The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles women and Bankstown Bruins men scored Sunday afternoon victories in the lone match ups to close Round 12 in the NBL1 East.
The Sunday matches in the NBL1 East saw the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles women defeat the Bankstown Bruins 96-67 before the Bruins men defeated the Sea Eagles 68-60.
RECAP NBL1 EAST | ROUND 12 SATURDAY
WOMEN
Bankstown Bruins (67) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (96)
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles completed their perfect double win weekend with a 96-67 road victory on Sunday against the Bankstown Bruins.
On the back of last year's heartbreaking Grand Final defeat, the Sea Eagles opened the 2024 season winning eight straight matches but coming into this weekend they had lost four of the past six matches.
That had taken them from fighting over top spot to slipping to the bottom half of the top six but they started the weekend beating the Centre of Excellence by 14 points before arriving at Bankstown Basketball Stadium on Sunday.
Bankstown came into the match up coming off a 14-point loss on Saturday to the Penrith Panthers so it was going to be a big task to try and record a fifth win of the season at the expense of the Sea Eagles.
Manly Warringah weren’t in the mood to mess around and already had opened up a seven-point lead by the end of the first quarter and then continued to build on that the rest of the afternoon.
The advantage in favour of the Sea Eagles grew to as much as 12 in the second quarter, 26 in the third and then finally 31 in the fourth with the final margin being 29 points.
The win for Manly Warringah improves them to a 12-4 record on the season in fourth position with Alex Delaney providing 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Josie Bulman also contributed 15 points, four rebounds and two assists, Brooke Flowers 14 points, nine boards and three assists, and Zoey Miller 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Bree Delaney contributed 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals as well with Maja Jurlina adding 10 points and two boards, Alana Reddy nine points and three rebounds, and Antonia Henderson six points, seven boards and three assists.
The Bruins have now lost their past three matches with a 4-14 record with Jihyun Park top-scoring with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Abbey Vallance added 11 points, two rebounds and two assists, Sienna Tutani eight points and four boards, and Violet Morrow eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Bruins are next in action on Saturday on the road to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits with the Sea Eagles hosting the Illawarra Hawks.
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 67 (Park 16, Vallance 11, Morrow 8, Tutani 8)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 96 (A Delaney 15, Bulman 15, Flowers 14)
MEN
Bankstown Bruins (68) defeated Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (60)
The Bankstown Bruins shook off a slow start to deliver an impressive second half to keep their playoff aspirations alive with the 68-60 home victory against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
The Bruins came into the Sunday match up on their home floor at Bankstown Basketball Stadium fresh off a tight win against the Penrith Panthers on Saturday as they prepared to host the Sea Eagles.
Manly Warringah came into the Sunday match up on a five-game winning streak as well including beating the Centre of Excellence on Saturday by seven points to set the stage for the contest between one team trying to finish as high up as possible, and one just trying to get into the top six.
The Sea Eagles had the better of the start to be leading by seven points at the end of the first quarter, and then to still be on top 41-35 at the half-time break.
The game then underwent a dramatic change in the second half with the Bruins taking charge including scoring 11 straight points in the third quarter to take a seven-point lead.
Bankstown was able to convert that into an eventual eight-point victory having been in front the entire fourth quarter to keep their playoff hopes alive now with a 10-8 record to be hot on the heels of the 11-7 Inner West Bulls in sixth position.
Naaman Hightower is in his first season in the NBL1 East having played last season in the NBL1 West at the East Perth Eagles, and he produced a strong showing with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the win for the Bruins.
Andre Wolford also had 15 points and five rebounds for Bankstown with Hayden Blankley contributing 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, Thomas Buvac seven points and five assists, Thomas Daus seven points and eight boards, and Jack Lopez seven points and five rebounds.
The Sea Eagles now remain third with the loss with a 12-4 record despite getting another 24 points, six rebounds and four assists from standout dynamic point guard Mason Bragg.
Matthew Eldridge also provided 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Jonas Harper 10 points, five steals, three boards and three assists.
The Bruins are next in action on Saturday on the road to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits with the Sea Eagles hosting the Illawarra Hawks.
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 68 (Hightower 16, Wolford 15, Blankley 12)
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 60 (Bragg 24, Eldridge 16, Harper 10)
