NBL1 West Recap | Friday Men's Round 8

Big wins to open Round 8 in the NBL1 West Men's Division has seen the Rockingham Flames and Lakeside Lightning move into top three positions while the East Perth Eagles also won a thriller over the Cockburn Cougars.

It was a big Friday night to open up Round 8 in the NBL1 West Men's Division with the three matches taking place on a big evening of basketball with the Perth Wildcats hosting Melbourne United at the same time at RAC Arena in the final round of the NBL.

The Lakeside Lightning made the trip down to Eaton Recreation Centre and snapped the two-game winning run of the South West Slammers with the 96-65 victory.

Kyle Armour was on fire in the first half for the Lightning on his way to 24 points and nine assists for the night while Jack Isenbarger had 17 points. Caleb Van De Griend top-scored for the Slammers with 19 points and eight rebounds.

The East Perth Eagles scored their second win of the season on Friday night at Herb Graham Recreation Centre beating the Cockburn Cougars 69-63.

Kieran Berry put up 16 points for the Eagles and Jarrad Anastasio 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Gavin Field scored another 19 points for the Cougars.

The Rockingham Flames then improved themselves to a 6-2 record on the season with the 95-69 victory over the Mandurah Magic at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Ryan Godfrey scored 19 points for Rockingham, Jake Amos 18, Cirkook Makuac Riak 15 and Atem Bior 14. Fred Williams finished with 16 points for Mandurah, Ben Smith 16 and Jerami Grace 11.

Round 8 in the NBL1 West Men's Division continues on Saturday night starting in Mandurah with the Magic hosting the Geraldton Buccaneers.

The Cockburn Cougars are also at home to the Perth Redbacks with the Warwick Senators taking on the Perry Lakes Hawks at Warwick Stadium in a rematch of last year's West Coast Classic Grand Final.

The Willetton Tigers will also be hosting the Kalamunda Eastern Suns while the Lakeside Lightning take on the Goldfields Giants.

There are two more matches on Sunday afternoon too in Round 8 of the NBL1 West Men's Division with the Joondalup Wolves hosting the Goldfields Giants, and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns taking on the Geraldton Buccaneers.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 8 – FRIDAY NIGHT

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 65 lost to LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 96

The South West Slammers had won their past two games in stunning fashion but going three straight was a bit beyond them with the Lakeside Lightning proving too good on Friday.

After losing their opening six matches of the NBL1 West season under the coaching of the legendary Mark Worthington, the Slammers broke through two weeks ago in double overtime against East Perth on their home floor.

They were then able to back it up on the road last Saturday night against the Eastern Suns, but Lakeside proved too strong at Eaton Recreation Centre on Friday evening.

The Lightning were full of confidence on the back of handing the Warwick Senators their first loss of the season last week too, and they brought that form with them down south even without Corey Shervill who was busy playing for the Perth Wildcats against Melbourne United at RAC Arena.

Jay Bowie and Jarrad Prue also didn’t play but Lakeside started well to have opened up a 24-15 edge by quarter-time and they extended their lead further in the second quarter with 27 points to 18 to go into the half-time interval with the 51-33 edge.

The third quarter saw the Lightning blow the game wide open even further with another 33 points to 12 to lead by 39 points with a quarter to play.

To the credit of the Slammers they were able to win the last quarter 20 points to 12 but the Lightning still ended up winning 96-65.

Championship winning point guard Kyle Armour ruptured his ACL back in Game 2 of the semi finals of 2019 and he didn’t rush a West Coast Classic comeback in 2020, and it's paying off in 2021 after he ran the ship brilliant for Lakeside on Friday night.

He had 21 points and five assists already to half-time before finishing the night with 24 points and nine assists including knocking down 5/10 from three-point territory.

Jack Isenbarger also had 17 points for the Lightning, Rowan Mackenzie 13 points and four rebounds on his return from college, Nick Blight 12 points, Ben Lee 10 points and Nick Palleschi 10 points.

Caleb Van De Griend continued to fight hard for the Slammers with 19 points and eight rebounds with Mitch Keller delivering 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Rhys Barrett nine points and Leigh Rickwood-Pitt eight points and three boards.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 69 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 63

The East Perth Eagles joined the Cockburn Cougars on two wins this NBL1 West season with a six-point win at home on Friday night.

Both teams came into the Friday night Round 8 encounter at Herb Graham Recreation Centre needing a win as they to begin rising up the standings as we near the halfway point of the NBL1 West season.

Little separated the two teams throughout most of the evening with East Perth leading by three points at quarter-time on their home floor and the Eagles then extended that gap further in the second term to end up leading 39-31 at the major break.

The Cougars closed that gap to just four points by three quarter-time before Gavin Field brought the margin back to two to start the fourth term.

Kieran Berry and Jacob Polglase traded three-pointers soon after before East Perth broke away once more through triples to Mitch Benger and Andrej Donlagic.

That proved to be enough to open up the match-winning advantage with the Cougars unable to bridge the gap down the stretch and East Perth went on to score the 69-63 win with it looking closer than it was thanks to the Polglase three for Claremont on the buzzer.

Kieran Berry continued to emerge as one of the more exciting guards in the competition and he had another strong game for East Perth with 16 points and three assists.

Jarrad Anastasio stood up for the Eagles inside too for 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots while Andrej Donlagic contributed 12 points and eight rebounds, Mitch Benger 10 points and five boards, and Logan Thwaites nine points and five rebounds.

Gavin Field never gave up on trying to lift the Cougars to the win producing another 19 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists with Jacob Polglase finishing with 12 points and four rebounds, Josh Hunt nine points and three rebounds, and Seva Chan seven points and eight assists. 

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 95 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 69

The Rockingham Flames are closing in on top spot in the NBL1 West standings after another impressive performance at home on Friday night against the Mandurah Magic.

The Flames did drop a couple of games earlier this season against the Willetton Tigers and then when they were decidedly unlucky in Geraldton against the Buccs, but they have now won four straight since.

Rockingham improved to a 6-2 record on the back of their 95-69 win against the Magic on Friday night to take them within striking distance of the 6-1 Perry Lakes Hawks – who the Flames did defeat.

The Flames hosted the Magic at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the home team started well to lead 18-14 by quarter-time. Mandurah was sticking with them, though, with Rockingham only marginally stretching their half-time advantage to 40-34.

But it was in the second half when the Flames flexed their muscles and pulled further way of the Magic with 31 points to 22 in the third quarter, and 24 to 13 in the fourth to come away with the eventual 95-69 victory on their home court.

There was plenty to like from the strong all-round performance from Rockingham with captain Ryan Godfrey showing the way with 19 points and hitting 4/7 from three-point territory.

Jake Amos added 18 points and three assists for the Flames while knocking down 6/9 from beyond the arc as well.

Cirkook Makuac Riak finished with 15 points for Rockingham, Atam Bior 14 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals, and Justin Beard nine points, three boards and three steals.

Ben Smith put up 16 points and five rebounds for Mandurah with Ferd Williams contributing 16 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Jerami Grace 11 points and three steals.