There were big wins for the Lakeside Lightning, Willetton Tigers and Rockingham Flames on Saturday night as they attempt to lock away their top four positions while the Cockburn Cougars and Joondalup Wolves both win in that fascinating battle for eighth.
It was a massive night in the NBL1 West Men’s Division on Saturday with six matches taking place but not much was decided with the Wolves and Cougars both winning in the fight for eighth while the Flames and Tigers consolidated top four spots, and the Lightning kept themselves in second.
There were six huge matches that then took place on Saturday night including a crucial win for the Rockingham Flames 100-78 against the Mandurah Magic at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
Cirkook Makuac Riak had 18 points for Rockingham, Atem Bior 18 and Tom Jervis 15 while Scott Machado had 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals for Mandurah.
The Cockburn Cougars kept themselves right in the playoff hunt by hitting the road to beat the Geraldton Buccaneers 79-52 at Active West Stadium.
Nic Pozoglou had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Cockburn while it was a Buccs team minus Mathiang Muo, Mat Wundenberg, Taine Wattie and Aaron Ralph with Elijah Barbour top-scoring with 12 points and Will Galvin 11 to go with 13 rebounds.
The Joondalup Wolves had to do it tough but got the result they needed at Eaton Recreation Centre beating the South West Slammers 83-75.
Lochlan Cummings put up 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Wolfpack with Rob Huntington adding 24 points. Rhys Barrett scored 16 points for the Slammers and Caleb Van De Griend 13.
The Lakeside Lightning strengthened their hold on a top two position and all but ended the hopes of a top four finish for the Perth Redbacks with a 112-96 win at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
The Lightning welcomed back Kyle Armour but were still minus Jarrad Prue, Corey Shervill and Jay Bowie, but Ben Lee scored 23 points, Rowan Mackenzie 22 and Jack Isenbarger 22. The Redbacks were again without Joel Wagner and Zac Gattorna with Louis Timms scoring 27 points, Tevin Jackson 27 and Marshall Nelson 23.
The Goldfields Giants made it back-to-back-wins by defeating the East Perth Eagles 87-59 at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.
Hamish Cummings delivered 22 points for Goldfields, Jerome Reid 16, Sam Morrow 14 and Cooper Creek 12. Lee Roberts had 13 points for East Perth and Logan Thwaites 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
It was another terrific contest at Warwick Stadium with the Willetton Tigers overrunning the Warwick Senators for a crucial 100-95 win.
Damien Scott finished with 20 points for the Tigers, Connor Mincherton 20 and Michael Vigor 19 to go with 13 rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocked shots. Cody Ellis had 25 points for the Senators to go with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 17 – SATURDAY NIGHT
MANDURAH MAGIC 78 lost to ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 100
There was plenty on the line for Mandurah and Rockingham when they met at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Saturday night, but the Flames started well and maintained that edge all evening.
The Magic were playing their third game of the week and after a disappointing loss on Tuesday to the Perry Lakes Hawks and a slow start on Friday against the Perth Redbacks, they responded well to win that game at Belmont Oasis on the back of a dominant second half.
That maintained the possibility of the Magic finishing in the top four if they could keep the momentum going at home to the Flames on Saturday night.
Rockingham was playing its first and only game of the round and coming into the game on a five-game winning streak and the Flames were the ones who maintained their form and momentum.
The Flames were fresh playing their first game in a week and started strongly on the road to the Magic with 23 points to 18 in the opening quarter.
Rockingham then narrowly extended its lead during the second quarter to go into half-time leading 48-38.
The Flames continued to control the contest with another 24 points to 18 in the third period, and then 28 to 22 in the fourth to go on and record the impressive 100-78 victory.
The win improved Rockingham to a 13-6 record to be well placed for a top four finish while the Magic slipped to 13-8 having lost two of their three games in Round 17.
The most impressive aspect of the strong Rockingham performance was the amount of contributors they had to the win which will make them a tough team to overcome through the playoffs.
Atem Bior put up 18 points, five rebounds and five assists on shooting 7/9 from the floor with Cirkook Makuac Riak also contributing 18 points, seven boards and three assists.
Tom Jervis also had 15 points, nine rebounds, six blocks and four assists in an impressive performance inside on 7/11 shooting for the Flames with Greg Hire adding 11 points and eight boards.
Teenager Brendan Redhead put up 12 points on 4/6 shooting from beyond the arc while Justin Beard had 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals, and captain Ryan Godfrey nine points, four assists and three rebounds.
Scott Machado finished with 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals for Mandurah with Akau Deng contributing 15 points and four boards, and Jerami Grace 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.
GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 52 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 79
The severely undermanned Geraldton Buccaneers couldn’t quite challenge the Cockburn Cougars how they hoped at home on Saturday night with the visitors keeping their season alive with the win.
With superstar Mathiang Muo having to leave two weeks before the season to join up with the South Sudanese national team, he joined club legends Mat Wundenberg and Aaron Ralph, and New Zealand recruit Taine Wattie as outs for the Buccs as they hosted the Cougars on Saturday night at Active West Stadium.
The Cougars have no choice but to keep winning to give them any chance of sneaking into the playoffs and they have been in impressive form of late after a slow start to the NBL1 West season.
Cockburn did lose nine of their opening 11 matches of the season but they bounced back to go on a six-game winning streak to breathe life into their season.
However, the Cougars then dropped tight games to Lakeside and Joondalup over the past two weeks to make their playoff prospects all that harder, and the only way to give themselves a shot was to win their final three matches.
That run started in Geraldton on Saturday night and the Cougars got off to the perfect start on the road putting up 22 points to seven in the opening quarter to put the onus back on the undermanned Buccs to see if they had anything to respond with.
Cockburn maintained that advantage the rest of the evening and build on the lead to be up by 20 point at half-time, 30 at three quarter-time and then to end up winning 79-52 to get the win they needed to keep their season alive with two games to Perth and South West remaining in Round 18.
The Cougars dominated the contest as expected with the Buccs without four of their usual starting five.
They had 63 rebounds to 35 for the night including 21 offensively to eight to come away with the 27-point win.
Nic Pozoglou finished up with 20 points and 13 rebounds for Cockburn on 9/12 shooting with Gavin Field contributing 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Josh Hunt also had 10 points for the Cougars, Nathan Pond eight points, 15 rebounds and three assists, and Zac Watkinson seven points.
Elijah Barbour top-scored for Geraldton with 12 points while Will Galvin put up 11 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots, Harry Evans nine points and three assists, Oliver Haste seven points and Brandon Holloway seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 75 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 83
The South West Slammers had the chance to play havoc with the playoff hopes of the Joondalup Wolves on Saturday night with the Wolfpack only narrowly escaping with an important victory.
The Slammers were at home to the Wolves at Eaton Recreation Centre with the home team still hopeful of avoiding the wooden spoon in the inaugural NBL1 West season while the visitors had to keep winning to remain in eight position.
Joondalup made a strong start to the season winning seven of its first 11 games to be fighting for a top four spot and not just a finals position, but a five-game losing streak soon changed that.
That left the Wolves fighting for their lives and they had responded by winning two of the last three games coming into Saturday night’s clash including a heart stopper over Cockburn on Thursday after a similarly heartbreaking defeat to the Willetton Tigers last week.
The Wolves made the trip south and started well enough with 24 points to 19 in the opening quarter. However, the Slammers did well to keep things close and Joondalup only narrowly led 46-42 going into the half-time break.
Things remained close by three quarter-time with the Wolfpack only leading 65-60 and while the Wolves never really put the Slammers away, they managed to maintain that advantage to score the crucial 83-75 win.
The victory means the Wolves remain in eighth position heading into the final round where they are away to Rockingham on Friday and at home to Geraldton on Saturday.
Two-time championship winner Lochlan Cummings led the way for the Wolfpack with 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists while knocking down 5/11 from three-point territory.
Rob Huntington showed his quality and experience too with 24 points, four rebounds and three assists on 9/11 shooting while Jonathan Wade put up 14 points, five rebounds and three steals, and Jacob Formosa seven points and five boards.
Rhys Barrett top-scored for the Slammers with 16 points and two rebounds while Caleb Van De Griend contributed 13 points and nine boards, Cory Richardson nine points and three assists, Devan Craig eight points and three rebounds, Cody Hill eight points and two assists, and Clive Weeden eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 112 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 96
The Lakeside Lightning got a couple of key pieces back and returned to some ominous form ahead of the finals with an impressive 16-point win against the Perth Redbacks on Saturday night.
The Lightning were playing their only game of Round 17 and welcomed back experienced championship winning point guard Kyle Armour even if Jarrad Prue, Corey Shervill and Jay Bowie were still unavailable.
The Redbacks were backing up from hosting the Mandurah Magic the previous night where they started on fire even without Joel Wagner and Zac Gattorna, but couldn’t maintain it to end up losing by 16 points heading into the clash with the Lightning at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
It was a hot start from the Lightning with them knowing they needed to keep winning to guarantee themselves a top two finish. Lakeside put up 37 points in the opening quarter and already opened up a 12-point lead by the end of one.
The Lightning were still leading by 11 points at half-time before the home team extended their advantage to 16 by three quarter-time and they went on to record the important 112-96 victory.
The win improves Lakeside to a 16-4 record on the season to all but have a top two finish locked away with top spot still a possibility.
The two losses in Round 17 for the Redbacks leave them with a 12-8 record with games to finish at home to the Cockburn Cougars and Goldfields Giants in the final round of the regular season.
It was a spectacular shooting night from both teams with the Lightning going at 41/76 for 54.0 per cent from the floor and 21/38 at 55.3 per cent from the three-point line. Meanwhile, the Redbacks put up 32/75 at 42.3 per cent and 19/32 at 59.4 per cent from downtown.
Ben Lee knocked down 7/9 from three-point land for 23 points and five rebounds for Lakeside with Jack Isenbarger hitting 6/11 from long-range for 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Rowan Mackenzie also had 22 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals while hitting 3/5 from beyond the arc with Kyle Armour hitting 3/5 for 17 points, 10 assists, four rebounds and four steals.
Nick Palleschi added 13 points and Josh Davey 12 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
While dearly missing Joel Wagner and Zac Gattorna once again, but Louis Timms finished with another 27 points, eight rebounds and five steals while knocking down 6/9 from downtown.
Tevin Jackson also delivered 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals with 4/6 shooting from beyond the arc while Marshall Nelson produced 23 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks on top of going 5/10 from three-point land.
Matt Giorgi spent 28 minutes as point guard and had 12 points for the Redbacks with Derek Igbenoba adding four points.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 87 defeated EAST PERTH EAGLES 59
The Goldfields Giants made it consecutive wins by beating the East Perth Eagles by 28 points in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night.
The Giants were hosting the Eagles fresh off a win last Saturday night against the South West Slammers and were hunting back-to-back wins for the first time since the start of the season back at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.
East Perth suffered a loss at home on Thursday night to the Warwick Senators so the job was ahead of the Eagles to head to Kalgoorlie and avoid a sixth successive defeat.
The Giants started strongly on their home floor with 21 points to 12 in the first quarter, but the Eagles worked their way back into the contest and only trailed by five at the main break.
Goldfields was able to pull away with a match-winning performance in the third quarter, though, and then the Giants completed the job in the fourth period with 19 more points to 10 to end up winning 87-59.
That’s a second straight win for the Giants who have now won two straight matches at home to improve to a 6-13 record on the season while the Eagles have now lost six straight at 4-17.
Hamish Cummings continues his breakout season since moving to Kalgoorlie to be with the Giants and on Saturday night he delivered 22 points and four assists.
Jerome Reid is having the best season of his career too and produced another 16 points and four rebounds with Cooper Creek contributing 12 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and three assists, and Sam Morrow 14 points, five assists and four boards.
Deng Kuany also ended the night with 10 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Lee Roberts top-scored for East Perth with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists with Logan Thwaites adding 12 points, 12 boards and five blocked shots.
Jarrad Anastasio also had nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks, Mitch Benger nine points, six boards, three assists and two steals, and Junior Tshikele 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
WARWICK SENATORS 95 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 100
The Willetton Tigers locked away a top four finish in the NBL1 West Men’s Division by coming from behind to beat the Warwick Senators at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night.
Both teams were playing their second matches for Round 17 with the Tigers coming off a big win over the South West Slammers at home to keep themselves in third spot while the Senators beat the East Perth Eagles to keep themselves an outside chance of breaking into the top four.
That set the stage for a tantalising match up on Saturday night Warwick Stadium with the home team starting impressively with 32 points to 27 in the opening quarter.
The Senators were then able to extend that advantage to 60-52 by the half-time break and then Warwick still led by eight points at three quarter-time, but the Tigers were coming.
For most of the fourth quarter the Senators were able to maintain a lead by making crucial shots including a triple from 17-year-old point guard Ethan Elliott with 3:30 to make it a four-point lead still.
Connor Mincherton soon hit a three of his own to put Willetton on top before Elliott restored the lead for the Senators with just over two minutes left on the clock.
But the Tigers scored the only six points of the game from that point with buckets to Damien Scott and Tom Gerovich, and free-throws to Roosevelt Williams to win 100-95 and keep themselves with a hold on third position.
Damien Scott put up 20 points, five rebounds and four steals for the Tigers while young star guard Connor Mincherton delivered 20 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Michael Vigor had a big game inside for Willetton with 19 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocked shots with Michael Garbellini adding 14 points, Tom Gerovich 10 points, five boards and four assists, and Hunter Clarke eight points, two rebounds and two steals.
The Senators might have lost and were still without Ash Litterick with his absence felt up against Michael Vigor, but there was a lot to like about their performance at the same time.
Captain Cody Ellis delivered 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals with Caleb Davis contributing 19 points, five assists and four boards, and Ethan Elliott 14 points, two assists and two steals.
Justin King also finished with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals while George Pearl had 10 points, three boards, three assists and two steals, and Alier Riak nine points and seven rebounds.