett soon hit a three to give the Suns the lead, but it continued to be a seesaw battle the rest of the way.
Scores remained tied at 92-92 with three minutes on the clock before Jermaine Malie scored after a turnover to put Kalamunda in front 94-92 with two minutes left.
Hamish Cummings responded with two free-throws a minute later for the home team before Malie responded in kind for the Eastern Suns.
That set up the frantic finish with the shot clock turned off beginning with Fletcher Klasztorny scoring for the Giants to level things up at 96-96.
But the Eastern Suns had one more chance to avoid overtime and it was Dyson Lowe that knocked down the game-winning three-pointer and Kalamunda left Kalgoorlie with the stunning 99-96 victory.
Chris Johnson had his best game of the season with the Eastern Suns delivering 27 points and nine rebounds on shooting 12/22 from the field to be instrumental in the eventual victory.
Ryan Blanchett also finished with 16 points and four boards on 7/11 shooting for Kalamunda, Jermaine Malie 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, Brendan Dinardo 11 points and seven assists, and Dyson Lowe 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Deng Kuany ended up top-scoring for the Giants with 22 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists while knocking down 4/8 from three-point land.
Hamish Cummings added 20 points, four rebounds and four assists, Jerome Reid 19 points, six rebounds and three assists, Fletcher Klasztorny 17 points, six boards and three assists, and Tom Atkinson 11 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 81 lost to LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 95
This was a big weekend against two quality opponents for the Lakeside Lightning but they came through with flying colours after winning in Rockingham on Saturday night.
The Lightning opened up their weekend with a second win over the Warwick Senators in recent times but their reward was a trip to Rockingham on Saturday to take on the Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
It was a hungry Rockingham team too determined to bounce back from losing on the road to the Lightning last week, but it wasn’t going to be easier said than done to earn that measure of revenge.
Lakeside came into the game having won eight of their past nine matches and continued on with that momentum to start the game despite being on the road on Saturday night.
The Lightning put up another 30 points in the opening quarter while limiting the Flames to just 18 and that was enough to set up the eventual victory.
Things were relatively even the rest of the evening as the Flames tried to work their way back into the contest, but the Lightning stayed firm and then pulled away further in the fourth quarter to end up winning 95-81.
The result means the Lightning have now won three games in-a-row and have improved to a 9-2 record on the season while the Flames have lost two straight to be 7-4 now.
Jay Bowie kept his hot form rolling for the Lightning as he continues to thrive at his third club after strong stints previously with Willetton and Goldfields. He put up another 26 points, six rebounds and four assists while knocking down 6/11 from three-point range.
Point guard Kyle Armour’s brilliant return from his ACL injury continues too as he led Lakeside with 25 points, seven assists and three rebounds while draining a stunning 7/9 from three-point territory.
Rowan Mackenzie also had 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals for Lakeside. He also shot 4/9 from downtown and Jack Isenbarger added 4/7 for 12 points and Ben Lee 2/3 for six points and three assists as the Lightning as a team went 23/39 at a remarkable 59 per cent.
Atem Bior was impressive for Rockingham finishing with 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists with Ryan Godfrey contributing 16 points and five assists, Greg Hire 11 points and four assists, Justin Beard nine points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists.