It was a huge Saturday night of action in the Men’s Division of the NBL1 West with wins for the Perth Redbacks, Perry Lakes Hawks, Mandurah Magic, Rockingham Flames, Lakeside Lightning and Cockburn Cougars.
Round 13 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division began on Friday night with the Willetton Tigers beating the Rockingham Flames 95-90, the Mandurah Magic defeating the South West Slammers 85-69, the Perth Redbacks downing the Joondalup Wolves 98-81 and the Warwick Senators prevailed 91-81 against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
There were six games on Saturday night in the Men’s Division with the Perth Redbacks continuing their tremendous form by snapping the nine-game winning streak of Willetton Tigers with the 84-62 win at Belmont Oasis.
Zac Gattorna had 25 points for the Redbacks, Marshall Nelson 21 and Louis Timms 18 while Tom Gerovich and Brent Hank scored 10 points apiece for the Damien Scott and Michael Vigor-less Tigers.
The Perry Lakes Hawks then made it five wins in succession proving too good for the East Perth Eagles winning 112-53 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.
Matt Leary torched his former club by putting up 28 points on 8/12 shooting from three-point territory for Perry Lakes while even the presence of Lee Roberts couldn’t lift East Perth. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mandurah Magic are now building some momentum with Scott Machado in the line-up making it three straight wins defeating the Joondalup Wolves 90-81 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
Machado delivered 26 points and eight assists in the win for the Magic while Jonathan Wade put up 20 points for the Wolfpack.
The Rockingham Flames returned to the winner’s list as well proving too good for the Geraldton Buccaneers to record a 91-73 win at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
Brendan Redhead had 17 points for the Flames, Justin Beard 16, Atem Bior 15, Cirkook Makuac Riak 12 and Tom Jervis 11 while Elijah Barbour top-scored in the loss for Geraldton with 17 points.
The Lakeside Lightning hit the road and took out a big win in Kalgoorlie to make it five consecutive victories to defeat the Goldfields Giants 85-64 at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.
Jay Bowie maintained his terrific form with 25 points for Lakeside while fellow import Jack Isenbarger scored 22 points and the legend Jarrad Prue pulled in another 21 rebounds. Dion Collins top-scored for Goldfields with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cockburn Cougars then made it consecutive wins by beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 101-71 at Wally Hagan Stadium.
Seva Chan and Gavin Field put up 21 points apiece for the Cougars in the big win while Ryan Blanchett top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 15 points.
Round 13 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division wraps up on Sunday afternoon at Bendat Basketball Centre with the last two SBL championship winners, the Perry Lakes Hawks and Geraldton Buccaneers, locking horns.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 13 – SATURDAY NIGHT
PERTH REDBACKS 84 defeated WILLETTON TIGERS 62
The Perth Redbacks continue to emerge as one of the form teams of the NBL1 West Men’s Division with a second win inside 24 hours on Saturday night, this time snapping the nine-game winning run of the Willetton Tigers.
It always loomed as a tremendous battle at Belmont Oasis on Saturday evening with the Redbacks back home having beaten the Joondalup Wolves the previous night to have won six of their past seven matches to have been building some ominous form.
Willetton, though, still came into Round 13 on top of the table having only lost the one game this season so far and then beating the Rockingham Flames at home on Friday even in the absence of prolific scorer Damien Scott and former Redback championship winner Michael Vigor.
That gave the Tigers nine consecutive wins to bring with them to Belmont Oasis on Saturday night but it was the Redbacks feeling good on the back of their win in Joondalup 24 hours earlier.
The Redbacks managed to lead 23-19 by quarter-time and then still hold on to that edge heading into half-time leading 37-33.
The game was still up for grabs, though, at the half but that soon changed in the third quarter with the Redbacks having too many scoring weapons led by Marshall Nelson, Zac Gattorna, Louis Timms and Tevin Jackson with Willetton dearly missing Damien Scott and Michael Vigor’s presence.
The Redbacks held the Tigers to just eight points in the third quarter while scoring 24 themselves. That proved the match-winning quarter too and Perth would go on to beat Willetton 84-62.
It’s a third consecutive victory for the Redbacks and means they have now won seven of their past eight matches to sit in fourth position with a 9-5 record.
Willetton saw its nine-game winning run come to an end and the Tigers also dropped to third spot as a result with their 11-2 record.
The Redbacks did well turning up the heat and forcing the Tigers into 22 turnovers while ending up shooting 44.6 per cent from the field opposed 36.8 for Willetton, and then 8/23 from three-point range compared to 3/17 from the Tigers.
Zac Gattorna was outstanding for the Redbacks with 25 points and nine rebounds on shooting 11/19 from the field and 2/3 from beyond the arc.
Marshall Nelson added 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals on the back of 9/14 shooting with 2/3 from deep.
Louis Timms put up another 18 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots with Tevin Jackson contributing eight points, four rebounds and three steals, and captain Joel Wagner dished out 12 assists.
It was a chance for others at Willetton to step up without Michael Vigor and Damien Scott. Brent Hank finished with 10 points and six rebounds, Tom Gerovich 10 points and nine boards, Travis Fee nine points and seven rebounds, and Roosevelt Williams eight points.
EAST PERTH EAGLES 53 lost to PERRY LAKES HAWKS 112
The longer the game went on Saturday night the more the Perry Lakes Hawks rammed home their dominance over the East Perth Eagles ending up winning by 59 points.
The two teams were doing battle in their first games of the weekend at Herb Graham Recreation Centre and despite the presence of Lee Roberts for the Eagles, they had an uphill task ahead of them against the Hawks.
Perry Lakes came into the game on a five-game winning run and even through East Perth won last up against the South West Slammers, the Hawks were much different opposition.
The first half wasn’t actually too bad from the Eagles with the Hawks only leading by seven points at quarter-time and then 17 by the major break.
That was still a handy Perry Lakes lead but the game wasn’t quite out of reach of East Perth, but that soon changed in the second half.
The Hawks put up 26 points to 14 in the third quarter and then really ran away with things in the fourth with 38 points to eight to end up winning 112-53.
Perry Lakes ended up shooting 18/41 at 43.9 per cent from three-point land while pulling in 56 rebounds to 39 including 20 offensive boards to 11 and then also forcing East Perth into 22 turnovers.
Matthew Leary was the star of the night for Perry Lakes as he put his former team to the sword by hitting 8/12 from three-point territory for 28 points.
There were plenty more contributors for the Hawks with Andrew Ferguson producing 18 points and 17 rebounds, Lewis Thomas 14 points and seven assists, Ryan Smith 13 points, Mitch Clarke 11 points and seven assists, Rob Cassir 10 points and six rebounds, and Cooper Hamilton 10 points.
Lee Roberts did come in and top-score for East Perth with the former Perth Redbacks championship winning import finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
MANDURAH MAGIC 90 defeated JOONDALUP WOLVES 81
The Mandurah Magic marked their first home game with Scott Machado in their line-up by delivering a nine-point victory against the Joondalup Wolves.
Both teams had opened Round 13 by playing on Friday night with the Magic winning away to the South West Slammers while the Wolves lost at home to the Perth Redbacks setting the stage for a fascinating match up.
Their first game this season was an overtime cracker up at Joondalup as well but with Cairns Taipans NBL superstar Scott Machado in the line-up, the Magic proved too strong at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre in a rare win against the Wolfpack.
Mandurah had won its last two games away to the Giants and Slammers after losing first up since the arrival of Machado to Willetton, but this was their first home game and it was a solid start from the home team with 21 points to 17 in the opening term.
But the Wolfpack got on top in the second with 25 points to 19 to head into half-time leading 42-40.
The Magic turned things right around in the third quarter, though, and with their 30 points to 17 it proved to be the match-winning stanza too with Mandurah going on to win 90-81 to improve to 8-6 on the season.
The Wolfpack have now lost three in-a-row to be 7-7 and clinging to a spot in the eight. That’s a Joondalup club that played in every SBL Grand Final between 2015 and 2019.
Scott Machado was outstanding with his all-round contribution for the Magic made up of 26 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Jerami Grace also put up 20 points and nine rebounds, Riley Parker 15 points and three boards, Fred Williams 14 points and two assists, and Xavier Shaw 10 points and five rebounds.
Jonathan Wade top-scored for the Wolfpack with 20 points and five rebounds with Jacob Formosa 13 points and three boards, and Lochlan Cummings 12 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists.
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 91 defeated GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 73
The Rockingham Flames got back to the winner’s list with a solid 18-point win at home against the Geraldton Buccaneers to spoil the 450-game milestone of Mat Wundenberg.
The Flames had not only lost to the Willetton Tigers to open Round 13 on Friday night but they had lost four of their previous matches so they did need to respond at home to the Buccs on Saturday at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
The season is becoming a challenge the longer it lasts for the Buccs just through a lack of depth they currently have and that was again the case against Rockingham on Saturday night.
It was a tight opening to the game with both teams scoring 26 points apiece in the opening quarter before the Flames began to pull away in the second term. They scored 25 points to 14 to go into half-time in control leading 51-40.
Rockingham gradually pulled away throughout the second half to end up winning 91-73 and improve to a 9-6 record to be solid inside the top eight while the Buccs lost a fourth straight to be 3-9 ahead of taking on Perry Lakes on Sunday.
Brendan Redhead is a young player on the rise with Rockingham and he stood tall on Saturday with 17 points and four assists while knocking down 3/5 from three-point territory.
There’s a good mix of youth and experience with the Flames too even if they were without inspirational captain Ryan Godfrey.
Tom Jervis has joined Rockingham after his Perth Wildcats NBL season and he had 11 points and six rebounds with his former ‘Cats teammate Greg Hire having four points, six boards and four assists.
Justin Beard also put up 16 points and six rebounds for the Flames, Atem Bior 15 points and eight boards, Cirkook Makuac Riak 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Travis Durnin nine points and five boards.
It was a big night for legendary Buccaneers championship winning captain Mat Wundenberg as he brought up 450 games with Geraldton. He played 31 minutes for three points, six rebounds and two assists.
Elijah Barbour put up 17 points as well for the Buccs, Mathiang Muo 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Taine Wattie 14 points and three boards, and Dylan Myers 14 points and four assists.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 64 lost to LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 85
The Lakeside Lightning went to Kalgoorlie on Saturday night and made it five wins in-a-row while handing the Goldfields Giants a fourth consecutive loss.
The Lightning took with them a four-game winning run for the trip to Kalgoorlie with a couple of wins against the Rockingham Flames along with wins against the Cockburn Cougars and Warwick Senators while the Giants were desperate to try and snap a three-game losing run at home.
Lakeside started the game at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium impressively with 26 points to 13 in the opening quarter, and that set the tone for the rest of the evening.
The Lightning turned that into a 45-32 lead at half-time and they extended it to a 15-point advantage at three quarter-time before going on to win the game 85-64.
The victory means that Lakeside has now won five games in-a-row to sit in second position on the standings with an 11-2 record while Goldfields has now lost four straight o be slipping from playoff contention at 4-9.
There was plenty to like in terms of the number of strong contributors in the win for the Lightning and they were once again led by Jay Bowie who was outstanding against his former club on his old home floor in Kalgoorlie. Bowie finished with 25 points and five rebounds.
Jack Isenbarger also had 22 points and four assists on the back of shooting 6/14 from three-point advantage with Rowan Mackenzie finishing with 15 points and four rebounds on hitting 3/6 from deep.
Jarrad Prue was a monster on the boards as usual pulling in 21 rebounds to go with 10 rebounds for Lakeside with Kyle Armour adding six points and three assists.
Dion Collins top-scored with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Giants while Deng Kuany contributed 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, Fletcher Klasztorny nine points and eight boards, Hamish Cummings eight points and four assists, Julian Pesava eight points and four rebounds, and Noah Hinkley eight points and four boards.
COCKBURN COUGARS 101 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 71
The Cockburn Cougars made it consecutive wins to stay in the NBL1 West Men’s Division playoff race with a 30-point win against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Saturday night.
The Cougars had snapped their seven-match losing streak with a win at home to the Geraldton Buccaneers a couple of weeks ago so they were back at home at Wally Hagan Stadium trying to win back-to-back games for the first time this season since mid-May.
However, the Eastern Suns had been playing better winning three straight games coming into Round 13 but they lost to the Warwick Stadium on Friday and were attempting to bounce back 24 hours later away from home.
It was a relatively tight game for three quarters as well with Cockburn narrowly leading 23-20 by quarter-time. The Cougars did break the game open a little further with another 29 points to 21 to go into the major break on top 52-41.
The Eastern Suns had just done enough to stay in touch by three quarter-time trailing by 15 points, but the Cougars blew the game right open in the fourth term with 27 points to 12 to end up winning 101-71.
The win was a second in-a-row for Cockburn as they improved to a 4-9 record while Kalamunda slipped to 4-10 after their two losses this weekend.
There were plenty of big performers in the win for the Cougars too with Seva Chan putting up 21 points, five rebounds and three assists while knocking down 5/7 from three-point territory.
Gavin Field added 21 points and five assists for Cockburn with Nic Pozoglou contributing 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Nathan Pond 12 points, nine boards and four blocked shots, and Ben Henshall 10 points and five rebounds.
Ryan Blanchett top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 15 points and five rebounds while Chris Johnson contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds, Brendan Dinardo 11 points and three boards, Cooper Lowe 10 points and two rebounds, and Jermaine Malie seven points, three boards, three assists and two steals.