Eagles Recap | Rd 2 Women/Men

The East Perth Eagles women continued winning start to NBL1 West season with impressive road win over the Mandurah Magic while the Eagles men couldn’t quite get over the line despite a big performance from Lee Roberts.

The Eagles hit the road for the first time in the 2025 NBL1 West season and the women made it two wins from as many games with the 87-79 victory at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Despite there being plenty of encouraging signs, the men fell to a second loss to start the season with the defending champion Magic prevailing 114-109.

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WOMEN

The East Perth Eagles women continued their mighty impressive start to the season hitting the road to beat the Mandurah Magic by eight points on Saturday.

The Eagles opened the season at home the previous Friday night with the 17-point victory against the defending champion Rockingham Flames ahead of heading south on Saturday to take on a Magic team who had also won their first two games.

With Ally Wilson leading the charge last Friday night, Mandurah beat the Willetton Tigers before also winning on the road on Friday to open Round 2 against the Lakeside Lightning even without the presence of Wilson.

Wilson still wasn’t there on Saturday back at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, but there was still plenty for the Eagles to be worried about in the Magic team coming into the contest.

East Perth would end up leading for all but 1:29 of the game when the scores were tied in the first quarter, but at the same time the Eagles could never really put the Magic away on their home court.

East Perth opened up a seven-point lead in the first quarter and were up 18-15 by quarter-time before completing a 10-0 scoring run to lead by as much as 14 points, and still being in control at 43-29 by the half-time.

Mandurah then fired back with 25 points to 12 in the third quarter to cut East Perth's lead by a single point at three quarter-time, but the Eagles hit back with a standout final stanza.

East Perth put up 32 points in the last 10 minutes of the game to push that advantage back out to double-figures to end up winning by eight and start the new season under coach Tim Symons with two impressive wins.

The Eagles ended up winning the rebound count by five, shooting 50 per cent from the field to 38, and forcing the Magic into 15 turnovers on the way to the eight-point win.

Abby Cubillo was a huge coup as a signing for the Eagles and the two-time WNBL championship winner showed why with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds on shooting 7/12 from the field and 9/12 from the foul line.

WNBA championship winner Sasha Goodlett is also providing East Perth a strong presence down low to end up with 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists on 8/15 shooting.

Madison Torresin is settling in nicely too in her second stint at the Eagles with 15 points and 10 rebounds with captain Tessa Morrison putting in a strong all-round showing with nine points, five boards, five assists and three steals.

Awatea Leach also finished with nine points, two rebounds and two assists, Taylor Roberts nine points on 3/3 three-point shooting, Aleka Kabugua two points and two boards, and Akim Lual two points and two rebounds.

MEN

Lee Roberts showed there's plenty left for him to offer the East Perth Eagles in 2025 with 32 points and seven rebounds but it wasn’t quite enough against the defending champions with the Mandurah Magic winning 114-109.

The Eagles were looking to bounce back from a first up loss at home the previous Friday night to the Rockingham Flames but it was always going to be a significant test against the reigning champions at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Magic came into the game fresh off a Friday night win against the Lakeside Lightning as well but the Eagles got the better of the start to go on a 9-0 scoring run and leading by 10 points in the first quarter.

East Perth were still on top 29-26 by quarter-time and then both teams lit it up in the second stanza with 30 points apiece which saw the Eagles head into half-time leading 59-56.

Putting up 59 points in the half showed the offensive firepower this East Perth team possesses, and they did still manage 50 points in the second half but stopping the Magic proved to be the problem.

Despite the Eagles pushing back out to a seven-point lead in the third quarter, the Magic worked on top with 13 straight points of their own and that saw them leading 82-80 by three quarter-time.

Mandurah put up another 32 points to 29 in the fourth quarter to end up beating East Perth by five points.

Despite the final result, there was plenty for the Eagles to be encouraged by including hitting 16/31 from three-point territory and 17/23 at the foul line while also taking good care of the ball with just 11 turnovers.

Lee Roberts put in a huge performance after a quiet opening night for the Eagles ending up with 32 points and seven rebounds on 11/20 shooting from the floor, 3/3 from three-point range and 7/9 at the free-throw line.

Matthew Lang also made another 5/8 from three-point territory for 17 points and two assists with Max Rice contributing 15 points, five boards, three assists and three steals.

Taylor Young added 14 points, 12 assists and six rebounds, Sharif Watson 10 points, seven boards and two assists, Chier Maker nine points and four rebounds, Ioannis Dimakopoulos seven points, four boards and two blocks, and Nic Filpo five points.