NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Men's Round 7

All five matches in Round 7 of the NBL1 East Men's competition took place on Saturday night with wins for the Inner West Bulls, Hills Hornets, Maitland Mustangs, Albury-Wodonga Bandits, Newcastle Falcons and Canberra Gunners.

The Inner West Bulls continued their strong start to the season by beating the Bankstown Bruins 82-64. Reggie Ridlen top-scored for the Bulls with 18 points while Jack Lopez delivered 22 points for the Bruins.

The Hills Hornets produced an impressive performance to beat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 96-88 on the road on Saturday night. Paul Brotherson produced 22 points for the Hornets and David Hayman 20 while William McFee top-scored for Manly with 21 points.

The Canberra Gunners made it six wins from eight matches this season with the 110-74 victory at home against the Central Coast Crusaders.

William Mayfield produced 28 points, six rebounds and six assists in the win for Canberra with Callum Jenkins scoring 22 points for the Crusaders.

It was a strong start and finish from the Maitland Mustangs at Sutherland Basketball Stadium on Saturday night to beat the Sutherland Sharks 71-64.

James Hunter delivered 16 points and 14 rebounds in the win for the Mustangs with Adrian Cabrera putting up 16 points and nine boards for Sutherland.

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits also scored a 99-90 win at home against the Norths Bears with 26 points from Lochlan Cummings, and 22 points and 11 rebounds from Hamish Warden. Brennan Rymer top-scored for the Bears with 18 points to go with six assists.

The heart stopper of the evening took place at The Snakepit in Wollongong with Jakob Dorricott draining the game winning three-pointer as the Newcastle Falcons defeated the Illawarra Hawks 86-85.

Ryan Beisty top-scored in the win for Newcastle with 29 points along with 15 rebounds while Kiwi Gardner was outstanding for the Hawks with 38 points.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – SATURDAY NIGHT

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 64 lost to INNER WEST BULLS 82

The Inner West Bulls delivered a dominant second half to end up beating the Bankstown Bruins by 18 points on the road on Saturday night.

The Bruins hosted the Bulls at Bankstown Basketball Stadium and it was the visiting Inner West who started well to lead 16-12 by the end of the opening quarter.

However, the Bruins hit back during the second quarter and scorers were locked away at 31-31 going into the half-time break.

The Bulls pulled away in the third quarter by piling on 31 points to 21. They added another 20 points to 12 in the fourth term to end up winning 82-64.

The win improves Inner West to a 6-2 record after seven rounds of the 2022 season while Bankstown is now 1-7.

Reggie Ridlen top-scored for Inner West with 18 points and two steals while hitting 6/9 from beyond the three-point line.

Chier Maker added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls, Isaac Signal 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and Johnny Crnogorac eight points, nine boards, four assists and two blocked shots.

Jack Lopez top-scored for Bankstown with 22 points and six rebounds with Shareef Saipaia contributing 11 points and five boards, and Nathaniel Brown eight points and four rebounds.

 

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 88 lost to HILLS HORNETS 96

The Hills Hornets opened up a sizeable first half lead and were then able to hold on to beat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles by eight points on Saturday night.

The Sea Eagles were at home to the Hornets at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre and it was the visiting Hills team who started impressively with 25 points to 12 in the opening period.

It was another 29 points to 19 from the Hornets in the second quarter which saw them open up a 54-31 advantage by half-time.

That 23-point margin was the biggest gap of the game but the Sea Eagles fought valiantly in the second half including going on a 14-0 scoring run during the third period.

They couldn’t quite get close enough to seriously threaten for the win, though, with the Hornets ending up winning 96-88 to improve to a 3-6 record on the season after seven rounds. The Sea Eagles are now 4-5.

It was a hot shooting performance from the Hornets and as a team they went 56.9 per cent from the floor while knocking down 11/21 from beyond the arc. They also got to the line plenty and went 19/26 from the stripe.

In contrast, the Sea Eagles shot 46.2 per cent from the floor, went 7/21 from three-point range and 9/12 from the foul line.

Paul Brotherson top-scored for the Hornets with 22 points and seven rebounds while David Hayman added 20 points and three assists, Liam Moss 12 points and three rebounds, and Jayden Prakash 10 points.

Illawarra Hawks NBL captain AJ Ogilvy made his first appearance back at his local club and had 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

William McFee put up 21 points and four assists for Manly-Warringah while Kyle Painter contributed 17 points and eight rebounds, Francois Dazemar 12 points, and Daniel Pitcher 11 points and five boards.

 

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 64 lost to MAITLAND MUSTANGS 71

The Maitland Mustangs led the way from start to finish on the road on Saturday night to end up beating the Sutherland Sharks by seven points.

Maitland started the game well with an early 7-0 run to open up a nine-point advantage and by quarter-time they were still on top 23-17.

The Mustangs were still on top 41-37 by half-time but by three quarter-time the game was up for grabs with Maitland only clinging to a three-point advantage.

However, Maitland was soon back up by nine and they ended up winning 71-64 at Sutherland Basketball Stadium.

The victory improves the Mustangs to a 3-5 record on the season while the Sharks are now 4-3.

Daniel Millburn top-scored for Maitland with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists with James Hunter also putting up 16 points to with 14 boards and two blocked shots.

Sharif Watson also had 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Mustangs, and Billy Parsons 10 points.

Adrian Cabrera finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Sharks, Lochlan Hutchison 15 points and eight boards, Archer Woodhill 12 points and five rebounds, and Geoffrey Gerlach 10 points, seven boards and four assists.

 

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 99 defeated NORTHS BEARS 90

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits overcame a slow start to beat Norths Bears by nine points on their home floor on Saturday night.

The Bandits hosted the Bears at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre, but it was Norths who started the better to lead by as much as eight points in the first quarter, and to still be up six at quarter-time.

However, Albury-Wodonga turned the tide in the second quarter with 28 points to 20 to take a 48-46 advantage into half-time.

The Bandits then asserted their control during the third quarter and led by as much as 18 points before going on to score the 99-90 victory.

The win improved Albury-Wodonga to a 5-3 record on the season following seven rounds while the Bears are now 3-4 following the defeat.

Former Perth Wildcats development player and two-time NBL1 West championship winner Lochlan Cummings put in a match-winning display for the Bandits with 26 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists while hitting 5/12 from three-point land.

Hamish Warden added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Albury-Wodonga, Duom Dawam 18 points and four boards, Kieran Hayward 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Jacob Cincurak 11 points, four boards and three assists.

Brennan Rymer finished with 18 points and six assists for the Bears, Patrick Sanders-McClain 16 points and eight rebounds, Ben Fakira 14 points and three boards, Tom Gillis 14 points and five rebounds, and Brandon Freire 10 points and five boards.

 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 85 lost to NEWCASTLE FALCONS 86

The thriller of the night took place at The Snakepit in Wollongong with the Newcastle Falcons snatching the win from the Illawarra Hawks.

Newcastle started strongly on the road with 22 points to 15 in the opening quarter but Illawarra soon took over in the second term with 25 points to 11 to go into the half-time break leading 40-33.

The Falcons weren’t going away, though, and were back within five points by three quarter-time, and despite falling down seven again during the fourth term, they weren’t going to let it slip.

Newcastle ended up taking the lead and going up four, and then holding on for the 86-85 victory away from home.

The win improves the Falcons to a 5-2 record on the season following seven rounds while the Hawks are now 5-4.

Ryan Beisty led the way on the night for the Falcons with 29 points, 15 rebounds and three assists while knocking down 5/12 from the land of plenty.

Matur Maluach added 19 points and nine rebounds for Newcastle, Jaidyn Goodwin 14 points and six assists, Jakob Dorricott 11 points and two assists, and Myles Cherry six points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

Kiwi Gardner had a monster performance for Illawarra despite the loss with 38 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals on 14/23 shooting from the floor and 6/14 from downtown.

Harry Morris added 21 points and seven rebounds, and Fletcher MacDonald 12 points and nine boards.

 

CANBERRA GUNNERS 110 defeated CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 74

The Canberra Gunners continued their impressive start to the NBL1 East season delivering a thumping win at home to the Central Coast Crusaders on Saturday night.

The Gunners were at home at Belconnen Basketball Stadium to the Crusaders and started strongly with 27 points to 20 in the first period.

Canberra then blew the game wide open in the second quarter with 31 points to 15.

It was another 28 points to 15 in the third term and by early in the fourth quarter the Gunners led by a game-high 41 points before cruising to the eventual 110-74 victory.

The result improves Canberra to a 6-2 record on the season after seven round while Central Coast are now 3-5 following the defeat.

It was an impressive shooting display from the Gunners going 54.9 per cent from the floor while hitting 12/31 from three-point range and 20/28 at the foul line. Central Coast shot 37.0 per cent from the field, went 3/16 from beyond the arc and 17/26 at the charity stripe.

William Mayfield was the star on the night for Canberra with 28 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals while Dhal Fieg added 19 points, five boards, four steals and three assists.

Glenn Morison added 13 points and 12 rebounds, James Toohey 11 points with 3/4 from downtown, and Pietro Badalassi 10 points and four rebounds.

Callum Jenkins finished with 22 points and six rebounds for Central Coast, Oliver Robilliard 11 points and two steals, James Trustum 11 points and five rebounds, and Nick Wooller nine points and eight boards.