Round 5 of the NBL1 West Men’s Division wrapped up on Sunday afternoon with a home win for the Cockburn Cougars with Nic Pozoglou starring before a strong all-round showing saw the Willetton Tigers bounce back strongly.
The Cougars made it two wins inside 24 hours in Round 5 with the win at home to the travelling Goldfields Giants on Sunday while the Tigers responded to a loss the previous night to hit the road to keep the Kalamunda Eastern Suns winless early in 2021.
Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division got underway back on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks tasting victory for the first time, beating the East Perth Eagles 79-65 while the Warwick Senators remained unbeaten downing the Joondalup Wolves 100-78.
Saturday night in the NBL1 West Men’s Division then including a buzzer-beating win for the Geraldton Buccaneers at home 85-82 against the Rockingham Flames.
It took a remarkable three-quarter court prayer from championship winning captain and 440-game veteran Mat Wundenberg as he drained just the sixth three-pointer of his career in the most stunning of circumstances.
Also on Saturday evening, the Joondalup Wolves bounced back to beat the Mandurah Magic 110-104 but it took overtime at HBF Arena while the Goldfields Giants began their road double with an 86-73 win against the East Perth Eagles at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
The Perry Lakes Hawks maintained their undefeated start to the season as well with an 86-68 win over the Willetton Tigers at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Lakeside Lightning winning big 121-52 over the South West Slammers at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
The Cockburn Cougars as well beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 115-94 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
That led into the two games on Sunday afternoon with the Cockburn Cougars making it back-to-back wins by defeating the Goldfields Giants at Wally Hagan Stadium.
Nic Pozoglou showed his NBL pedigree with 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Cougars with Seva Chan adding 11 points, Daniel Rogers 11 and Josh Hunt 10. Julian Pesava returned to his old home floor and had a big game for Goldfields with 26 points.
It was then back to Ray Owen Sports Centre for the Kalamunda Eastern Suns but they remained winless in 2021 with the Willetton Tigers coming away with the 103-77 victory.
It was a strong all-round showing from Willetton with Hunter Clark putting up 21 points and Connor Mincherton 20 to go with eight rebounds and six assists. Evergreen 292-game veteran Corey Easley put up 17 points for Kalamunda.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 5 – SUNDAY
KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 77 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 103
The Kalamunda Eastern Suns were hunting their first ever win in the NBL1 West while the Willetton Tigers were out to bounce back from a loss the night before setting the stage for Sunday’s battle.
Both the Eastern Suns and Tigers had plenty the previous night leading into Sunday afternoon’s clash at Ray Owen Sports Centre, with both coming off defeats on their home floor.
Kalamunda went down to the Cockburn Cougars by 21 points while Willetton suffered its first loss of the season under new coach Adam Nener, falling to the Perry Lakes Hawks by 18 points.
So both teams were determined for a bounce back victory on Sunday afternoon out in the hills, but it was the Tigers who turned it on first and got going with a fast start putting up 32 points to 18 in the opening quarter.
Willetton continued to extend their advantage during the second quarter too with another 25 points to 16 to head into the half-time break leading Kalamunda 57-34.
It was a long road back for the Eastern Suns and they showed some fight through the second half on their home floor, but could never really threaten to close the gap and the Tigers cruised to the 103-77 victory.
It was a smooth offensive performance for the game from the Tigers as they shot 50.6 per cent from the field with 40/79 to go with 28 assists opposed to the 14 turnovers. They left some points out there too going just 14/26 from the foul line, but so did the Suns who went 9/19.
Hunter Clarke showed why he has such an exciting future by putting up 21 points and five rebounds on 9/18 shooting for the Tigers while another young gun Connor Mincherton had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists while connecting on 4/9 from three-point land.
Michael Vigor was a dominant force inside for Willetton with 14 points, 15 rebounds and four assists while Damien Scott put up 16 points and four assists, and Dylan Hampson 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Corey Easley is showing no signs of slowing approaching 300 games after leading Kalamunda with 17 points on 5/9 shooting from deep to go with four rebounds and three assists.
Ryan Blanchett also had 12 points and three rebounds, Chris Johnson 12 points, eight boards, four assists, three steals and two blocks, and Ben Johnson 11 points.
COCKBURN COUGARS 88 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 74
The Cockburn Cougars and Goldfields Giants came off wins on Saturday night to set up a tantalising battle at Wally Hagan Stadium on Sunday.
Cockburn was able to record its first win of the season on the road to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Saturday evening coming away with he 115-94 victory while the Giants were playing their first game away from Kalgoorlie in 2021, and delivered an 86-73 road win over the East Perth Eagles.
It was a tight opening to the game as well and it was the Giants who took a narrow two-point lead by the end of the first quarter.
But the Cougars then pulled away on their home floor in the second term by putting up 25 points and holding Goldfields to just the 15, and ultimately that would prove the difference in the game.
Cockburn only outscored the Giants 44 points to 38 in the second half but the damage was done before half-time with the Cougars making it back-to-back wins on the back of the 88-74 victory against Goldfields.
The Cougars ended up collecting 12 extra rebounds than the Giants including 15 offensive boards to nine but for the most part not much separated the two teams on the afternoon.
Nic Pozoglou has joined the Cougars with NBL pedigree and hoping to get another chance, and he showed what he’s capable of on Sunday with 24 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots on 7/10 shooting from the field.
Seva Chan added 11 points and seven assists for Cockburn, Daniel Rogers 11 points and three rebounds, Kye Chamberlain nine points and eight boards, and Gavin Field seven points, eight rebounds and six assists.
It was a homecoming for Julian Pesava playing up against the Cougars as a Giants player for the first time having moved to Kalgoorlie over the summer.
The Cockburn championship player did all he could to try and get his new club over the line too with 26 points and eight rebounds with 4/8 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
Tom Atkinson is another new arrival at the Giants this year and he also had 16 points on Sunday with Deng Kuany adding nine points and four rebounds.