NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Men's Round 9

It was a full fixture of NBL1 East Men's action on Saturday with Round 9 victories for the Newcastle Falcons, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Canberra Gunners, Norths Bears, Albury-Wodonga Bandits and Illawarra Hawks.

The Saturday NBL1 East action got underway at the Northern Beaches with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles defeating the Maitland Mustangs 105-92.

Indiana Faithful continued his standout season for the Sea Eagles with another 30 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals while James Hunter had 22 points for the Mustangs.

The Newcastle Falcons hit the round and were impressive in defeating the Bankstown Bruins 82-65 to maintain their hold on top spot in the NBL1 East Men's competition.

Ryan Beisty top-scored for Newcastle with 19 points to go with 20 rebounds. Shareef Saipaia played just 21 minutes and had 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Bankstown.

The Canberra Gunners were another road team to prove victorious on Saturday night, beating the Inner West Bulls 97-71.

Akech Aliir put up 23 points and seven rebounds in the win for Canberra with Will Mayfield adding 17 points and five steals. Chier Maker top-scored for Inner West with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Norths Bears were too good at home for the Hills Hornets winning 73-55 with Patrick Sanders finishing with 21 points and five-three-pointers for the Bears. Paul Brotherson top-scored for the Hornets with 18 points and six rebounds.

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits were strong performers at home as well on Saturday night beating the Sutherland Sharks 95-77.

Lochlan Cummings was superb for the Border Bandits with 35 points and eight rebounds with five three-pointers while Lochlan Hutchison scored 23 points and seven boards for the Sharks.

The Illawarra Hawks delivered a massive final quarter to come from behind and defeat the Central Coast Crusaders 102-94 on Saturday night.

Kiwi Gardner maintained his brilliant form for the Hawks with 36 points, seven assists, seven steals and five rebounds with Harry Morris adding 26 points. James Trustum and Jacob Cracknell combined for 55 for the Crusaders.

The NBL1 East competition will enjoy a general bye over the Queen's Birthday long weekend before Round 10 sees all matches take place on Saturday June 18.

That will see the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles host the Central Coast Crusaders, the Canberra Gunners play the Norths Bears, the Maitland Mustangs take on the Newcastle Falcons, the Hills Hornets are at home to the Sutherland Sharks, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits host the Bankstown Bruins and the Inner West Bulls face the Illawarra Hawks.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 9 – SATURDAY NIGHT

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 65 lost to NEWCASTLE FALCONS 82

The Newcastle Falcons continued their impressive form so far this season NBL1 East season beating the Bankstown Bruins on the road by 17 points on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams locked horns at Bankstown Basketball Stadium with Newcastle starting well to lead 21-15 by quarter-time.

The lead for the Falcons did grow to as much 13 points during the second quarter as well but the Bruins wouldn’t go away and ended up being only three points behind by half-time.

However, Newcastle pulled away again during the third quarter including going on a 9-0 run to lead again by as much as 17 points outscoring Bankstown 30 points to 18 to lead 61-46 by three quarter-time.

Newcastle then closed the deal in the final quarter to end up winning 82-65 to see the Falcons improve to an 8-2 record on the season while the Bruins slip to 1-9 as a result of the defeat.

The Falcons ended up collecting 16 more rebounds including 10 at the offensive end than Bankstown. 

Ryan Beisty finished with 19 points, 20 rebounds and three assists for Newcastle in the win with Matur Maluach adding 19 points and five boards, Myles Cherry 12 points and 10 rebounds, and JaShaun Smith 11 points including a couple of spectacular throwdowns.

Shareef Saipaia top-scored for Bankstown with 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds with Nicko Timonera adding 14 points, and Jack Lopez 11 points, six rebounds and three steals.

 

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 105 defeated MAITLAND MUSTANGS 92

It took until the final quarter for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to fully shake off the Maitland Mustangs at home on Saturday afternoon.

The Sea Eagles were back home on Saturday to host the Mustangs at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre and the home team went on a 7-0 run to end up leading 20-16 by end of the opening period. 

Manly-Warringah put on another 30 points to 25 in the second term to go into the half-time interval leading 50-41 but Maitland wasn’t going away.

The Mustangs scored six consecutive points to end closing the gap and trailing by just five points at three quarter-time, but the Sea Eagles were able to do enough down the stretch to come away with the 105-92 victory.

The win improves Manly-Warringah to a 5-7 record on the season following nine rounds while with the loss the Mustangs are now 5-6.

Indiana Faithful continued his outstanding season for the Sea Eagles with another match-winning performance consisting of 30 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals on 9/15 shooting from the floor and 11/12 from the charity stripe.

Abe Bulgin added 18 points, three rebounds and three steals for Manly-Warringah, Steven White 16 points and four assists, and Kyle Painter 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Francois Dazemar did a power of work downlow as well for the winners even though it didn’t necessarily shine out in his 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.

James Hunter finished with 22 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs, Will Cranston-Lown 19 points, five boards, five steals and three assists, Sharif Watson 12 points and five rebounds, Jack Edwards nine points and three boards, and Scott McGann nine points.

 

INNER WEST BULLS 71 lost to CANBERRA GUNNERS 97

The Canberra Gunners maintained their hold on top spot in the NBL1 East Men's competition with a 26-point win on the road to the Inner West Bulls on Saturday.

The Bulls hosted the Gunners at ELS Hall Park but it was Canberra away from home who started impressively at one stage scoring nine consecutive points to open up a 25-13 advantage by the end of one.

Another 9-0 run from Canberra in the second quarter saw the lead grow to 19 points during the second quarter and the Gunners went on to lead 45-28 at half-time.

It was more of the same in the third quarter with the Gunners scoring 12 more points in-a-row and that saw the lead grow to 30 points, and as much as 32 in the final term before Canberra ended up beating Inner West 97-71.

The victory keeps the Gunners on top of the NBL1 East standings with an 8-2 record while the Bulls slip to 6-4 as a result of the defeat on their home floor.

Akech Aliir produced an impressive showing for Canberra to finish with 23 points and seven rebounds with Will Mayfield contributing 17 points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds, Dhai Fieg 12 points, eight boards, eight assists and six steals.

Chier Maker finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls while Jasper Rentoy produced 12 points and six assists, Jonas Slapikas 11 points, Alex Higgins-Titsha 10 points and four rebounds, and Andrew Urigwe nine points and three boards.

 

NORTHS BEARS 73 defeated HILLS HORNETS 55

The Norths Bears proved too strong at home for the Hills Hornets on Saturday night, ending up winning 73-55.

The Bears played host to the Hornets at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre in Round 9 of the NBL1 East season and the home team would go on to lead 21-19 by the end of the first quarter.

Norths put their foot down further in the second quarter going on a run of scoring 12 straight points to help them open up a 40-28 advantage by half-time.

It was another 21 points to 13 in the third term from the Bears including them scoring 13 straight points to open up a lead by as much as 20 points.

That grew to 22 in the fourth quarter and the Bears would end up winning 73-55 to finish Round 9 with a 4-6 record on the season while the Hornets are now 5-7 as a result of the defeat.

The Bears ended up pulling down 55 rebounds to 38 including 15 offensive boards to five on the way to the 18-point victory.

Patrick Sanders continued his impressive form for the Bears and delivered another 21 points, three rebounds and three steals while knocking down 5/13 from the land of plenty.

Brennan Rymer also finished with 14 points and five rebounds, Ben Fakira eight points and nine boards, Ignatius Mitchell eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists, and Brandon Freire eight points.

Paul Brotherson finished with 18 points and six rebounds for the Hornets while Liam Moss contributed 10 points and five boards, Jack Giddens nine points and three rebounds, and Ben Kearins six points and three assists.

 

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 95 defeated SUTHERLAND SHARKS 77

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits produced an impressive performance to beat the Sutherland Sharks by 18 points at home on Saturday night.

The Bandits were at home to the Sharks at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and in a high-scoring opening period, they were able to open up a 31-24 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

The scoring wasn’t as high in the second term but Albury-Wodonga were still able to extend their lead to go into the half-time interval in control leading the Sharks 49-32.

While things stayed relatively even through the second half, the Bandits still cruised to the 95-77 win to improve to a 6-5 record on the season at the end of Round 9 while the Sharks are now 5-5 as a result of the defeat.

It was an impressive shooting performance from Albury-Wodonga who went 49.3 per cent from the floor and 15/37 at 40.5 per cent from three-point land. Sutherland shot at 34.6 per cent from the field and went 8/28 at 28.6 from downtown.

Lochlan Cummings is settling in nicely in the NBL1 East competition after being a two-time championship winner with Cockburn and Perry Lakes out west. He put up 35 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the win for the Raiders while hitting 5/13 from three-point range and 8/9 at the free-throw line.

Duom Dawam added 22 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots for Albury-Wodonga, Jack Saunders 17 and five rebounds, and Hamish Warden eight points and six boards.

Lochlan Hutchison ended up with 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Sharks with Bailey Musulin contributing 14 points and five boards, and Geoff Gerlach 12 points and six rebounds.

 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 102 defeated CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 94

The Illawarra Hawks scored a hard earned 12-point victory at home to the Central Coast Crusaders on Saturday night.

The Hawks hosted the Crusaders at The Snakepit in Wollongong and it took until the final quarter for them to shake off the challenge of the visiting Crusaders.

Illawarra led narrowly 25-24 at quarter-time before stretching that advantage to 43-40 by half-time.

Central Coast worked their way on top during the third quarter and ended up outscoring Illawarra 28 points to 20 to head into three quarter-time leading 68-63.

However, the Hawks dug deep in the final period and came back from an eight-point deficit to end up scoring 39 points to 26 to take out the 102-94 victory.

The result improves Illawarra to a 7-4 record on the season by the end of Round 9 of the 2022 NBL1 East season while Central Coast are now 4-7.

Kiwi Gardner has been a standout performer all season so far for the Hawks and he delivered once again on Saturday night finishing with 36 points, seven assists, seven steals and five rebounds including a massive 22/25 at the foul line.

Harry Morris added 26 points and four rebounds for Illawarra, Lucas Walker 14 points, eight boards and five assists, Fletcher MacDonald 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Sean Mullan seven points.

James Trustum ended up top-scoring for Central Coast with 28 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals with Jacob Cracknell adding 27 points and six boards, Oliver Robilliard 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Callum Jenkins 10 points and 12 boards.