NBL1 East Recap | Saturday First Nations Round

Lauren Nicholson made a spectacular NBL1 East return for Sutherland Sharks despite Mikayla Pivec's triple-double with huge wins for Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and Newcastle Falcons while Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders men made history and Will Cranston-Lown fired for Maitland Mustangs.

The Saturday women's results as part of First Nations Round saw the Bankstown Bruins defeat the Central Coast Crusaders 83-68, the Newcastle Falcons beat the Penrith Panthers 74-44, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles down the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 136-45, the Sutherland Sharks win 100-94 against the Albury-Wodonga Bandits, and the Canberra Nationals beat the Hills Hornets 91-40.

The men's results then saw the Canberra Gunners defeat the Hornets 88-65, the Crusaders beat the Bruins 91-88, the Falcons down the Panthers 96-69, the Spiders win 81-79 against the Sea Eagles, the Bandits beat the Sharks 119-117, and the Mustangs defeat the Hawks 105-87.

NBL1 EAST RECAP | FRIDAY FIRST NATIONS ROUND

WOMEN

Bourne fires Nationals back to playoff contention

The Canberra National kept their playoff hopes alive beating the Hills Hornets 91-40 on Saturday evening with Issie Bourne gearing up for her WNBL season with a brilliant performance.

Coming into the round and the Nationals are in ninth position trying to chase down a spot in the top eight over the last three weeks with those prospects helped with the 28 points to 10 in the opening quarter against the Hornets on Saturday at Belconnen Basketball Stadium.

It was another 20 points to 10 in the second quarter from the Nationals as that lead grew to 48-20 by half-time.

It was more of the same in the second half and quite remarkably the Hornets scored 10 points in each of the four quarters. That saw Canberra outscoring them 43 points to 20 in the second half again on the way to the 51-point victory.

It strengthens the top eight hopes of the Nationals who improve to a 9-10 record after two straight losses with the Hornets now 3-16 having lost their past three.

Issie Bourne was outstanding for Canberra ahead of joining the Adelaide Lightning for the upcoming WNBL season. She put up 24 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Abby Solway added 12 points with 4/5 three-point shooting for the Nationals while Lizzy Tonks delivered 12 points, 12 boards, eight assists and two steals, and Bianca Dufelmeier 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Rhiannon Yetsenga delivered 11 points and five rebounds for the Hornets, Kelsey Curtin 11 points and two boards, Taylah Cottees eight points and four rebounds, and Britnee Sewell eight points.

Bruins score second win inside 24 hours

The Bankstown Bruins made it a double win weekend beating the Central Coast Crusaders 83-68 on Saturday afternoon on the back of beating the Sydney Comets 24 hours earlier.

Bankstown remain an outside shot of still sneaking into the top eight should they win their remaining games and that started with them beating the Comets 77-72 on Friday.

They then were back home against the Crusaders on Saturday afternoon at Bankstown Basketball Stadium with Central Coast also fresh off a win against the Hills Hornets.

Central Coast did start well away from home to lead 20-16 by quarter-time but Bankstown took charge in the second period to outscore the Crusaders 28 points to 12.

That saw the Bruins leading 46-32 by half-time before going on with the job with another 16 points to nine in the third stanza. Bankstown would lead by as much as 26 as well in the fourth before scoring the 15-point victory.

Bankstown had plenty of strong contributors in the win with Violet Morrow backing up her big showing on Saturday with another 16 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Shalome Dunlop added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks with Britney Wright contributing 14 points, seven boards and two assists, and Azaleeah Oloapu 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals.

It was a shorthanded Central Coast team with coach Mikko von Lueders only having seven players suiting up. They fought hard with Maddison Penn putting up 17 points and six steals.

Rachel Maenpaa finished with 15 points and four rebounds, Jonalyn Wittwer 13 points, four boards, three assists and two steals, and Mikaela Miller 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Shalome Dunlop with the 4??-point play ?

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Falcons consolidate second with dominant first half

The Newcastle Falcons maintained second position in the NBL1 East with a blistering start to hold the Penrith Panthers to eight first half points on the way to the 74-44 victory.

Newcastle arrived at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre on the back of a six-game winning streak and needed to keep winning to stay in second spot, and the Falcons didn’t take long to take charge.

Newcastle raced out to a 15-2 lead and ended up leading the Panthers 20-4 by quarter-time. It was another dominant showing from the Falcons with 22 points again to four in the second stanza.

That saw Newcastle in complete control leading 42-8 at the half-time break. It was a better second half from the Panthers and they actually outscored the Falcons 36 points to 32.

However, Newcastle still cruised to the 30-point win to improve to a 17-2 record to stay in second place having won seven in-a-row. Penrith slips to 4-14 having lost three straight.

Mykea Gray finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals for Newcastle with Jessica Relf adding 12 points, seven boards, three steals and two assists, Nicole Munger 11 points, seven rebounds and six steals, and Abigail Curtin 11 points, seven boards and three assists.

Meg Jefferson fought hard for Penrith to end up with 13 points and nine rebounds with Chloe Williams providing 10 points and six boards, and Chloe Bloom nine points and eight rebounds.

 

All nine Sea Eagles players shine in massive win

It had the danger of getting ugly when it was a top against bottom clash at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon, and it panned out with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 136-45.

While the Sea Eagles are in first place, they do need to keep winning to hold out the Newcastle Falcons to maintain that spot and they sure did that in emphatic fashion against the Spiders.

Manly Warringah took charge from the outset and piled on 40 points in the first quarter to already lead by 25 by quarter-time.

The Sea Eagles lead grew to 38 points by half-time as they put up another 26 points to 13.

Manly Warringah's defence went up even another level in the second half as they held Hornsby to 17 points and scored another 70 themselves on the way to the 91-point hammering.

The win keeps the Sea Eagles in first place at 18-2 having won five straight while the Spiders remain in bottom spot at 1-19 having lost their past six by an average of 61.2 points.

Remarkably eight of the nine players to hit the floor for Manly Warringah scored in double-figures. The only who didn’t was Antonia Henderson and she was terrific with eight points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Everyone else played at least 17 minutes and scored double-figures. Kim Hodge had 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Josie Bulman 22 points, 10 boards, three assists and two steals, and Chloe Dix 18 points and six rebounds.

Ella Gale also had 16 points and six boards, Felicity Henderson 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, Bree Delaney 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds, Zoey Miller 13 points, eight assists, five boards and four steals, and Sari Mowbray 18 points and six boards.

It was a rough afternoon for Hornsby with Mizuki Wakamatsu finishing with 19 points and five assists, and Tylah Mundine 12 points and three rebounds.

Nicholson brilliant to lift Sharks despite Pivec's triple-double

The Sutherland Sharks kept their NBL1 East top four hopes alive by winning their Grand Final rematch with the Albury-Wodonga Bandits 100-94 on the back of a spectacular 39-point return from Lauren Nicholson.

While the championship defence of the Bandits hasn’t quite gone to plan and that's no surprise when you take Lauren Jackson and Unique Thompson out of the team, they are still in a top eight position while the Sharks are trying to break into the top four.

The Bandits were back home at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and the Sharks must win their remaining three matches to be any hope of a top four finish on the back losing that Grand Final last year.

Albury-Wodonga started well trying to inflict a cruel blow on Sutherland with the home team leading by as much as eight points in the opening period.

The Sharks did work their way on top in the second quarter to lead by eight points themselves, and to still be on top 51-44 by the main break.

Sutherland remained on top to lead by as much as 13 points in the fourth quarter, but the Bandits wouldn’t go away. They scored 11 straight points to keep things interesting down the stretch but the Sharks had too much at stake and held on for the six-point win to stay alive in the top four race.

Lauren Nicholson returned to the Sharks line-up fresh off playing with the Opals at the FIBA Asia Cup. She was phenomenal and delivered 39 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals on 14/21 shooting from the floor and 10/11 at the foul line.

Aliza Fabbro added 26 points with 6/9 three-point shooting for Sutherland with Maddy Norris contributing 13 points, four boards and four assists, and Olivia White eight points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Malury Bates did all she could to try and lift Albury-Wodonga to the win with 28 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists on 14/16 shooting from the floor.

Ashlee Hannan added 20 points, five rebounds and two blocks, and Mikayla Pivec continued her tremendous form with another triple-double made up of 15 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.

Mustangs dominate Illawarra ahead of playoffs

The Maitland Mustangs put in a commanding performance to beat the Illawarra Hawks 69-44 as they attempt to finish as high up in the bottom half of the top eight as they can ahead of the playoffs.

The Mustangs were back home at Maitland Federation Centre after their four-game winning run ended last week at the expense of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, and started on fire against the Hawks.

Having locked in a playoff position, the Mustangs are still trying to at least lock in sixth position and by quarter-time they were already leading the Hawks by 22 points having held their opponents to just five points.

They held them to seven in the second quarter as well with Maitland heading into the half-time interval in control at 41-12.

The margin remained around that mark throughout the second half with the Mustangs ending up winning by 25 to improve to a 12-7 record to remain solid in sixth position. Illawarra is now 5-14 unable to make it three straight wins.

Madison Washington delivered 16 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists for Maitland with Sydney Hunter contributing 12 points and 13 boards, and Rachel Williams 10 points, four assists, two rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Emilia Garcia Leon battled hard for Illawarra with 14 points, 11 rebounds and two steals with Lauren Gatwood producing 10 points, six boards and four assists, and Rebecca Abel five points and three assists.

MEN

Gunners keep winning to close in on top four

It was a battle of two playoff bound teams at Belconnen Basketball Stadium on Saturday afternoon with the Canberra Gunners beating the Hills Hornets 88-65.

Both teams are gearing up for their playoff runs and the Gunners remain a shot to even still break into the top four over the final three rounds of the regular season.

Both teams came into the game on three-game winning streaks as well but it was Canberra who started the better with 23 points to 14 in the first quarter.

The Gunners would never trail the rest of the way building a 14-point lead in the second stanza that grew to as much as 26 in the last term before they went on to score the 23-point victory.

The win improves Canberra to a 13-6 record on the season to stay a top four chance while the Hornets slip to 11-7.

James Toohey top-scored for Canberra with 18 points, four assists, two rebounds and two blocks with Dhal Fieg adding 15 points, six boards, six assists and two steals, and Glenn Morison 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Lachlan Smith also ended up with 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks, Cameron Pender nine points, nine boards, five assists and three steals, and Shaun Mills nine points.

Campbell Green led the charge for the Hornets with 15 points, three rebounds and two assists on 7/11 shooting with Ben Kearins adding 12 points and eight assists, and Lachlan Charlton 11 points and four rebounds.

 

Crusaders snap losing run with win over Bruins

The Central Coast Crusaders produced a huge fourth quarter and then held on in a thrilling finish to snap a 13-game losing streak and beat the Bankstown Bruins 91-88.

The Bruins and Crusaders might have had a combined 7-29 record this season coming into Saturday's match up at Bankstown Basketball Stadium, but it didn’t stop them playing out quite the entertaining affair.

Bankstown was looking for a fifth win of the season and started well to open up an eight-point edge in the first quarter but Central Coast worked on top in the second period to still lead 45-44 by half-time.

The rollercoaster ride continued with Bankstown scoring 13 straight points in the third quarter to open up an 11-point lead. It was then the Crusaders' turn to take back control and lead by as much as seven in the fourth term.

It still ended up a nail-biting finish and when it came down to it, the biggest play of the night could well have been an offensive rebound from Luke Cassidy for Central Coast when they were leading by three and trying to take as much time off the clock as they could.

He got the ball back to Aaron Lawton who took almost the complete extra 14 seconds before throwing up a three-point prayer that dropped to extend the Crusaders lead to six.

The drama wasn’t done with Miguel Campos making a three in the dying seconds to cut that deficit in half and give Bankstown a sniff especially when the Bruins got the ball back to have one last chance.

With two seconds left, Dragan Elkaz was loading up for his attempt at the game tying three, instead Cassidy swatted it from his hands and the Crusaders won by three to win for the first time since April 2.

Aaron Lawton finished with 25 points, five assists, three rebounds and two assists with Luke Cassidy adding 19 points, eight boards and three assists, Tye McGann 13 points and eight rebounds, and Alex Bailey 11 points, three boards, three steals and two assists.

Hayden Blankley produced 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks for Bankstown while Dragan Elkaz put up 22 points, 10 boards and two assists, and Thomas Daus 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Miguel Campos also had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Kobe Shannon 10 points, five boards, four assists and three steals.

Luke Cassidy with the GAME-SAVING block ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) July 8, 2023

Beisty, Cherry ensure Falcons keep soaring

The Newcastle Falcons continued to build momentum for their playoff campaign in the NBL1 East with a 96-69 road victory against the Penrith Panthers.

The Panthers were back at home at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre attempting to snap a seven-game losing streak but the Falcons had too much on the line as they looked to try and stay a chance to even break into the top four.

Having already been guaranteed a playoff spot, Newcastle could still finish in the top four if they keep winning and on the back of that, the Falcons outscored the Panthers 29 points to 18 in the opening period.

The Falcons continued to extend their advantage the rest of the evening to lead by 22 points in the second quarter, 26 in the third and 29 in the last on the way to the eventual 27-point victory.

The win improves Newcastle to a 12-7 record on the season with three matches to go including Sunday against the Illawarra Hawks. Penrith has now lost eight in-a-row at 3-15.

Ryan Beisty continued his terrific form for the Falcons with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists with Myles Cherry contributing 21 points, 10 boards, four assists and two blocks, Tom Akamarmoi 17 points with 3/4 three-point shooting, and Anthony Gaines 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Jaedyn Fetui-Fa'amoe delivered 15 points and six rebounds for Penrith with Caleb Fetui-Fa'amoe adding 10 points and five boards, Tomas Ramos 12 points, five rebounds and two steals, and Pranaya Sakya nine points and two assists.

Hornsby hold on to make history with first win

The Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders have done it. After 19 consecutive losses and several cases of heartbreak, they are on the board in the NBL1 East beating the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 81-79 on Saturday.

Hornsby might have lost all 19 matches this season coming into Saturday night's clash against the Sea Eagles, but it hadn’t been without some near misses.

While the Spiders had suffered some thumpings by 50, 43, 32, 31 and 25 points throughout the season, there'd been some heartbreaking losses where they did everything but win games against Canberra, Bankstown, Albury-Wodonga and Maitland too.

There was also a close call last time against the Sea Eagles as well so no doubt Hornsby would have seen it as a real chance to open their account in the competition.

Manly Warringah had won just four games themselves this season and the Spiders came out a team on a mission opening up a six-point lead by quarter-time.

That lead grew to 18 in the second quarter and Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai went into the half-time break on top 48-30.

The lead for the Spiders was as big as 20 in the third stanza and then still 13 in the fourth, but that first victory in the NBL1 East was never going to come easily.

Manly Warringah threw everything at a comeback and put up 30 points in the fourth quarter and when Mitch Evans hit a three late to make it a two-point game, the nerves grew for the Spiders with it slipping from their fingers.

Coming out of a timeout, all they needed to do was run out the clock and get the ball in play or even score to put it out of reach of Manly Warringah. 

Instead, Evans was able to collect the lobbed inbounds pass. Luckily for Hornsby, all he had time to do was launch a prayer from his defensive keyway and it was the Spiders who held on for the historic win.

Ben White delivered 25 points, four rebounds and two assists in the win for Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai on 10/16 shooting from the field.

Peitok Machar added 18 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks, Kwabena Brefo 11 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals, and Jorgos Papadopoulos 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.

Matthew Eldridge produced a huge performance for Manly Warringah made up of 35 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks with shooting 14/23 overall and 4/8 from downtown, and 3/3 at the foul line.

Aku Makki also had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Mitch Evans 11 points, five boards, four assists and three steals.

Bandits beat Sharks in remarkable shootout

With one team trying to stay in the top four and the other attempting to break into the top eight, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits and Sutherland Sharks put on a remarkable show at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

There was plenty on the line for both teams but in the end the performance they delivered was just spectacular. 

The Bandits and Sharks combined to score 236 in the 40 minutes with Albury-Wodonga shooting at 55.7 per cent from the field and land 14/33 from downtown while Sutherland went at 59.0 per cent overall despite 2/10 from behind the arc.

It was quite the spectacle with the Sharks opening up a 10-point lead early but that had been cut back to five by quarter-time. The Bandits then worked on top to lead by nine in the third quarter, by 12 in the fourth and then hold on for the two-point triumph in the finish.

The 119-117 victory is a significant result for Albury-Wodonga as well to improve to a 10-10 record to remain a chance to reach the playoffs. The loss leaves Sutherland vulnerable in the top four too at 13-7.

There were huge performance on either side with Lochlan Cummings producing 38 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Bandits on shooting 12/21 from the field, 4/9 from behind the arc and 10/10 at the foul line.

Michael Parks also had 24 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, Dylan Wilkie 19 points, four boards and two steals, Jamir Coleman 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks, and Eric Miraflores 14 points with 3/6 three-point shooting.

Jordan Mitchell provided 30 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals for Sutherland on 12/16 shooting. Lochlan Hutchison also had 26 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals, and Geoff Gerlach 18 points and three boards.

Marquel Beasley contributed 15 points, six rebounds and two steals as well with Adrian Cabrera adding 15 points and three boards.

Lauren Nicholson went off ?

3??7?? points, 9?? rebounds and 5?? assists in the #NBL1East Grand Final rematch ??

Watch the #NBL1East First Nations Round via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or NBL1 App ?&? pic.twitter.com/JyCMtzmXm3

— NBL1 (@NBL1) July 8, 2023

Cranston-Lown brilliant as Mustangs keep winning

The Maitland Mustangs made it nine straight wins as they continue to close in on a top four finish after beating the Illawarra Hawks 105-87 on Saturday night.

The Mustangs were back at Maitland Federation Centre having secured their playoff spot already with the eight straight wins as they hosted a Hawks team needing to win as they attempt to break into the top eight.

It was a seesaw contest in the opening half with both teams having their turns on top with Maitland managing to cling to a one-point lead at quarter-time and by two points at the main break.

The Mustangs then took complete control throughout the second half to lead by as much as 15 points in the third quarter before that got out to 21 in the fourth, and they would end up winning by 18.

It's a ninth consecutive win for the Mustangs to improve them to 13-6 on the season to remain a chance to break into the top four with two rounds remaining while the Hawks fall further from the top eight at 9-10.

Will Cranston-Lown was brilliant in the win for Maitland with 38 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals on the back of shooting 16/22 from the floor, 2/5 from beyond the arc and 4/6 at the charity stripe.

Matthew Gray also provided 19 points, nine rebounds and two assists for the Mustangs, Kevin Warren 15 points and five rebounds, and James Hunter 10 points, four boards, two steals and two blocks.

Noah Pagotto delivered 31 points and 10 rebounds for Illawarra, Davo Hickey 20 points, 12 boards, eight assists and two blocks, and Lucas Walker 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.