NBL1 West Recap | Friday Men's Round 16

Another huge Scott Machado performance kept the Mandurah Magic's winning run going against the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night while the Perth Redbacks and Rockingham Flames also scored important wins.

The Magic, Redbacks and Flames are teams all still hoping to finish in the top four by the end of the NBL1 West Men's Division season and as a result they score important and impressive wins on Friday night.

Round 16 in the NBL1 West Men's Division got underway on Thursday night with a thrilling contest at Warwick Stadium with the Rockingham Flames holding on for an 88-86 victory against the Warwick Senators.

The Rockingham Flames then backed that up on Friday night still on the road at Herb Graham Recreation Centre and they produced another 77-66 victory against the East Perth Eagles.

Ryan Godfrey put up 23 points for Rockingham with Tom Jervis adding 14 points and 12 rebounds while Lee Roberts finished with 19 points, 22 rebounds and five assists.

Also on Friday night, the Perth Redbacks started their double-header weekend against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns with a solid 100-89 victory at Belmont Oasis.

Louis Timms finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds against his former team with Marshall Nelson returning with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Joe Cook-Green was ultra-impressive in his third game for the Eastern Suns with 35 points.

The final game of the night saw the Mandurah Magic continue to put pressure on for a top four position as well with a statement 94-78 win over the Lakeside Lightning at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Scott Machado flirted with his first NBL1 triple-double for the Magic with 24 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Ben Lee scored 27 points for Lakeside and Rowan Mackenzie 23.

Round 16 in the NBL1 West Men's Division wraps up with six huge Saturday night match ups with 12 of the 14 teams in the league all involved.

The Geraldton Buccaneers will be hosting the Warwick Senators at Active West Stadium while the Goldfields Giants are also at home to the South West Slammers at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Cockburn Cougar also face the Lakeside Lightning at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Perry Lakes Hawks playing the East Perth Eagles at Bendat Basketball Centre, and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns in a rematch with the Perth Redbacks at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 16 – FRIDAY NIGHT

PERTH REDBACKS 100 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 89

The Perth Redbacks were high on motivation to keep their top four prospects in the NBL1 West Men's Division alive on the back of a shock loss on the buzzer in Geraldton against the Buccs last Saturday night.

The Redbacks are taking on the Eastern Suns twice in 24 hours this weekend and even with Kalamunda out of the playoff race, they were still going to need to play well with the wins they craved.

For the first time the Eastern Suns had their new Kiwi guard Joe Cook-Green to play alongside import big Chris Johnson as well to help their cause against a Redbacks team welcoming back Marshall Nelson who continues to battle a hand complaint.

Spurred on by the loss in Geraldton, the Redbacks came out on fire against the Suns scoring the game's opening seven points with five of those coming from Louis Timms in his first time playing in red against Kalamunda.

Marshall Nelson then hit four quick points to help the Redbacks out to an 11-3 edge, and then heading towards quarter-time the home really blew things out. 

When Denzel Jackson came on and scored, it was a 29-13 edge and really for most of the rest of the game the lead for the Redbacks was somewhere around that mark.

The Eastern Suns did take some momentum into quarter-time after import Chris Johnson hit a half-court prayer on the buzzer, but the Redbacks still led 29-16.

Kalamunda had come to compete, though, and it was game on at half-time with Perth only clinging to a 45-38 advantage.

It was hard work for the Redbacks through the second half and credit to the Eastern Suns for making it that way. On several occasions they threatened to build some momentum for a big fightback and it was the aggressiveness of Cook-Green at the centre of everything they did.

Even though the Redbacks did enough for the eventual 100-89 win, there was enough for the Suns to take out of it to think they could turn the result around on their home floor now on Saturday night.

The Redbacks did have a size and athletic advantage which saw them outrebound the Eastern Suns by 11, and while Perth shot well overall at 48.3 per from the field, they only went at 6/32 at 18.8 per cent from three-point range.

The Suns went at 43.8 per cent from the floor and 37.5 from deep, but it was Cook-Green getting to the foul line 12 times and then the entire team getting there 28 times to just 11 from the Redbacks that helped keep Kalamunda in it.

Louis Timms enjoyed things in his first appearance for the Redbacks against the Eastern Suns ending the night with 27 points, 10 rebounds and three assists despite going 1/8 from three-point range.

Marshall Nelson also only went 1/7 from deep with his lone make coming as a steadying basket late with him returning for the Redbacks with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Tevin Jackson also put up 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the team in red, Zac Gattorna 16 points and 11 boards, Joel Wagner nine points and eight assists, and Kyden Edman seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Joe Cook-Green only arrived from New Zealand last Wednesday to join the Eastern Suns, but in his third game he was extremely impressive especially with his aggressiveness to attack the basket.

The Kiwi guard delivered 35 points, four assists and three rebounds while shooting 12/19 from the field, 4/5 from three-point range and 7/12 at the foul line.

Jermaine Malie impressed too for the Suns with 20 points and eight rebounds with Cooper Lowe contributing 12 points and three boards, and returning import Chris Johnson 10 points and nine rebounds after a forced two weeks in quarantine.

 

EAST PERTH EAGLES 66 lost to ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 77

The Rockingham Flames backed up a tough win on Thursday with another important win 24 hours later this time over the East Perth Eagles.

Rockingham opened Round 16 in the NBL1 West Men's Division with a nail-biting win on the road to the Warwick Senators on Thursday night, and then they were back just down the road on Friday to take on East Perth at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

The Flames came into the game having now won four in-a-row on the back of that victory against the Senators to be closing in on a top four position making it a big ask for the Eagles to try and stop them.

East Perth had lost its last couple coming into the game having just recorded four wins for the season so far and by quarter-time, Rockingham had put the clamps right on holding the Eagles to just the six points the entire first 10 minutes.

It was a relatively even game from that point on but the Flames had established a double-figure lead and maintained it the rest of the way to come away with the 77-66 victory to keep their top four prospects on track.

Rockingham only shot the ball at 18.8 per cent from three-point territory with East Perth knocking down 10/28 at 35.7 per cent, and the Eagles won the rebounding count, and even took more field goals.

But the Flames did force the Eagles into 22 turnovers for the game and went to the line 25 times opposed to just seven in the eventual 11-point win.

Captain Ryan Godfrey showed the way for Rockingham with 23 points and four rebounds while shooting an efficient 9/15 from the floor.

Tom Jervis had a fascinating battle with Lee Robers and finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for Rockingham with Justin Beard delivering 12 points and 10 rebounds, Brendan Redhead eight point, Atem Bior six and Greg Hire six along with five assists and four boards.

Lee Roberts managed to end up with 24 points, 22 rebounds and five assists for the game for East Perth despite shooting 9/24 from the field.

Andrej Donlagic contributed 13 points and three rebounds, Kieran Berry 12 points and two assists, and Mitch Benger 11 points and two steals.

 

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 78 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 94

The Mandurah Magic produced perhaps their most eye-catching performance since the arrival of Scott Machado to beat the Lakeside Lightning on the road on Friday night.

It always loomed as a massive game for both clubs in Round 16 of the NBL1 West Men's Division at Lakeside Recreation Centre on Friday night with the Lightning trying to remain in a top two spot while the Magic are attempting to break into the top four.

The Lightning won twice last week against the Eastern Suns and Wolfpack while the Magic have been on a six-game winning streak now with the presence of Cairns Taipans NBL superstar point guard Scott Machado.

That set the stage for a tantalising Friday night battle and the Lightning started well on their home floor putting up 27 points to 18 in the opening quarter even without Corey Shervill, Jay Bowie and Kyle Armour in the line-up.

Those are three significant outs for Lakeside but they did well covering for them in the second quarter as well to go into half-time leading the Magic 50-43.

However, Machado took over the game in the second half for Mandurah and with plenty of help from Brian Carlwell down low and Jerami Grace alongside him in the back court, the Magic began to firstly get on top and then pull away impressively.

Mandurah put up 29 points to just 15 from Lakeside in the third quarter, and then added another 22 points to 13 in the fourth term to end up impressive 94-78 winners away from the home.

The result means that Mandurah has now put together seven straight wins after a first up loss to Willetton when Machado first joined to hold a 12-6 record while Lakeside slips to 14-4 with a clash away to Cockburn to come on Saturday night in Round 16.

Mandurah not only won the rebound battle by 11 but shot the ball brilliantly going at 32/55 from the floor at 58.2 per cent and 14/31 from deep at 45.2 per cent. Lakeside, meanwhile, went 32.8 per cent from the floor and 30.2 per cent from three for the night.

Scott Machado was outstanding for Mandurah almost producing his first NBL1 triple-double, ending up on 24 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds including hitting 5/10 from beyond the arc.

Jerami Grace added 19 points, three assists and three rebounds with 4/8 shooting from downtown and Brian Carlwell produced his best game of the season with Mandurah. The two-time SBL champion had 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Fred Williams added 10 points for the Magic with three triples while Jhony Lutula contributed eight points and three rebounds.

Ben Lee went 7/15 from three-point territory on his way to 27 points for Lakeside with Rowan Mackenzie contributing 23 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Jack Isenbarger also 15 points for the lightning and Kayden Malseed five points with four assists.