NBL1 East Recap: Round 5 - Saturday May 7

A packed night of basketball for Saturday in the NBL1East saw 11 games played, as teams began to reap the rewards of NBL players joining following their campaigns falling short. 

With this much talent in the league, wild games were inevitable, and some huge numbers were posted throughout the conference. 

Check out the games below.

WOMEN 

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (65) def by Northern Bears (77)

The first game of the day was a clear case of one versus all, as Kimberley Hodge tried but failed to carry her team to victory in the face of a complete offensive unit. 

Hodge scored 27, but did not have another player hit double digits on her squad. 

Meanwhile, four separate Bears scored at least ten points - Riley Evans coming off the bench to lead the team with 26. 

MANLY-WARRINGAH 65 (Hodge 27, Nelson 8, Miller 7) 

NORTHERN 77 (Evans 26, Simons 13, O’Hehir 12) 

Central Coast Crusaders (51) def by Newcastle Falcons (61)

This Newcastle win was a masterclass from Kate Kingham, leading all scorers with 25 points en route to a ten-point win. 

Central Coast played well but their lack of offensive firepower was evident in their 51-point final tally, only three of which came from the bench. 

CENTRAL COAST 51 (Wittwer 17, Matthews 15, Loader and Miller 6) 

NEWCASTLE 61 (Kingham 25, Johnson 9, Relf 8) 

Maitland Mustangs (64) def by Illawarra Hawks (79) 

After a tough start to their NBL1 season, the Hawks have now tallied three-straight wins, after taking down a red-hot Maitland team. 

The Hawks starter were superb, four of the five hitting double-figures scoring, and two grabbing at least ten rebounds. 

Despite the loss, Mikaela Dombkins was the best player on court - she scored 34 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded six steals as her team failed to take care of business. 

MAITLAND 64 (Dombkins 34, Griffin 12, Gallego 8)

ILLAWARRA 79 (Ohrdorf 26, Scaife 12, Abel 11)

Inner West Bulls (50) def by Albury Wodonga Bandits (102) 

We say it every game, but Lauren Jackson just keeps looking better, today demolishing the Inner West Bulls to the tune of 52 points. 

Jackson had 41 of Albury’s points, and 13 of their rebounds, as the Bandits defence held the Bulls to just one player in double digits, Rachel Kemp with 11. 

INNER WEST 50 (Kemp 11, Pogonza-Dumas 9, Turnbull 7)

ALBURY WODONGA 102 (Jackson 41, Hassett and McCowan 14) 

Canberra Nationals (86) def by Hills Hornets (95) 

The Nationals' slide continued against Hills, with four of Canberra’s five starters scoring 14 not enough to overcome the one-two Hornets punch of Paris Roditis and Taryn Mahoney. 

Roditis and Mahoney had 22 and 27, respectively, with fellow starter Rhiannon Yetsenga contributing 19 points and 10 rebounds. 

Lizzy Tonks was big for Canberra, 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists leading all categories for the Nationals, but the team will need to find a way to stop their opponents scoring if they wish to stop their losing streak. 

CANBERRA 86 (Tonks 18, Langhorn 17, Dufelmeier 15)

HILLS 95 (Mahoney 27, Roditis 22, Yetsenga 19)

MEN

Hills Hornets (83) def by Canberra Nationals (95) 

It was feast versus famine in Hills’ victory over Canberra, with two Hornets hitting double figures compared to six Nationals.

Akech Aliir was best on court, dropping a 20-point-10-rebound double-double with two blocks. 

Liam Moss was big for Hills, seemingly the only constant on a very inconsistent team with 21 points. 

HILLS 83 (Moss 21, Brotherson 17, Fidel 9)

CANBERRA 95 (Aliir 20, Fieg 17, Mayfield 16) 

Norths Bears (59) def by Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (66) 

The Sea Eagles claimed a much-needed win against Norths in this match, led by Kyle Painter with 14. 

Luca Ace-Nasteski also impressed, with a 12-point-10-rebound double-double in 20 minutes off the bench. 

Brennan Rymer lead Norths with 18 points, but the Bears did not have the depth tonight to compete with the Sea Eagles. 

NORTHS 59 (Rymer 18, Gillis 12, Moore 9) 

MANLY-WARRINGAH 66 (Painter 14, Ace-Nasteski 12, Faithfull and Bulgin 11) 

Bankstown Bruins (79) def by Sutherland Sharks (82) 

This game came down to the wire, but the hot shooting of Lochlan Hutchison was simply too much, 30 points and 11 rebounds enough to get the Sharks over the line. 

Five separate Bruins hit double digits, Lopez the highest scorer with 18, but with Hutchison and Gerlach combining for 50 points by themselves for Sutherland, Bankstown faced an uphill battle and were not able to reach the summit. 

BANKSTOWN 79 (Lopez 18, Musters 14, Timonera 12)

SUTHERLAND 82 (Hutchison 30, Gerlach 20, Woodhill 16) 

Central Coast Crusaders (70) def by Newcastle Falcons (80) 

This game was all Newcastle for the first three quarters, and while the Crusaders mounted a fourth-quarter comeback - outsourcing the Falcons 26-15 - it wasn’t enough to take the lead they had given up. 

Ryan Beisty and Matur Maluach both scored 17 for Newcastle, while Central Coast’s lead scorer came from their bench - Jamal Shoaib with 15. 

CENTRAL COAST 70 (Shoaib 15, Jenkins 13, Cracknell 11) 

NEWCASTLE 80 (Beisty and Maluach 17, Cherry and Dorricott 10) 

Maitland Mustangs (93) def by Illawarra Hawks (103)

A tightly contested affair in the Illawarra, the Hawks almost coughed this game up late in the match, before coming back to take the lead. 

Akoldah Gak was stunning in his NBL1 debut - 27 points including 16 in the first quarter - and was joined by Harry Morris with 27, while Kiwi Gardner had 24 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds and seven steals. 

Maitland also played extremely well, Terrell Turner recording 20 points off of the bench, but the Hawks managed to escape with a win. 

MAITLAND 93 (Turner 20, Hunter 18, Millburn 17)

ILLAWARRA 103 (Gak and Morris 27, Gardner 24) 

Inner West Bulls (76) def by Albury Wodonga Bandits (79) 

Branden Jenkins hit the shot that every basketballer dreams of to win this game, draining the game-winning three as the clock hit zero. 

He had 27 on the night, and also seven steals, and while Inner West had four players in double digits, they weren’t enough to prevent the man himself from ripping the win right out from under them. 

INNER WEST 76 (Adup and Maker 14, Crnogorac and Slapikas 11)

ALBURY WODONGA 79 (Jenkins 27, Cummings 19, Dawam 18)

Feature image via Eric Paul Goldie