NBL1 West Recap | Men's Friday Round 14

The Rockingham Flames earned a measure of revenge in a Grand Final rematch on Friday night to spoil Rob Cassir's Perry Lakes Hawks' milestone on what was a defining opening to Round 14 across the board.

Round 14 in the NBL1 West began on Friday night with eventual wins for the Cockburn Cougars, Mandurah Magic, Rockingham Flames, Warwick Senators and Joondalup Wolves.

The Cockburn Cougars had to fight hard to overcome the Lakeside Lightning but their big guns stepped up in an eventual 91-83 victory.

Veteran point guard Seva Chan had 22 points and nine rebounds while Gavin Field and Carter Skaggs combined for 39 points and seven three-pointers.

Lakeside put up a strong fight with Dom Jackson putting up 21 points, Landon Taliaferro 20 and Donnie Vaughn 18.

It was a thrilling contest full of highlight reel plays at Belmont Oasis. 

Most of them came from the Perth Redbacks with Jerami Grace, Zac Gattorna, Louis Timms and Tevin Jackson battling hard to keep the Redbacks' form going, but the Joondalup Wolves proved too strong and too deep to win 87-84.

Jonathan Wade delivered 34 points for the Wolves and CJ Turnage 28 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. Timms had 31 points and nine rebounds for the Redbacks against his original club.

It was a Grand Final rematch at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Friday night and the Rockingham Flames got a measure of revenge to end up winning 104-79 over the Perry Lakes Hawks in what was Rob Cassir's 300th appearance.

It's a remarkable achievement for Cassir to reach 300 games after the debilitating knee problems that threatened to end his career, but he's since gone on to become a dual championship winning co-captain with Perry Lakes.

However, he couldn’t quite celebrate his milestone with a win with the Flames flexing their muscles with 34 points from Devondrick Walker and 23 points and six assists from Marshall Nelson.

The Mandurah Magic consolidated their hold on a playoff position by beating the South West Slammers 105-86 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Dequan Abrom put up another 21 points for Mandurah with Jay Bowie adding 18 points and Christian Jurlina 18. Buay Tuach delivered 32 points for the Slammers.

The thriller of the night took place at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Warwick Senators beating the Willetton Tigers 89-88 with the Senators staying in the top four as a result while the Tigers fell further out of playoff contention.

Kyle Zunic put up 19 points and seven assists for Warwick while his Perth Wildcats teammate Majok Majok made his debut with 17 points in 19 minutes.

Travis Fee had 18 points for Willetton and Michael Vigor 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists but he'll have a restless sleep after his two late missed free-throws.

Round 14 in the NBL1 West continues on Saturday evening with the East Perth Eagles hosting the Willetton Tigers while the Warwick Senators take on the Lakeside Lightning and the Cockburn Cougars host the Rockingham Flames.

The Goldfields Giants will also play host to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns while the Perry Lakes Hawks face off with the Geraldton Buccaneers in a battle of two of the last three championship winning teams.

Then on Sunday, the Joondalup Wolves are at home to the Geraldton Buccaneers in a rematch of the 2019 Grand Final.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 14 – FRIDAY NIGHT

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 83 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 91

The Cockburn Cougars kept their top four prospects alive with a hard earned eight-point victory against the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night.

Lakeside was at home to Cockburn at Lakeside Recreation Centre to open Round 14 of the NBL1 West but it was the Cougars who worked their way on top in the first quarter with a 9-0 run before leading 21-15 by quarter-time.

The Cougars then moved further clear in the second quarter scoring another eight straight points and leading by as much as 19 points with Paschal Chukwu delivering a handful of massive blocks while Carter Skaggs was spectacular up the other end, and Gavin Field and Seva Chan leading the charge.

Cockburn still led 45-28 by the half-time break but Lakeside tried their best to work back into the contest scoring nine consecutive points in the third term.

However, the Cougars wouldn’t be denied and led again by as much as 20 points in the fourth quarter before then staving off the late fightback from Lakeside to win 91-83.

The win improves Cockburn to a 10-6 record on the season while Lakeside slips to 3-13 following the defeat.

Experienced point guard Seva Chan had a tremendous night for the Cougars in his 258th match with 22 points, nine assists and five rebounds.

Gavin Field added another 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots including knocking down 4/6 from three-point territory.

Carter Skaggs finished with 19 points and nine rebounds with Paschal Chukwu adding eight points, 15 rebounds and five blocks, and Luke Phillips eight points and seven boards.

Dom Jackson top-scored for Lakeside with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists while hitting 4/8 from three-point range.

Landon Taliaferro added 20 points and six rebounds for the Lightning, Donnie Vaughn 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and four blocks, Nick Palleschi six points and five assists, Ben Fairclough six points and two blocks, and Majier Garang six points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

 

PERTH REDBACKS 84 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 87

The Perth Redbacks provided plenty of spectacular plays, but the Joondalup Wolves were steady enough to hold on and win by three points on Friday night.

The Redbacks have been in impressive form in recent times as they try to break into the top eight ahead of hosting the second placed Wolfpack at Belmont Oasis on Friday night.

Perth's stars delivered plenty of highlight plays from the outset as well with Zac Gattorna in an especially aggressive shot blocking mood with Louis Timms finishing strongly and Tevin Jackson and Jerami Grace in playmaking mode.

Despite that, the Wolves were delivering too and by quarter-time scores were level at 22-22. It remained a tight contest in the second quarter and by half-time it was the Wolves narrowly leading 42-40.

The Wolfpack then opened the game up in the third quarter by outscoring the Redbacks 27 points to 18 which saw the visitors leading 69-58.

The Redbacks weren’t going to go down wondering, though, and eventually a three-pointer from Timms against his original club made it a two-point ball game in the final minute.

However, the home team couldn’t quite get closer than that and a pair of Joondalup free-throws to Maris Colton and then an offensive rebound and putback from 226-game veteran Tom Parkinson sealed the 87-84 win for the Wolfpack.

The victory improves the Wolves to a 13-3 record on the season setting up a tantalising top of the table clash with the Geraldton Buccaneers on Sunday. The Redbacks remain outside the top eight at 8-9 with the loss.

Jonathan Wade produced another standout performance for Joondalup made up of 34 points, three rebounds and three assists with CJ Turnage adding 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Joel Vaiangina added nine points and six rebounds with Maris Colton contributing eight points and three boards.

Louis Timms delivered 31 points and nine rebounds for the Redbacks with Jerami Grace adding 17 points and seven assists, Tevin Jackson 15 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals, and Zac Gattorna 15 points, 10 boards, seven blocks and four assists.

 

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 104 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 79

The second Grand Final rematch of 2022 saw the Rockingham Flames get one back over the Perry Lakes Hawks with the 25-point victory.

The Hawks beat the Flames in last year's Grand Final to win the championship and then also prevailed at Bendat Basketball Centre 102-93 three weeks ago in their first rematch of the season.

Then coming into Friday night's battle the Hawks were celebrating the 300-game milestone of dual championship winning co-captain Rob Cassir, but the Flames had too much firepower as the night unfolded.

Rockingham did open up a nine-point lead during the first quarter before still holding a 27-24 edge by the end of one.

Perry Lakes stayed in touch, though, during the second period and they went on an 11-0 run to grab the lead, and by half-time the scores were locked at 45-45 and the stage was set for another titanic battle.

It was all the Flames in the third quarter as they came out and hit 11 consecutive points and that saw them take an 11-point edge into three quarter-time.

Rockingham went on with the job on their home floor with 28 more points to 14 in the fourth quarter to end up winning 104-79.

The victory improves Rockingham to a 13-4 record on the season to maintain their hold on a top four spot while Perry Lakes is only just clinging on in the top eight at 8-8.

It was a hot shooting performance from the Flames as they went 54.2 per cent from the field and nailed 15/33 from downtown at 45.5 per cent. The Hawks shot it at 42.1 per cent while gong 12/36 at 33.3 per cent from beyond the arc.

MVP fancy Devondrick Walker was terrific once more for Rockingham with 34 points and four assists while connecting on 8/13 from three-point territory.

Marshall Nelson added 23 points and six assists, Travis Durnin 12 points and six boards, Tom Jervis 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Ryan Godfrey seven points and three assists.

In his 300th game of a career that at one stage he thought was over because of knee problems, Perry Lakes co-captain Rob Cassir did what he could to inspire his team with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on 5/9 shooting.

Matt Leary added 15 points for the Hawks, Andrew Ferguson 13 points and nine rebounds, Lewis Thomas 11 points and five rebounds, Cooper Hamilton 11 points, and Ben Purser eight points, nine assists and six rebounds.

 

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 86 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 105

The Mandurah Magic had to fight hard but ended up overpowering the South West Slammers for the 19-point road win to consolidate their hold on a top eight position.

The Slammers played host to the Magic at Eaton Recreation Centre on Friday night still hunting their second win of the season while the Magic need to keep winning to maintain their hold on a top eight position.

The Magic were able to start strongly away from home with a 9-0 run in the first quarter on the way to opening up a 15-point lead and still being on top 32-21 by quarter-time.

The Slammers were fighting hard but just didn't have the same class as the Magic with Mandurah stretching their advantage to 50-33 by the half-time break.

Mandurah really got rolling then in the third quarter to put the result beyond doubt with another 33 points to 19 to see the lead get out to 31 points with the Magic on top 83-52.

To the Slammers credit they fought the game out well with 34 points to 22 in the fourth quarter but the Magic still got the win they needed, 105-86.

The victory improves Mandurah to a 10-7 record on the season while the Slammers have now lost nine in-a-row at 1-17.

Dequan Abrom ended up top-scoring for the Magic with 21 points, six rebounds and two steals while hitting 4/7 from three-point territory.

Jay Bowie added 18 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots while Ray Turner produced 14 points and five boards, Cousteau Kyle 13 points and eight rebounds, and Riley Parker 12 points, three assists and two steals.

Buay Tuach did what he could to try and inspire the Slammers with 32 points and four assists with 4/7 shooting from beyond the arc and 12/21 overall. However, fellow import Raphell Thomas-Edwards had a night to forget with two points on 1/6 shooting and playing just 12 minutes.

Caleb Van De Griend added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Slammers, Cody Hill 11 points and three boards, Brody England 10 points and three rebounds, and Tanner Vogel eight points and three rebounds.

 

WILLETTON TIGERS 88 lost to WARWICK SENATORS 89

The Willetton Tigers and Warwick Senators played out an encounter destined to come down to the wire and that's exactly what happened with the Senators holding on for the one-point road win.

The Tigers were at home to the Senators at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday night as part of Round 14 in the NBL1 West with Willetton desperate to win to stay any sort of chance of reaching the finals while Warwick also needed a win to maintain their hold on a top four spot.

Both teams came into the game missing some key players too with the Tigers still without starting point guard Connor Mincherton and Perth Wildcats development player Oliver Hayes-Brown.

The Senators were still missing Corban Wroe and Bryan Michaels along with head coach Luke Brennan but they did welcome Perth Wildcats centre Majok Majok to make his debut for Warwick. 

It was his first time playing in the league since playing 15 games for East Perth in 2007 and nine for Kalamunda in 2008.

Willetton started well with 27 points to 22 in the opening quarter and at one point they did hold an 11-point lead. The Tigers maintained that edge during the second term ad went into half-time leading 45-39.

However, the Senators got firing during the third quarter as you would expect. Warwick scored 11 straight points to take a seven-point lead during the third quarter, and to still be up 64-62 at three quarter-time.

The lead continued to seesaw and it was Michael Vigor who put Willetton back on top midway through the fourth term when he drained a huge three-pointer.

However, the Senators responded with a three ball from Kyle Zunic and then three free-throws from Caleb Davis. The rollercoaster ride continued when Huter Clarke put the Tigers back o top with a three before Majok Majok scored inside for Warwick to tie scores up.

The Senators then led by a point after a free-throw to Davis and in the end, it came down to the two free-throws for Vigor. 

Despite his 257 games of experience, he missed both and Warwick grabbed the defensive rebound and were able to wind down the clock for the thrilling one-point win.

It was a massive result for both clubs with the Senators improving to 12-4 as a result to stay solid in the top four ahead of hosting the Lakeside Lightning on Saturday night while the Tigers fall further out of the playoff hunt at 6-11.

Perth Wildcats guard Kyle Zunic put up 19 points and seven assists for the Senators with George Pearl adding 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Caleb Davis 17 points and 11 boards.

Majok Majok delivered 17 points and six rebounds in just under 19 minutes of court time while captain Cody Ellis had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Michael Vigor finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Willetton with Travis Fee contributing 18 points, four boards and four assists, Damien Scott 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Huter Clarke 12 points and four boards, Tom Gerovich 10 points and three rebounds, and Andrew Black 10 points.