NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Pink Round

Glenn Morison lifted the Canberra Gunners over the Sydney Comets in NBL1 East action on Saturday with Blake Morrow doing the same for the Inner West Bulls as did both Violet Morrow and Hayden Blankley for the Bankstown Bruins.

The Saturday women's matches in the NBL1 East saw the Bankstown Bruins beat the Penrith Panthers 80-49 while the Illawarra Hawks downed the Albury-Wodonga Bandits 78-72, the Newcastle Falcons defeated the Central Coast Crusaders 98-42, and the Norths Bears downed the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 117-62.

The Maitland Mustangs also defeated the Inner West Bulls 71-56 while the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles beat the Hills Hornets 74-39, and the Sydney Comets prevailed 72-44 against the Canberra Nationals.

In the men's match ups, the Bruins beat the Panthers 85-76, the Bears defeated the Spiders 87-77, the Canberra Gunners downed the Comets 90-68 and Albury-Wodonga beat Illawarra 93-86, and the Falcons prevailed 99-74 against the Crusaders.

The Bulls also beat the Mustangs 97-91 with the Hornets defeating the Sea Eagles 79-68.

WOMEN

Morrow fires as Bruins beat Panthers

The Bankstown Bruins denied the Penrith Panthers consecutive NBL1 East victories with Violet Morrow leading them to the 80-49 victory on the road on Saturday afternoon.

Penrith came into the clash fresh off a victory against the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders while Bankstown were looking to bounce back from a defeat to the Sutherland Sharks.

It was a tight first quarter but then the Bruins stamped their authority in the second term with 17 points and holding the Panthers to just five to head into the half-time interval leading 37-19.

Bankstown went on with the job from there to outscore Penrith 43 points to 30 in the second half to secure the 31-point win that improves them to a 6-4 record. Penrith is now 3-8 following the loss.

Violet Morrow produced another standout performance in the win for Bankstown with 22 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Britney Wright added 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals for the Bruins, Kiahna Davis-White eight points and nine boards, and Jurnee-A'Mour Straker eight points, two assists and two steals.

Meg Jefferson produced 14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals while Chloe Williams contributed 13 points, three boards and three assists.

Hawks shock Bandits on the border

The Illawarra Hawks produced their best performance of the season to shock the defending champion Albury-Wodonga Bandits with Ella Dent leading the charge in the 78-72 victory.

Coming into Saturday's clash at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and the Bandits were beginning to build some momentum in their title defence while the Hawks had won just one of nine matches this season.

However, it was the visiting Hawks who started strongly with 23 points to 16 in the first quarter. Illawarra would stretch its lead to 17 points in the third quarter and then withstood a strong finish from the home team to win by six.

The victory improves the Hawks to a 2-8 record on the season snapping a three-game losing slide while the Bandits slip to 6-5 with the defeat on their home floor.

Ella Dent finished the evening with 26 points, five rebounds and three assists on shooting 7/18 from the floor, 3/8 from downtown and 9/9 at the free-throw line.

Melanie Kirby added 13 points and nine rebounds, Emilia Garcia Leon 11 points, 11 boards and three assists, and Lauren Gatwood 15 points with 3/5 three-point shooting.

Ashlee Hannan top-scored for Albury-Wodonga with 20 points and 12 rebounds with Emma Mahady contributing 18 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals, and Liz Murphy 18 points and eight rebounds.

What dime by Sarah Mellington ?

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Munger sparks Falcons to big win against Crusaders

The Newcastle Falcons dominated the Central Coast Crusaders on the road on Saturday to win 98-42 with Nicole Munger once again leading their charge.

Newcastle arrived at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium on a three-game losing streak and looking to stay in touch for top spot against a Crusaders team having lost their previous five matches.

It didn’t take long for the Falcons to put the result beyond doubt with 30 points to nine in the first quarter, and another 31 points to 15 in the second to lead 61-24 at the half-time break.

Newcastle went on to outscore Central Coast 37 points to 18 in the second half as well to win by 56 and improve to 8-1 on the season with four consecutive wins. The Crusaders are now 4-8 having lost their past six matches.

Nicole Munger continued her standout form with the Falcons by delivering another 23 points, 13 rebounds and five steals while shooting 7/10 from the field, 3/5 from three-point range and 5/5 at the foul line.

She had plenty of help too with Emily Foy putting up 19 points, three assists and three steals, Mykea Gray 18 points and eight steals, Abigail Curtin 14 points and three rebounds, and Sophie Kleeman 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Rachel Maenpaa top-scored for Central Coast with 11 points and three rebounds with Jonalyn Wittwer adding 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Bronte Moore 10 points and three boards.

Bears dominate to keep Spiders winless

The Norths Bears made it five wins in-a-row and kept the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders winless in the NBL1 East this season with Saturday's 117-62 victory.

The Spiders were back home at The Brickpit to play host to the Bears but the challenge was ahead of them to try to get their first NBL1 East win against a Bears team who arrived on a four-game winning run.

Norths came out ready to make an early statement too with a monstrous 36 points to seven in the opening period. There was no let up from there either by the Bears as the lead grew to 43 points in the second quarter, 53 in the third and 57 in the fourth before they settled on the 55-point victory.

The win improves the Bears to 8-2 on the season with five straight wins while the Spiders have lost 11 matches with an average losing margin now of 44.7 points.

Emily Simons finished with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win for the Bears on 7/12 shooting from the floor, 3/5 from downtown and 4/4 from the free-throw line.

Madeleine O'Hehir also put up 17 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists, Carla Pitman 12 points and two assists, and Kate Seebohm 14 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals.

Caitlyn Martin added 11 points on 3/4 three-point shooting while Sarah Schicher ended up with 10 points and six rebounds, and Emma Donnelly 10 points and three boards.

Kristina Moore battled tirelessly for Hornsby to finish with 27 points and five rebounds with Mizuki Wakamatsu adding 12 points, seven bords and three assists.

Mustangs dominate Bulls at home

The Maitland Mustangs started on fire and kept the roll going to beat the Inner West Bulls 71-56 at home on Saturday evening.

The Mustangs were back home at Maitland Federation Centre and wasted no time to stamp their authority on the contest with 22 points to eight against the Bulls in the opening quarter.

Maitland was able to hold sway the rest of the game from there to claim the 15-point victory and improve to a 6-4 record as a result with Inner West now slipping to 3-8.

Rachel Williams top-scored for Maitland with 17 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals with Sydney Hunter contributing 16 points, 13 boards and two assists.

Shakera Reilly added 13 points, three rebounds and three assists, Mila Wawszkowicz eight points, five boards and five assists, and Hannah Fox seven points, three assists and two rebounds.

Despite the loss, Leilani Mitchell produced another strong showing for Inner West with 19 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Mikaela Dombkins added 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and Ai Matsumoto 10 points and two boards.

Sea Eagles down Hornets to maintain first place

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles maintained their hold on top place in the NBL1 East by beating the Hills Hornets 74-39 on the road on Saturday evening.

The Sea Eagles remained on top of the NBL1 East table entering Round 9 but did need to keep winning to stay ahead of the Centre of Excellence and the Newcastle Falcons ahead of hosting a Hornets team on the back of winning their second game of the season.

Manly Warringah opened the game on fire with 22 points to 12 in the first quarter. Another 19 points to six in the second term and the Sea Eagles went into the half-time break on top 41-18.

From there Manly Warringah cruised to the 35-point win to improve to 10-1 on the season having won nine straight while the Hornets are 2-9.

It was once again a spread out team performance in the win for the Sea Eagles with Kim Hodge finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Antonia Henderson 12 points, 11 rebounds and two steals.

Sari Mowbray added 13 points, three rebounds and two blocks, Alex Delaney 12 points, four boards, four assists and three steals, and Zoey Miller seven points, six rebounds and four assists.

No Hornets player managed to score in double-figures with Rhiannon Yetsenga ending up with eight points and four rebounds, and Kelsey Curtin eight points, three boards and three assists.

Comets clamp down on Nationals in second half

The Sydney Comets made it back-to-back wins beating the Canberra Nationals 72-44 on Saturday in the nation's capital on Saturday night.

Despite the best efforts of Lizzy Tonks for Canberra, the triple punch of Shyla Heal, Vanessa Panousis and Jada Crawshaw from the Comets proved too much.

Sydney outscored Canberra 16 points to eight in the opening period but the Nationals dug deep with 25 to 16 in the second period to go into half-time with the slender 33-32 advantage.

It was then a remarkable dominance from the Comets after the break as they held the Nationals to just three points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth. Sydney put up 40 themselves for the half to score the 28-point victory.

The win improves the Comets to an 8-2 record on the season while the Nationals are now 3-7 with consecutive defeats.

Heal top-scored for Sydney with 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals with Panousis adding 14 points, three boards and two assists, and Crawshaw 11 points and six rebounds.

Alexandra Kayrouz also had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Dru Toleafoa eight points and six boards.

Tonks top-scored for Canberra with 27 points, nine rebounds and three steals while Abbie Ketels added eight points, eight boards and five assists.

MEN

Hot Blankley leads Bruins to win over Panthers

The Bankstown Bruins have scored their second win of the NBL1 East season and snapped the winning run of the Penrith Panthers with Saturday's 85-76 victory.

Bankstown arrived at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre with just the one win so far this season up against a Panthers team who had won their past two matches, but it was a Bruins team ready to make a stand.

Bankstown started well with 22 points to 17 in the opening quarter and were still leading 47-41 at half-time, and 67-58 at three quarter-time.

The Bruins would go on to lead by as much as 14 points and went on to win by nine to improve to 2-8 on the season with the Panthers now 3-8 having won their previous two matches.

Hayden Blankley was the difference between the two teams in the end as he delivered 35 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Bankstown on 11/21 shooting from the floor, 5/12 from deep and 8/9 at the free-throw line.

Jonah Pares added 13 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals, Dragan Elkaz 11 points, five boards, two assists and two steals, and Thomas Daus 10 points and six rebounds.

Caleb Fetui-Fa'amoe top-scored for Penrith with 17 points and six rebounds on 8/11 shooting with Pranaya Sakya contributing 15 points and four assists, Noman Massimino 10 points and four rebounds, and Jaedyn Fetui-Fa'amoe 10 points, five boards and three assists.

Bandits keep winning at home to Hawks

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits made it three wins in-a-row by beating the Illawarra Hawks 93-86 on their home floor on Saturday night.

The Bandits were back at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre on the back of road wins against the Sea Eagles and the Spiders but it was a determined Hawks team trying to end a three-game losing run.

Scores were tied at 23-apiece at quarter-time before the Bandits began to pull away in the second period with 22 to 16 to go into intermission leading 45-39.

Illawarra kept in touch throughout the second half and even grabbed the lead on a couple of occasions, including holding a four-point edge with just over six minutes to play.

However, from that point the Bandits outscored them 22 points to 11 to end up winning by seven and improve to 6-5 on the season with three successive wins. The Hawks are now 5-5 having lost four in-a-row.

Michael Parks delivered 25 points and nine rebounds on 11/15 shooting for Albury-Wodonga with Eric Miraflores 23 points, four boards and two assists, and Jamir Coleman 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.

Jacob Cincurak also had 14 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Lochlan Cummings 14 points, seven boards, three steals and two assists.

Noah Pagotto top-scored for Illawarra with 31 points and eight rebounds with Frederick Webb contributing 26 points and eight boards, and Aaron Puljic 10 points and three rebounds.

Beisty catches fire for Falcons against Crusaders

The Newcastle Falcons bounced back in emphatic fashion to beat the Central Coast Crusaders 99-74 on the road on Saturday night.

Newcastle lost a heart stopper to the Inner West Bulls last week but hit back in dominant style on Saturday night despite being on the road to the Crusaders at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium.

The Crusaders were trying to snap a four-game losing run and they did stick with the Falcons for the first half, but Newcastle dominated coming out of the break.

The Falcons were only leading by nine points at half-time, but then outscored the Crusaders 52 points to 36 in the second half to end up winning by 25.

The win improves Newcastle to 5-4 on the season while Central Coast is 3-7 with five consecutive defeats.

Ryan Beisty had a huge night for the Falcons with 34 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals on a brilliant 13/15 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6/6 from three-point territory.

Myles Cherry added 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, Jaidyn Goodwin 11 points, four assists, three boards and two steals, and Matur Maluach 13 points.

Luke Cassidy top-scored for Central Coast with 23 points, five steals, four rebounds and four assists with Aaron Redhead adding 17 points and eight boards, Hammish Loader eight points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds, and James Trustum eight points, six boards and two assists.

Bears keep Spiders winless with 10-point win

The Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders continue to throw everything at that elusive first NBL1 East win, but it wasn’t to be at home on Saturday with the Norths Bears winning 87-77.

The Spiders might have lost their opening 10 matches in the competition but there's been some close calls including three straight losses by a combined four points prior to last week's 31-point defeat to Albury-Wodonga.

Of those 10 losses, Hornsby has lost six of them by single figures so they have been strongly competitive coming into the NBL1 East, and that again was the case at home to the Bears on Saturday.

At least following quarter-time anyway after Norths held Hornsby to just five points in the opening period to lead by as much as 17 points.

The Bears did stretch their lead to 18 points in the second quarter and then 23 in the third, but the Spiders kept on fighting and by the final buzzer had pulled the deficit to 10 points.

The victory is a third straight for Norths who improve to a 9-2 record with the Spiders now 0-11.

Brennan Rymer produced another superb showing for the Bears with 27 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals including going 9/12 from the foul line.

Former Sydney Kings star Anatoly Bose added 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, Lewis Holey 12 points and nine boards, and Nathaniel Musters 12 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Patrick Fraser top-scored for Hornsby with 22 points and four rebounds while hitting 4/7 from three-point land. Shareef Saipaia added 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Ben White eight points, four boards and two assists.

 

Morrow sparks Bulls to hard fought win at Maitland

The Inner West Bulls opened up a double-figure lead early and then withstood the late charge from the Maitland Mustangs for the 97-91 victory.

The Mustangs were back on their home floor attempting to snap a two-game losing streak while the Bulls had won eight straight and needed to keep winning to maintain top spot.

The Bulls started the contest on fire with 30 points to 17 in the opening quarter. The Mustangs kept trying to mount a fightback through the evening including scoring 10 straight points in the last term.

However, Inner West did enough to stay in front the entire match to end up winning by six to make it nine wins in-a-row to improve to 10-1. Maitland slipped to 4-6 with a third consecutive loss.

Blake Morrow had a brilliant night being aggressive for Inner West going 16/17 at the foul line on his way to 36 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Chris Bryant added 22 points and eight rebounds on 7/11 shooting with Alex Higgins-Titsha adding 20 points, seven boards, four assists, three blocks and two steals, and Jonni Mei-Edwards seven points, three assists and two steals.

Will Cranston-Lown put up 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Mustangs on 9/11 shooting including 3/5 from three-point range.

James Hunter added 19 points and seven rebounds with Matthew Gray contributing 12 points, two boards, two assists and two steals.

Christopher Bryant skies for the SLAM ??

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Hornets pull away from Sea Eagles for seventh straight

The Hills Hornets kept their hot NBL1 East form going with the 79-68 win at home against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles thanks to a big finish.

The Hornets came into the clash at Hills Basketball Stadium having won their past six matches on the back of losing the first four of the season, and for three quarters it was a tight battle with a Sea Eagles team having lost their past seven.

Hills led by just two points at quarter-time and by two at half-time before scores were all level by three quarter-time.

However, the Hornets took over with 24 points to 13 in the final period to secure the 11-point win to make it seven wins on the trot to improve to a 7-4 record. The Sea Eagles are now 1-10 despite the encouraging showing.

Liam Moss led the way for the Hornets with 19 points and six assists while shooting 8/12 from the field and 3/5 from downtown.

Shawn Montague added 12 points, nine rebounds and six steals, Marvin Fidel 12 points, five boards and three assists, and Campbell Green 10 points.

Maxim Nesterov top-scored for Manly Warringah with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists with Mitch Evans adding 17 points, four boards and two assists, and Noah Thomas 16 points, four rebounds and four assists.

SHAWN MONTAGUE ON HIS HEAD ?

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Morison leads Gunners to win over Comets

The defending champion Canberra Gunners returned to the winner's list by beating the Sydney Comets 90-68 on the back of a dominant showing from Grand Final MVP Glenn Morison.

It was a tight game in the first half at Belconnen Basketball Stadium with Canberra leading Sydney by just two points at quarter-time, and then by four at the half-time break.

The Gunners dominated the second half by outscoring the Comets 50 points to 32 to come away with the 22-point win with the reigning champs improving to a 6-4 record on the season.

The Comets have lost consecutive matches to sit at 6-3.

On the back of leading Canberra to the NBL1 East championship last season, Glenn Morison was a dominant force on Saturday night with 29 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots on 12/21 field goal shooting.

Cameron Pender added 16 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals, Dhal Fieg 10 points, five assists, four boards and two steals, and James Toohey nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Johnny Crnogorac finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Sydney with Ilisia Washington contributing 12 points and five boards, and Archer Woodhill 11 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots.

Glenn Morison with the spin lay-up and the foul! ??

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