NBL1 East Recap | Sunday Round 15

Maddy Norris stood up with 41 points for the Sutherland Sharks for an important NBL1 East win on Sunday while Mikayla Pivec had a triple-double and Malury Bates outstanding for the Albury-Wodonga Bandits with the Newcastle Falcons scoring two crucial wins over the Norths Bears.

Sunday's women's results in the NBL1 East saw the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles beat the Maitland Mustangs 69-58, the Newcastle Falcons defeat the Norths Bears 77-74, the Illawarra Hawks down the Penrith Panthers 70-58, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits win 81-79 against the Sydney Comets, and the Sutherland Sharks beat the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 116-68.

The men's results saw the Sharks beat the Spiders 92-76, the Mustangs defeated the Sea Eagles 102-79, the Falcons won 68-57 against the Bears, the Hawks downed the Panthers 94-68, and the Bandits defeated the Comets 86-74.

NBL1 EAST RECAP | SATURDAY ROUND 15

WOMEN

Sea Eagles put dent in Mustangs' finals hopes

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles went a long way to securing the regular season championship and put a dent in the Maitland Mustangs playoff hopes with the 69-58 Sunday victory.

The Sea Eagles arrived at Maitland Federation Centre remaining clear in top spot with a three-game winning streak while the Mustangs had kept themselves in the top four hunt having won the last four including against the Sutherland Sharks the previous evening.

It was a tight battle in the first half with Maitland leading by a point at quarter-time before Manly Warringah got on top slightly in the second period to go into the half-time break leading 31-28.

It was then all the Sea Eagles in the second half as they built a 15-point lead in the third term and then 18 in the fourth before ending up securing the 11-point win.

The result keeps Manly Warringah clear in top spot at 17-2 having won four straight with Maitland still outside the top four at 11-7.

Bree Delaney put up 19 points and four rebounds in the win for Manly Warringah with Zoey Miller contributing 15 points and three boards while nailing 3/5 from three-point range.

Sari Mowbray added 11 points, three rebounds and two assists,, Antonia Henderson nine points, four boards and three steals, Kim Hodge seven points and 11 rebounds, and Felicity Henderson six points, seven boards, five assists and two blocks.

Madison Washington ended up with 17 points and 12 rebounds for Maitland with Shakera Reilly again top-scoring with 19 points, seven boards and two assists while Sydney Hunter contributed 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

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Munger stars in crucial win for Falcons over Bears

The Newcastle Falcons delivered a huge finish including hitting the last six points to beat the Norths Bears and lock away their top fourth position in the process.

It loomed as a season defining battle between the second placed Falcons and third placed Bears with both teams also coming off Saturday victories with Newcastle on a five-game winning run and Norths having won three straight.

The winner would lock away a playoff spot while the loser will continue to be fighting for their position, and both teams delivered the terrific contest on the back of all that.

While Newcastle did lead by three at quarter-time, the Bears took over from there to lead 36-33 by half-time and then open up an advantage of as much as 10 points in the final quarter.

The Bears were still leading 74-71 with just under two minutes on the clock after a jump shot to Sarah Schicher, but that's when the Bears went up a gear.

It started with a pair of free-throws to Kate Kingham, then a jumper to Nicole Munger, and Mykea Gray sealed the win for Newcastle with the clutch free-throws as they scored the last six points to claim the three-point win.

The win means that the Falcons have won six in-a-row to sit on a 16-2 record while the Bears are now 14-4 with the defeat.

Nicole Munger came up huge for Newcastle in the win with 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists on 9/15 shooting from the floor.

Mykea Gray added 21 points, three boards and three assists, Abigail Curtin 14 points and five rebounds, and Alison Ebzery five points and 10 boards.

Sarah Schicher finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and two assists for the Bears while shooting 9/12 from the field with Jolene Anderson contributing 19 points, 13 boards and three steals, Jessica Bygate 10 points, and Madeleine O'Hehir nine points and three assists.

 

Hawks complete double win weekend

The Illawarra Hawks gave themselves the perfect weekend with a 70-58 victory against the Penrith Panthers on Sunday.

Penrith was at home and playing their only game of the weekend hosting a Hawks team fresh off beating the Bankstown Bruins on Saturday.

The Panthers did start well to open up an early six-point lead but the Hawks were able to take over with eight straight points to lead 19-16 by quarter-time.

Illawarra went on with it from there to lead by seven points in the second quarter and then by 12 in the third. They would maintain a double-figure lead throughout most of the second half from there on the way to the 12-point win.

It gives the Hawks two wins this weekend to improve to a 5-13 record while the Panthers are 4-13 with the loss.

Rebecca Abel had another impressive performance for Illawarra with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists while shooting 4/11 from beyond the three-point line.

Emilia Garcia Leon also had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Courtney Jardine 14 points, three boards, three assists and two steals, Teagan Edwards 12 points, eight rebounds, five steals and two assists, and Lauren Gatwood 11 points, five assists and three rebounds.

Meg Jefferson top-scored once more for Penrith with 19 points, three rebounds and two steals while Tiana Petterson contributed 10 points, eight boards and three steals, and Chloe Williams 10 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists.

 

Bates, Pivec star as Bandits overrun Comets

The defending champion Albury-Wodonga Bandits delivered another dagger to the Sydney Comets' playoff hopes by producing a big finish for the 81-79 road victory.

The Comets continue to be without Shyla Heal and Vanessa Panousis so they have been seeing the playoff hopes slip away but that didn’t stop them from putting themselves in a winning position at home on Sunday afternoon.

While the Bandits are out of playoff calculations too in their championship defence after losing to the Norths Bears the previous evening, they did get the better of the start to come from five points down to score 12 straight points to lead by seven in the first term.

By half-time, Sydney had assumed control to lead 49-47 before the lead for the Comets was out to 11 points in the fourth quarter, but Albury-Wodonga wasn’t going away.

The Comets were up by 11 when Piper Anderson completed a three-point play with 7:30 to go, but Malury Bates responded with four quick points for Albury-Wodonga before Liz Murphy dropped a three-pointer.

Murphy then scored going to the basket and then Mikayla Pivec tied scores up before Sydney went back up three thanks to a triple from Sarah Wacher.

Murphy nailed another three ball for the Bandits before Alexandria Oliver answered with a bucket for the home team. Bates then put the visitors in front and that would prove enough for Albury-Wodonga to claim the two-point victory.

Malury Bates came up huge for Albury-Wodonga with 26 points and 16 rebounds while Mikayla Pivec produced a triple-double consisting of 18 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals. 

Emma Mahady added 17 points, seven assists, six steals and four rebounds, and Liz Murphy 16 points with 4/8 three-point shooting.

Jada Crawshaw finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two assists for the Comets with Piper Anderson adding 19 points, Sarah Wacher 13 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Aleandra Kayrouz 12 points, nine boards and four assists.

Mikayla Pivec is in her ?

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Norris puts up 41 in crucial win for Sharks 

The Sutherland Sharks couldn’t afford a slip up on Sunday away to the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Rai Spiders and they didn’t have one going on to win 116-68.

The Sharks were once again without Lauren Nicholson because of Australian Opals duties but a second loss of the weekend could have been fatal in their quest to break back into the top four.

That meant Sutherland had to take care of business on Sunday at The Brickpit against the bottom placed Hornsby especially following Saturday's loss to the Maitland Mustangs.

The Sharks started well with a 15-point lead in the opening quarter and never looked back from there. 

Sutherland's lead would grow to 27 points in the second stanza, 40 in the third and even 48 in the fourth which doubled as the final winning margin.

The victory improves the Sharks to a 13-6 record on the season with the Spiders remaining in bottom spot at 1-18 having lost the past five.

Maddy Norris was brilliant for Sutherland in the win with 41 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks on 17/27 shooting from the field and 6/10 from three-point territory.

Aliza Fabbro added 20 points and seven rebounds, Jordyn Dewhurst 14 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for a triple-double, and Emily Garland landed 4/7 from downtown for 22 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Mizuki Wakamatsu finished with 28 points, five rebounds and three assists for Hornsby with Tylah Mundine delivering 15 points, 10 boards and four assists, and Madeline Della Franca eight points and four rebounds.

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She scored 41 points at a ridiculous 6??3??% from the field??

A deadset deadeye ?

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MEN

Gray hits seven threes as Mustangs with eighth straight

The Maitland Mustangs continued their charge towards the NBL1 East playoffs with an eight consecutive win beating the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 102-79.

The Mustangs did leave themselves with plenty of work to do losing six of their opening 10 matches of the season on the back of playing in last year's NBL1 East grand final. But they are sure now building some momentum with three weeks of the regular season remaining.

Maitland continued the momentum with a win over the Sutherland Sharks on Saturday ahead of hosting the Sea Eagles who were also fresh off a Saturday defeat at the hands of the reigning champion Canberra Gunners.

So it was quite the challenging weekend for Manly Warringah against the two grand final teams from last year but should the Mustangs still want to make the top four, they had to keep winning.

It was Manly Warringah leading by as much as six points in the opening term and still by a point at quarter-time, but then Maitland was able to assert control.

The Mustangs ended up leading by as much as 13 points in the second quarter, 17 in the third and finally 24 in the fourth on the way to eventual 23-point triumph.

The victory improves Maitland to a 12-6 record on the season with three rounds to go while the Sea Eagles are 4-15 having lost twice this weekend.

Matthew Gray led the scoring in the win for the Mustangs with 28 points and six rebounds while knocking down 7/10 from three-point territory.

Will Cranston-Lown added another 22 points and four assists, Kevin Warren 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Billy Parsons 11 points, five boards and two assists.

Akku Makki did what he could to give the Sea Eagles a sniff with 27 points, five rebounds and three assists with Matthew Eldridge also putting in a fighting effort made up of 13 points, 20 boards, five assists and two steals.

Newcastle heat up finals race with win over Norths

The Newcastle Falcons are another team to keep themselves within a chance of still taking part in the NBL1 East finals by beating the Norths Bears 68-57 on Sunday.

If the Falcons are to break into the top four, then they need to help knock somebody out so hosting the third placed Bears at Newcastle Basketball Stadium on Sunday presented them with a crucial opportunity.

Newcastle made a flying start to the contest attempting to bounce back from a Saturday loss to the Sydney Comets with the Falcons scoring 10 straight points on Sunday to open up an 11-point lead by the end of one.

Norths did fire back into the contest and closed the deficit to just four points at the long break.

Newcastle was able to grab control once more in the second half, though, to open up an eight-point lead in the third quarter, and then it got out to 11 in the fourth before the Falcons won by 11.

The victory improves the Falcons to an 11-7 record with the Bears at 13-5 with both teams splitting their two matches in Round 15.

Anthony Gaines was important for Newcastle in the win with 19 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists with Myles Cherry contributing another 15 points, five boards and three assists.

Ryan Beisty produced another 13 points and 12 rebounds with Matur Maluach adding nine points and five boards, and Jaidyn Goodwin eight points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists.

Robert Moore delivered 22 points and six rebounds for the Bears while Lewis Holey put up 12 points, 14 boards and three steals, and Michael Yoong seven points and three assists.

 

Hickey, Morris lead Hawks to another win

Davo Hickey was tremendous again and got plenty of help from his NBL teammate Harry Morris as the Illawarra Hawks scored the 94-68 Sunday win on the road to the Penrith Panthers.

Finals might be out of reach for the Hawks this NBL1 East season, but there's still plenty to take out of the campaign especially for players like Hickey and Morris gearing up for their NBL24 campaigns with Illawarra.

Hickey was phenomenal on Saturday night with 38 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals with 18 free-throws in the win against the Bankstown Bruins.

The Hawks were then without Tim Coenraad on Sunday away to the Panthers but it didn’t stop them making the fast start with 24 points to 10 in the opening period.

Illawarra kept on building on that advantage leading by as much as 27 points in the second stanza, 29 in the third and 37 in the fourth to end up scoring the 26-point victory in the finish.

Davo Hickey was outstanding once more for Illawarra with 24 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks with another 10/15 from the foul line.

Harry Morris also produced 20 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks, Frederick Webb 11 points and four assists, Philip Dopud nine points, five rebounds and two blocks, and Ethan-James Laudato nine points and four boards.

Caleb Fetui-Fa'amoe ended up with 14 points and eight rebounds on 7/11 shooting for Penrith with Preston Matia contributing 14 points and six boards, and Jaedyn Fetui-Fa'amoe 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

 

Bandits bounce back to beat Comets

Sydney and Albury-Wodonga both had opposite results to the previous evening in the NBL1 East as the Bandits defeated the Comets 86-74 at Comets Stadium.

Sydney defeated the Newcastle Falcons the previous evening while Albury-Wodonga began its road double with a loss to the Norths Bears to set up Sunday's Round 15 match up.

It was a flying start from Albury-Wodonga away from home as they scored 10 straight points to open up a 16-point lead in the first term, and being up 25-12 still by quarter-time.

The Comets tried to fight back throughout the rest of the contest but could never really make too many inroads with the Bandits leading by as much as 21 points in the fourth stanza before going on to score the 12-point win.

Both teams have now split their two Round 15 games with the Bandits improving to a 9-10 record while the Comets are now 8-10.

Lochlan Cummings produced another 20 points and eight rebounds in the win for Albury-Wodonga with Michael Parks contributing 18 points, 13 boards and three assists, and Jacob Cincurak 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Jamir Coleman also delivered 16 points, 19 rebounds, four assists and three steals with Dylan Wilkie adding 11 points and six boards.

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk top-scored for the Comets with 17 points to go with five rebounds and two assists with Isaac Ayoubi producing 14 points, Matthew Wacher 13 points, 10 boards, three steals and two assists, and Archer Woodhill 10 points and four rebounds.

Sharks with pivotal win over Spiders

The Sutherland Sharks got the win they needed on Sunday in the fascinating playoff race beating the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 92-76.

Both teams were coming off defeats on Saturday with Hornsby losing to the Inner West Bulls by 25 points while Sutherland went down by 31 points to the Maitland Mustangs in a battle of two teams locked in the playoff battle.

After a Marquel Beasley dunk compilation? Enjoy ?

The Sharks' forward took over in the third quarter, finishing with 29 points and 12 boards in a ?????? win ?

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It was a tight opening to the contest with scores level at 25-25 by quarter-time before Sutherland began to pull away to lead by six at half-time.

It was then all the Sharks in the second half as they opened up a lead as big as 21 points in the third quarter, and 23 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 16-point victory to improve to a 13-6 record having split their two games in Round 15.

Marquel Beasley put together a spectacular performance for the Sharks with 29 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals on shooting 12/15 from the field and 5/8 from the foul line.

Lochlan Hutchison produced another 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, Jordan Mitchell 13 points, three assists and two boards, and Deng Gak 12 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Daniel Garrett top-scored for Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai with 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals on 5/8 three-point shooting.

Kwabena Brefo added 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, Ben White 11 points, 10 boards and four blocks, Moses Bartley 11 points and four assists, and Tom Gillis 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Kwabena Brefo got on the move ?‍??

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