NBL1 West Recap | Men's Friday Round 15

The Perth Redbacks shook off the absence of three star starters to strengthen their NBL1 West Men's playoff aspirations with a thrilling win on Friday night while the Rockingham Flames continued their hold on a top two position despite also missing a couple of guns.

The Peel rivals locked horns at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Friday night and despite the absence of Marshall Nelson, Callum Beard and Greg Hire, the Rockingham Flames kept their impressive form rolling to beat the Mandurah Magic 101-82.

It was yet another spectacular performance from former NBL import Devondrick Walker who delivered 29 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds with six three-pointers for the Flames. Ryan Godfrey added 23 points and Tom Jervis 18 to go with nine assists and seven rebounds.

Dequan Abrom put up another 23 points, five rebounds and four steals for Mandurah.

The Perth Redbacks were able to strengthen their playoff aspirations despite the absence of starters Joel Wagner, Tevin Jackson and Jerami Grace to beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 85-82.

The Suns threatened to deliver a terrific comeback late spearheaded by 486-game veteran Seb Salinas, but ultimately a game tying three-point attempt on the buzzer was blocked by Zac Gattorna and the Redbacks won by three to stay in eighth spot.

Louis Timms finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds for Perth against his old team with Gattorna producing 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Albert Almanza scored 14 points for Kalamunda, Seb Salinas 12 and Brendan Dinardo 12 with the latter two combining for eight three-pointers.

Round 15 in the NBL1 West continues on Saturday evening at 6pm with the Geraldton Buccaneers at home to the Perry Lakes Hawks in a rematch from last Saturday night in a battle of two of the last three championship winners.

The East Perth Eagles are then playing the Mandurah Magic at 7pm and then it's a blockbuster between two top four teams with the Warwick Senators at home to the Joondalup Wolves.

Then at 7.30pm, the Goldfields Giants are at home to the Willetton Tigers in Kalgoorlie while at 8pm, the Lakeside Lightning play the South West Slammers and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns take on the Cockburn Cougars at 8.30pm.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 15 – FRIDAY NIGHT

PERTH REDBACKS 85 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 82

The Perth Redbacks might have been without three of their starters and most important players, but they were still able to hold off the gritty Kalamunda Eastern Suns for a crucial Friday night Round 15 victory.

The Redbacks couldn’t afford a slip up at Belmont Oasis on Friday night if they want to reach the playoffs in the NBL1 West in 2022, but that job became tougher with the absence of inspirational captain Joel Wagner, the versatile Tevin Jackson and gun guard Jerami Grace.

That meant that not only were Perth without three starters, but they took 39.4 points, 13.6 rebounds and 12.9 assists a game with them as well so the door was open for the Eastern Suns to score the upset on the road.

It proved to be a tight and entertaining contest all evening as well with the Redbacks holding a narrow 24-20 lead by quarter-time.

Perth was able to extend their advantage to eight by half-time but Kalamunda was doing enough to stay within striking distance.

The Redbacks did manage to push their lead out to as much as 11 points during the third quarter and they still led by nine in the fourth with five minutes to play thanks to a Louis Timms jumper against his former team.

However, it was then time for Seb Salinas to find his best shooting touch of the season to attempt to play match-winner for the Suns like he did so many times at the Joondalup Wolves as part of his stunning 486-game career.

Back-to-back triples from the championship winning captain suddenly made it a two-point ball game with the Suns a real chance at their fourth win of 2022.

Ben Smith hit a steadying long-range jumper for the Redbacks and then he blocked Jacob Formosa against the backboard on consecutive possessions but the Eastern Suns weren’t going away.

It was Albert Almanza to hit a massive three to make it a one-point game before Zac Gattorna steadied the Redbacks with a triple up the other end.

Rob Huntington then put back an offensive board to keep Kalamunda within two and in the end it came down to the last possession with the Suns in possession and down by three.

Almanza had a good look at the three, or at least he thought he did, until Gattorna used all of his athleticism to get a hand to it and deliver the block and the Redbacks held on for the 85-82 win.

The win keeps the Redbacks in eighth spot at 9-9 while the Suns have lost five straight now at 3-15.

Louis Timms came up huge once more for Perth against his former team with 29 points and 11 rebounds on 11/20 shooting with Zac Gattorna also producing 20 points, nine boards, three assists and three blocks.

Ben Smith stepped up for 11 points and eight rebounds with Austin Clarke producing 10 points and four rebounds with Devan Craig enjoying his starting role with nine points, five assists and three rebounds, and a massive putback slam along the way.

Albert Almanza finished with 14 points and six rebounds for the Eastern Suns while Seb Salinas hit 4/4 from downtown for 12 points, six rebounds and three assists in his best performance for his new team.

Brendan Dinardo hit three triples to open the game on his way to 12 points and three assists with Rob Huntington contributing 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Spencer Alone eight points.

MANDURAH MAGIC 82 lost to ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 101

Despite the absence of key players, with Devondrick Walker, Tom Jervis and Ryan Godfrey leading the way the Rockingham Flames proved too strong for the Mandurah Magic on Friday night.

The Magic played host the Flames to open Round 15 in the NBL1 West at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and with Rockingham missing Marshall Nelson, Greg Hire and Callum Beard, Mandurah might have thought they could cause the upset.

The Magic had won their past two matches coming into the game while the Flames were sitting second with three straight wins, and Devondrick Walker didn’t take long to warm to the task.

With Walker producing 11 points, five assists and four rebounds on his own in the opening quarter, the Flames were able to go on an 11-0 run at one stage to open up a 14-point edge, and to be leading 30-17 by quarter-time.

Mandurah was able to work back into the contest and put up 34 points in the second quarter, but they couldn’t really slow down Rockingham with the Flames still scoring 30 themselves to remain leading 60-51 at the half-time break.

Rockingham's defence then locked in during the third quarter to hold Mandurah to just the nine points while scoring another 21 themselves to end up leading by 21 during the period.

That advantage grew to 24 during the fourth term with the Flames ending up winning 101-82 to improve to 15-4 on the season in second spot while the Magic are now 10-8 and still not quite locked into a playoff position.

It was a stunning shooting performance all night from Rockingham and as a team they went at 59.4 per cent from the floor while knocking down 14/30 at 46.7 per cent from downtown. The Magic shot 38.5 per cent from the field and 34.4 per cent from deep.

Devondrick Walker strengthened his MVP claims for Rockingham finishing the night with 29 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds while shooting 11/17 and hitting 6/10 from three-point land.

Ryan Godfrey enjoyed his greater offensive responsibility in the absence of Marshall Nelson and the 286-game captain put up 23 points, six rebounds and three assists with Tom Jervis outstanding as a big man playmaker with 18 points, nine assists and seven boards.

Travis Durnin added 12 points and 11 rebounds, Brendan Redhead nine points and Jake Amos eight.

Dequan Abrom battled hard for Mandurah to finish with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists with Riley Parker delivering 17 points and four assists while hitting 4/6 from three-point range.

Jay Bowie added 13 points and four rebounds for the Magic, Ray Turner 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, and Kyle Armour five points and four assists.