Eagles Preview – Round 7

The East Perth Eagles men hit the road this Saturday night with the chance to signal their intentions for this NBL1 West season up against the defending champion Geraldton Buccaneers.

It's just the Eagles men in action in Round 7 of the NBL1 West season when they head on the road to take on the undefeated Buccaneers at Active West Stadium.

The game takes place on Saturday night with tip-off set for 7pm.

The Eagles come into the contest fresh off a thrilling 102-100 win over the Mandurah Magic last Saturday night on Peter Campbell Basketball Arena at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre to head to Geraldton with some winning form and confidence.

Awaiting East Perth in Geraldton is a Buccaneers team fresh off winning last year's NBL1 West championship and who have so far been undefeated after seven games of the 2024 season.

That sets up a fascinating match up on Saturday night and a chance for the Eagles to make a statement not only by handing the Buccs a first defeat of 2024, but also ending their standout home winning streak.

The Buccaneers haven’t lost at Active West Stadium since a defeat at the hands of the Perry Lakes Hawks back on July 23, 2022.

Since then, Geraldton has won 19 consecutive home matches including two in the playoffs last year on the way to the championship, and then the first three of 2024.

East Perth also has to defy history by winning in Geraldton and defeating the Buccs this Saturday night.

The Buccs have now won 15 straight matches against the Eagles with the last win of any type for East Perth against Geraldton coming way back on June 15, 2016, and that took place at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

Meanwhile, the last win for East Perth in Geraldton was all the way back to the championship year of 2014 when the Eagles scored the late season road win over the Buccs.

The two teams would then go on to meet in the 2014 Grand Final which saw East Perth prevail 99-83 and this year is the 10-year anniversary of that championship triumph for the Eagles.

Remarkably, the Buccs team of 2024 still features Mat Wundenberg and Aaron Ralph from that Grand Final with both having gone on to become championship captains for Geraldton in 2019 and 2023 respectively.

That all sets up a terrific match up and a chance for the Eagles to turn that losing history around and set up the rest of the season in 2024 with them coming into the contest with a 3-4 record and just clinging to a position inside the top eight.

Seb Reath is likely to return from a finger injury for the trip for East Perth with Lee Roberts and Lukas Milner both closing in on joining the Eagles for the rest of 2024 after their respective seasons overseas come to an end.

Then with the back court of Sunday Dech, Taylor Young and Jerami Grace finding their rhythm together now, and Sharif Watson and David Okwera playing strongly up front, and the Eagles have no shortage of weapons to tackle the Buccs with.

The Buccaneers come into the game having won all seven of their games this season on the back of winning six straight to close 2023 on the way to the championship.

They are a team still admirably led by Ralph and Wundenberg while having added import Joshua Keyes while 2019 Grand Final MVP Liam Hunt is still a force with Nik DeSantis on deck in 2024 to run the point.

They will likely still be without Johny Narkle and former league MVP Josh Braun, but it's still a big test for the Eagles but any challenge provides a tremendous opportunity to make a statement.