NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Men's Round 16

What a night it was in the NBL1 East on Saturday including Kiwi Gardner putting up 47 points, Callum Jenkins 42 points and 18 rebounds and three of the six Men's matches went to overtime.

It was quite the exciting and eventful evening in Round 16 of the NBL1 East with eventual victories for the Bankstown Bruins, Illawarra Hawks, Sutherland Sharks, Inner West Bulls, Canberra Gunners and Norths Bears.

It was a thriller that opened the Saturday action in the NBL1 East with the Illawarra Hawks putting together a massive last quarter to overrun the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to win 104-102.

The Sea Eagles still had a chance at the death but Will McFee made just 1/3 at the foul line but he did deliberately miss the third and was able to grab the offensive rebound, but couldn’t quite get the putback to go.

Kiwi Gardner delivered a remarkable individual performance for Illawarra made up of 47 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists in the win.

Indiana Faithful ended up scoring 20 points for the Sea Eagles, and Daniel Pitcher 18 to go with 13 rebounds.

It was an overtime thriller at Bankstown Basketball Stadium with the visiting Central Coast Crusaders prevailing 98-92 against the Bankstown Bruins.

Callum Jenkins delivered 42 points and 18 rebounds in the win for the Crusaders on the back of shooting 14/22 from the floor and 14/14 at the foul line.

Lachlan Anderson and Jack Lopez both scored 25 points each for Bankstown while combining for eight three-pointers.

The Sutherland Sharks finished strongly on the road to defeat the Maitland Mustangs on the road 91-77.

Lochlan Hutchison put up 28 points and six rebounds on 10/15 shooting for Sutherland while Geoff Gerlach scored 23 points to go with 10 rebounds and four assists.

Matthew Gray and Sharif Watson both scored 14 points for the Mustangs, and James Hunter 13.

It was a big win at home on Saturday for the Inner West Bulls as they defeated the Newcastle Falcons 98-61.

Alex Higgins-Titsha top-scored for the Bulls with 20 points and nine rebounds while Matur Maluach added 19 points and two assists.

It was another overtime cracking contest as well at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre with the visiting Canberra Gunners ending up prevailing 109-103 against the Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

James Toohey scored 26 points for Canberra, Glenn Morison 22 and Will Mayfield 21. Hamish Warden produced his best game of the season since joining Albury-Wodonga with 23 points and 10 rebounds with Duom Dawam adding 22 points and 17 boards.

It was also an overtime nail-biter at Hills Basketball Stadium with the Norths Bears ending up winning 80-77 over the Hills Hornets.

Iggy Mitchell ended up with a big night for the Bears with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on 4/4 shooting from three-point land.

Liam Moss ended up with 28 points, five assists, three steals and two assists for the Hornets.

There are then two matches to come to wrap up Round 16 in the NBL1 East on Sunday with the Inner West Bulls hosting the Sutherland Sharks from 10am and the Norths Bears host the Newcastle Falcons from 2pm.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 16 – SATURDAY 

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 92 lost to CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 98

The run of overtime games on Saturday in Round 16 of the NBL1 East began at Bankstown Basketball Stadium between the Bankstown Bruins and Central Coast Crusaders.

It was a remarkably tight contest right throughout the contest with no more than nine points ever separating the two teams.

That meant that it was Central Coast who ended up leading 19-17 by the end of the first quarter before Bankstown outscored them 19-17 in the second term for scores to be all level by half-time.

The Crusaders did manage a run of 10 consecutive points during the third quarter to turn a four-point deficit into a six-point lead, and they were still narrowly leading by three points at three quarter-time.

Even though Central Coast led by nine early in the fourth term, Bankstown soon closed that gap to set up the frantic finish.

It was Nathaniel Musters who put Bankstown back on top with just over a minute to play before Jack Lopez stretched the home team's lead to four with 45 seconds on the clock.

A pair of Jacob Cracknell free-throws brought Central Coast back within two and then it was a Callum Jenkins jumper that tied scores up at the buzzer to force the game into overtime.

Then in the extra period the Crusaders had the better of the Bruins to outscore them 12 points to six to win 98-92.

Central Coast pulled down 59 rebounds for the game to 42 from Bankstown but it was the home team who managed to take 11 extra shots for the night.

However, the Crusaders shot the ball slightly better with 44.3 per cent from the field opposed to 38.3.

Callum Jenkins delivered an incredible performance for Central Coast made up of 42 points and 18 rebounds while shooting 14/22 from the floor and 14/14 from the free-throw line.

Jacob Cracknell added 15 points and five rebounds, Will Bates 12 points, four boards and three assists, Oliver Robilliard seven points and seven rebounds, Hammish Loader seven points and five boards, and Aaron Redhead seven points.

Lachlan Anderson finished with 25 points and five rebounds for Bankstown with Jack Lopez contributing 25 points and four boards, Dragan Elkaz 15 points and three assists, Nathaniel Brown 13 points, four assists and four steals, and Nathaniel Musters eight points and nine rebounds.

 

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 102 lost to ILLAWARRA HAWKS 104
The Illawarra Hawks produced a stunning last quarter to secure a crucial win on Saturday but the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles still had a chance at the death to force the game into overtime.

The Sea Eagles played host to the Hawks at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon in what turned out to be an outstanding contest.

Illawarra opened up an early eight-point advantage following a 9-0 run but then the Sea Eagles worked their way on top and were leading 25-22 by quarter-time.

The home team then turned that into a nine-point lead during the second quarter but it was the Hawks who hit back going on a 7-0 run and by half-time it was Manly-Warringah leading 43-37.

The Sea Eagles gained further control to start the second half racing out to a 13-point advantage but the Hawks stayed in touch with 10 consecutive points to be just five points behind by three quarter-time.

The Hawks maintained their advantage for a lot of the fourth quarter too including going back up five after a Steven White triple with just under seven minutes to go.

Kiwi Gardner was lighting it up, though, for the Hawks like perhaps only he can in the NBL1 East. He hit a triple a minute later to bring scores level and when Sean Mullan nailed another, Illawarra grabbed the lead with just under five minutes on the clock.

Patrick Lancaster and Mullan then scored to stretch the Manly-Warringah lead, and then with three minutes to play Lancaster put the visitors five points to the good.

It was Manly's turn to fire back with a three-pointer from Will McFee drawing scores back level.

However, the Hawks were feeling it and a three-point play from Ethan-James Laudato and then a layup from Gardner had them leading by five with less than a minute to play.

McFee brought it back to a two-point game again before eventually just as the Sea Eagles were attempting to foul, Mullan got out the back for a layup to keep the Hawks up three with time running out.

Manly-Warringah had one more possession to try and force overtime, and McFee was fouled attempting the three. He missed the first and made the second, which meant he deliberated missed the third.

The plan half worked and he was able to grab the offensive rebound himself and put up a shot while in mid-air, but it fell short and Illawarra held on for the nail-biting 104-102 victory.

It was a simply stunning individual performance from Kiwi Gardner in the win for the Hawks with 47 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists on 17/29 from the floor and 7/14 from three-point line.

Sean Mullan added 19 points and eight rebounds for Illawarra, Ethan-James Laudato 10 points, Lucas Walker 10 points and seven boards, and Harry Morris seven points and eight rebounds.

Indiana Faithful ended the afternoon with 20 points and six assists for Manly-Warringah with Daniel Pitcher contributing 18 points and 13 boards, Steven White 17 points and four assists, and Kyle Painter 11 points, nine boards, six assists, three steals and three blocks.

It was Will McFee who was almost the hero for the Sea Eagles with 21 points and four rebounds while nailing 4/8 from three-point range.

 

INNER WEST BULLS 98 defeated NEWCASTLE FALCONS 61

The Inner West Bulls were in control from the outset against the Newcastle Falcons on Saturday night to end up winning by 37 points.

Inner West took on Newcastle at ELS Hall Park in Round 16 of the NBL1 East and the Bulls quickly worked on top building a 12-point lead during the first term and going on to lead 23-14 by quarter-time.

Inner West was able to extend that lead out to 17 points in the second quarter and then in the third term, the Bulls really pulled clear by going on a 13-0 scoring streak.

That saw the lead get out to 30 points and then it was 40 in the fourth term before the Bulls ended up winning 98-61.

With the win Inner West improves to a 9-10 record on the season in seventh position while the Falcons slide to 11-7 in fifth.

Inner West knocked down 15/32 three-pointers at 46.9 per cent opposed to 4/28 at 14.3 per cent for Newcastle on the night.

Alex Higgins-Titsha top-scored for Inner West with 20 points and nine rebounds while Jonas Slapikas contributed 15 points and 12 boards, Chol Adup 12 points, Jasper Rentoy 12 points and five assists, and Chier Maker 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Matur Maluach finished with 19 points for Newcastle with Myles Cherry contributing 15 points and five rebounds, and Ryan Beisty 10 points, nine boards and five assists.

 

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 77 lost to SUTHERLAND SHARKS 91

The Sutherland Sharks finished strongly to score an important 14-point road victory against the Maitland Mustangs.

The two teams locked horns in Round 16 of the NBL1 East at Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday night with little separating them for three quarters.

Both teams had their turn holding a six-point lead in the first quarter but by the end of the term it was just a 23-22 advantage for Sutherland.

The Sharks then put together a 7-0 run in the second quarter to lead by those seven points, and that was the margin at the half-time break with the visitors on top 49-42.

Maitland worked back into the contest in the third quarter to cut the deficit to five by three quarter-time, but Sutherland then pulled away in the final term with 25 points to 16 to end up winning 91-77.

Following the result, the Sharks improve to a 9-9 record on the season to sit in sixth position while the Mustangs are 11-7 in fourth.

It was a stunning shooting night from Sutherland as they went 53.7 per cent as a team from the floor while getting to the foul line 14 more times than Maitland.

Lochlan Hutchison ended up top-scoring for the Sharks with 28 points and six rebounds on 10/15 shooting from field.

Geoff Gerlach added 23 points and 10 rebounds, Archer Woodhill 14 points and six boards, Adrian Cabrera 12 points and four boards, and Jordan Mitchell 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Sharif Watson ended up with 14 points and three rebounds for the Mustangs with Matthew Gray contributing 14 points and six rebounds, James Hunter 13 points and six boards, and Will Cranston-Lown 10 points.

 

HILLS HORNETS 77 lost to NORTHS BEARS 80

Yet another overtime contest on Saturday took place at Hills Basketball Stadium between the Hills Hornets and Norths Bears.

Both teams managed to go on their own runs in the first quarter but by quarter-time it was only three points that separated them in favour of the Bears.

Norths were able to turn that into an eight-point lead during the early parts of the second period but the Hornets steadied and limited their deficit to six by the half-time break.

The Hornets managed to score seven consecutive points during the third stanza to grab the lead but only briefly and the Bears responded and again led by as much as five during the fourth term.

In the end, it was a Liam Moss three-point bomb out of a timeout for the Hornets that tied scores up and sent the game into overtime.

However, in the extra period it was all the Bears as they outscored the Hornets eight points to five to win 80-77.

Not too much separated the two teams with the Bears shooting 41.2 per cent from the field to 42.3 per cent from the Hornets while Norths hit 10/26 from downtown and Hills 9/31. However, the Bears took 23 foul shots to 12 while having 13 offensive rebounds to seven.

Iggy Mitchell finished up with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Bears on the back of dropping 4/4 from three-point range.

Patrick Sanders added 19 points and three rebounds, Angus Ole nine points and six boards, Michael Golding seven points and eight rebounds, and Ben Fakira seven points and five boards.

Liam Moss top-scored for the Hornets with 28 points and five rebounds while connecting on 5/11 from beyond the arc.

Paul Brotherson added 14 points and six rebounds, Ben Kearins 11 points, nine boards and six assists, and Lachlan Charlton 11 points and three rebounds.

 

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 103 lost to CANBERRA GUNNERS 109

The Canberra Gunners moved clear on top of the NBL1 East standings on the back of a thrilling overtime road win in an exciting high-scoring affair against the Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

The Bandits hosted the Gunners at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and both teams had their turn of leading in the first quarter, but by quarter-time it was just a one-point edge for Canberra.

The Gunners were then able to work their way on top in the second quarter with 23 points to 14 to hold a 50-40 advantage going into half-time.

However, Albury-Wodonga hit back strongly on their home court in the third period by piling on 36 points to 23 including a run 14 straight points to turn that deficit into a three-point lead.

The Bandits went on to lead by as much as 10 points and they were still up six with four minutes to play.

James Toohey hit a three soon after to keep Canberra close before ultimately it was Dhai Fieg and Glenn Morison making their free-throws that tied scores up and sent the contest into overtime.

Then in overtime it was all the Gunners as they outscored the Bandits 14 points to eight to end up winning 109-103.

As a result of the overtime win, Canberra moved two games clear on top of the NBL1 East standings at 14-5 while Albury-Wodonga is now 8-11 in eighth position.

James Toohey ended up top-scoring for the Gunners with 26 points and six rebounds while connecting on 6/10 from three-point territory.

Glenn Morison added 22 points and 11 rebounds, Will Mayfield 21 points, and Akech Aliir 16 points and 10 boards.

Hamish Warden has made the move across the country this season along with Lochlan Cummings to join Albury-Wodonga after playing 57 games across three clubs in the NBL1 West, and he had his best game of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds on shooting 7/10 from downtown.

Duom Dawam added 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Bandits, Cummings 17 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals, Jack Saunders 14 points and six rebounds, and Kieran Hayward 12 points.