NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Men's Round 15

The Saturday Round 15 NBL1 East Men's winners were the Hills Hornets, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Norths Bears, Illawarra Hawks, Maitland Mustangs and Central Coast Crusaders.

Starting on Saturday afternoon, the Hills Hornets defeated the Bankstown Bruins 93-84 on the road.

Paul Brotherson finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win for the Hornets while Jack Lopez delivered 38 points with seven three-pointers in the loss for Bankstown.

The Central Coast Crusaders finished strongly to end up beating the Newcastle Falcons 72-59.

Callum Jenkins top-scored for Central Coast with 22 points while James Trustum scored 14 points, Oliver Robilliard 13 and Luke Cassidy 11. Myles Cherry delivered 14 points and 13 rebounds for Newcastle.

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles were also able to win at home on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Sutherland Sharks 81-72.

Kyle Painter put up 17 points for Manly-Warringah, Indiana Faithful 14 and Matthew Wacher 13. Dominic Gilbert top-scored for Sutherland with 17 points to go with nine rebounds.

It was another tight affair at North Sydney with the Norths Bears ending up winning 81-76 against the Inner West Bulls.

Patrick Sanders finished with 25 points for Norths with Ben Fakira and Iggy Mitchell scoring 12 points apiece. Chier Maker delivered 28 points and 10 rebounds for Inner West.

The Maitland Mustangs were able to hold off the fast finishing Albury-Wodonga Bandits to win 94-87 on Saturday night at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

James Hunter put up 27 points and 10 rebounds for Maitland with Jack Saunders delivering 29 points for Albury-Wodonga.

The Illawarra Hawks started on fire at home to the Canberra Gunners on Saturday night on the way to an eventual 102-77 victory.

Kiwi Gardner scored 24 points for the Hawks, Tim Coenraad 22, Lucas Walker 20 and Harry Morris 14. Glenn Morison scored 16 points for Canberra as did Dhai Fieg.

Round 15 in the NBL1 East will wrap up on Sunday with the Sutherland Sharks hosting the Inner West Bulls. The Central Coast Crusaders then take on the Norths Bears with both games tipping off at 2pm. 

NBL1 EAST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 15 – SATURDAY 

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 84 lost to HILLS HORNETS 93

The Hills Hornets kept themselves right in the NBL1 East playoff hunt with a hard earned nine-point road win over the Bankstown Bruins on Saturday.

The Bruins were at home to open NBL1 East Round 15 on Saturday at Bankstown Basketball Stadium to take on a Hornets team who needs to keep on winning if they want to take part in playoff action in 2022.

It was the home team who started the better with Bankstown going on a 7-0 run in the first quarter to lead by eight, and to still be on top by three at quarter-time.

The Bruins pushed their advantage back out to double-figures as well in the second quarter and still clung to a 47-42 lead at the half-time interval.

The Hornets had to rise to the challenge coming into the second half and they were able to do just that by scoring 27 points to 13 in the third quarter to open up their own 11-point advantage.

The Hills lead then got out to 14 points during the fourth quarter and they would end up winning 93-84 having overcome that 10-point first half deficit.

The victory improves the Hornets to an 8-11 record on the season in ninth position as the finals race heats up while the Bruins remain down in bottom place at 5-13.

Paul Brotherson finished the match up for the Hornets with 25 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots with 11/13 shooting from the foul line.

Liam Moss added 18 points, nine rebounds and four steals with Ben Kearins contributing 13 points and eight assists, Marvin Fidel 11 points, and Campbell Green eight points.

Jack Lopez delivered a stunning performance for Bankstown to keep them in the contest with 38 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots. He shot 15/22 from the floor and 7/11 from three-point territory.

Dragan Elkaz added 19 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Bruins, Lachlan Anderson 11 points, eight boards and six assists, and Nathan Musters six points, four rebounds and two assists.

 

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 81 defeated SUTHERLAND SHARKS 72

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles shook off a slow start to beat the Sutherland Sharks by nine points at home on Saturday.

The Sea Eagles played host to the Sharks at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre in Round 15 of the NBL1 East Men's competition and it was the visitors who got the better of the start.

After falling down five early on, the Sharks went on a 9-0 run late in the opening quarter to end up leading 25-15 by quarter-time.

After the Sharks extended that lead to 11 early in the second term the Sea Eagles warmed to the task to go on their own 8-0 run and they ended up taking the lead and were up one at half-time on the back of 22 points to 11 in the second stanza.

Manly-Warringah were able to pull away further in the third quarter with a 9-0 run but Sutherland kept in touch and by three quarter-time it remained a tight battle with the Sea Eagles marginally leading 56-52.

The Sea Eagles managed to get the better of the fourth quarter to score the 81-72 win which improves them to an 8-11 record on the season while the Sharks are now 7-9 ahead of playing host to the Inner West Bulls on Sunday.

Kyle Painter finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for Manly-Warringah with Indiana Faithful adding 14 points and five assists, Matthew Wacher 13 points and three rebounds, and Steven White nine points and five assists.

Dominic Gilbert top-scored for Sutherland with 17 points and nine rebounds with Lochlan Hutchison contributing 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Jordan Mitchell added 11 points and six rebounds, Archer Woodhill 11 points and eight boards, and Geoff Gerlach 10 points and seven rebounds.

 

NORTHS BEARS 81 defeated INNER WEST BULLS 76

Ultimately a huge three from Patrick Sanders put the Norths Bears in a winning position before they closed the deal at the foul line against the Inner West Bulls on Saturday.

The Bears played host to the Bulls in the NBL1 East on Saturday night at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre and it was the visitors who took a 19-16 lead after the first quarter.

Norths were able to work their way into the lead after falling down 10 in the second quarter but it was only a one-point advantage by half-time in an entertaining contest.

It was 21 points apiece in the third quarter meaning the Bears were leading just 60-59 by three quarter-time.

It remained a tight contest throughout the fourth quarter until Patrick Sanders hit a huge three to put the Bears on top 74-71. While Chier Maker responded for the Bulls, the Bears closed out the eventual 81-76 win at the charity stripe thanks to Sanders, Michael Yoong and Iggy Mitchell.

The result sees the Bears improve to a 10-7 record on the season ahead of taking on the Central Coast Crusaders on Sunday while the Bulls are now 8-9 before also being in action on Sunday against the Sutherland Sharks.

The Bears shot the ball better on the night going at 47.6 per cent to 38.3 but the Bulls took 14 extra free-throws to stay in the contest.

Patrick Sanders ended the night with 25 points, three rebounds and two assists with Ben Fakira adding 12 points and four boards, Iggy Mitchell 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Michael Golding seven points, seven boards and four assists.

Chier Maker was terrific for Inner West finishing with 28 points and 10 rebounds with Chol Adup contributing 13 points, Alex Higgins 12 points and five rebounds, and Jonas Slapikas nine points, eight boards, three assists and two steals.

 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 defeated CANBERRA GUNNERS 77

The Illawarra Hawks scored a commanding 25-point win at home against the Canberra Gunners on Saturday night in the NBL1 East Round 15 action.

The Hawks were at home to the Gunners at The Snakepit and they started on fire on their home court with 30 points to 19 in the opening quarter.

Another 10-0 scoring streak saw Illawarra stretch their lead to 22 points in the second quarter and they maintained a 55-43 edge going into the half-time break.

The Hawks then blew the game wide open further with another 16-0 scoring run in the third quarter and they ended up outscoring the Gunners 28 points to 14 to lead 83-57 by three quarter-time.

From there Illawarra went on to score the 102-77 victory which sees them improve to a 10-7 record on the season while the Gunners are now 13-5 and still in top spot despite the defeat.

It was a terrific shooting performance from the Hawks who went at 51.3 per cent from the field while they knocked down 16/41 from three-point land. The Gunners went at 44.6 from the floor and nailed 11/32 from downtown.

Kiwi Gardner continued his superb season for Illawarra with another 24 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals with Tim Coenraad stepping up to produce 22 points and eight rebounds.

Lucas Walker also had 20 points and seven rebounds, Harry Morris 14 points and four boards, and Sean Mullan seven points and four rebounds.

Glenn Morison finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for Canberra with Dhai Fieg contributing 16 points and three assists, James Toohey 14 points and three rebounds, and Will Mayfield 10 points, six boards and three assists.

 

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 87 lost to MAITLAND MUSTANGS 94

The Maitland Mustangs withheld the fast finishing Albury-Wodonga Bandits on Saturday night to come away with the seven-point road victory.

Albury-Wodonga played host to Maitland on Saturday night at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre in Round 15 of the NBL1 East, and the home team started well to open up a 25-19 advantage by quarter-time.

The Bandits completed a 16-0 run either side of quarter-time to end up leading by eight but Maitland went on their own streak of seven points and it was a tight contest by half-time with the home team leading 51-46.

It was then all the Mustangs in the third quarter as they put up 25 points to seven to end up leading by as much as 13 points.

That lead got out to 15 points in the fourth quarter as well and in the end the Mustangs held on to beat the Bandits on their home floor 94-87.

The victory improves Maitland to an 11-6 record on the season in second position in the NBL1 East standings while the Bandits are now 8-10 following the loss.

James Hunter finished the evening with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs with Daniel Millburn contributing 20 points and three boards, and Will Cranston-Lown 11 points and five rebounds.

Billy Parsons also had 11 points and four rebounds, and Matthew Gray 10 points and six boards.

Jack Saunders finished with 29 points and three rebounds for Albury-Wodonga with Duom Dawam contributing 16 points and 14 rebounds, Jason Carter 15 points, and Hamish Warden 13 points and 10 boards.

 

CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 72 defeated NEWCASTLE FALCONS 59

The Central Coast Crusaders caused an upset on Saturday in the NBL1 East at home to the Newcastle Falcons.

Central Coast played host to Newcastle in Round 15 action at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium and it was the home team who started strongly to lead 23-15 by the end of the first quarter.

Newcastle turned things back around in the second term by scoring 17 points to 10 on the back of an 11-0 run and by half-time it was the Crusaders leading 33-32.

Things remained tight throughout the third quarter with Central Coast still up by a point at three quarter-time. Then it was the Crusaders who finished on fire scoring 10 straight points late to set up the eventual 72-59 victory.

The upset result sees Central Coast improve to a 6-11 record on the season ahead of hosting the Norths Bears on Sunday while Newcastle slips to 11-6 in third position after the defeat.

Central Coast shot the ball better going 43.3 per cent from the floor opposed to Newcastle's 34.4 with Callum Jenkins delivering 22 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the winners on 11/13 shooting.

James Trustum added 14 points, three rebounds and three steals for the Crusaders, Oliver Robilliard 13 points, seven boards and five assists, and Luke Cassidy 11 points, three steals and two rebounds.

Myles Cherry top-scored for Newcastle with 14 points, 13 rebounds and three assists with Ryan Beisty adding 11 points, nine boards, three assists and three steals, JaShaun Smith 10 points, and Matur Maluach nine points and three assists.