NBL1 West Recap | Men's Friday Round 7

Perth Wildcats development players Kyle Zunic and Oliver Hayes-Brown came up huge in the Friday night NBL1 West Men's victories in Round 7 for the Warwick Senators and Willetton Tigers.

With Kyle Zunic coming up huge especially in the first half and Cody Ellis helping to close the door, the Warwick Senators were able to hold off the charge of the defending champion Perry Lakes Hawks for Friday night's 82-73 home win.

Zunic finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Senators while Adam Thoseby put up 19 points for the Hawks, and Andrew Ferguson delivered 13 points and 15 rebounds.

The frontcourt size and quality of Michael Vigor and Oliver Hayes-Brown proved the difference with the Willetton Tigers scoring the 97-84 victory against a shorthanded Lakeside Lightning on Friday night.

Vigor and Hayes-Brown combined for 47 points and 24 rebounds in the win for the Tigers while Ben Lee top-scored for Lakeside with 19 points on 5/13 shooting from three-point territory.

Round 7 in the NBL1 West Women's competition will continue on Saturday evening at 7pm with the East Perth Eagles taking on the South West Slammers while the Kalamunda Eastern Suns are also hosting the Warwick Senators.

At 7pm, the Geraldton Buccaneers will be playing host to the Mandurah Magic in what should be a tantalising match up.

Then at 7.30pm, the Goldfields Giants are at home to the Joondalup Wolves before at 6pm, the Perry Lakes Hawks will be hosting the Perth Redbacks and the Rockingham Flames at home to the Cockburn Cougars.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – FRIDAY NIGHT

WARWICK SENATORS 82 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 73

The Warwick Senators continued to build some impressive momentum beating the Perry Lakes Hawks by nine points at Warwick Stadium on Friday night.

The two teams had already met to start the 2022 season at Bendat Basketball Centre with Perry Lakes holding on in a thriller on the night they unfurled the championship banner, but it was a different story on Friday.

It was tough going in the first quarter for both teams with just the combined 30 points with the Senators leading 16-14 by quarter-time.

The Senators were then able to pull away further with Perth Wildcats development player Kyle Zunic impressive in the absence of Bryan Michaels with 14 first half points to help the home team to a 40-31 advantage heading into the half-time break.

Perry Lakes did continue to fight as you would expect the defending champions to do. When Matt Leary knocked down a couple of consecutive three-pointers, it was back to being a four-point ball game with just three minutes remaining.

Zunic responded for Warwick with a couple of big shots before Andrew Ferguson kept Perry Lakes close with a triple of his own.

However, it was Senators captain Cody Ellis who ultimately closed the door on the Hawks with a tough contested three-pointer with just a minute left. 

That made the margin eight again and the Senators went on to win 82-73 and improve to 5-2 while Perry Lakes is now 4-3 in its championship defence.

Kyle Zunic ended the night with 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Senators while Corban Wroe was at his crafty best with 14 points, four boards and three assists despite the six turnovers.

Cody Ellis finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Warwick, Caleb Davis 13 points, seven boards and two assists, and Tyler Shand six points and six rebounds.

Matt Leary top-scored for Perry Lakes with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists with Andrew Ferguson contributing 13 points and 15 boards, Ryan Smith 10 points and five rebounds, and Ben Purser seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

WILLETTON TIGERS 97 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 84

The Lakeside Lightning put up a good fight despite being shorthanded but ultimately the size and quality of the Willetton Tigers proved too much at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

It's been tough going for the Lightning so far in 2022 under new coach Dave Lindstrom with just the one win on the board coming into Saturday night's clash.

Then just to make the task tougher, the Tigers welcomed back Perth Wildcats development player Oliver Hayes-Brown to partner Michael Vigor up front while they were down on manpower themselves.

Sebit Reath and Landon Taliaferro were among those missing for the Lightning on Friday night, but they still put up a strong showing. 

Willetton did manage to open up a 23-15 lead by quarter-time but then the Lightning caught fire sparked by Ben Lee in the second period to put up 32 points to 26 and cut the Tigers lead at the main break to 49-47.

In the end, it was just the size up front of Vigor and Hayes-Brown, and the depth, quality and experience of the Tigers that helped them prevail and end up winning 97-84.

The result improves Willetton to a 4-4 record on the season while Lakeside sits at 1-7.

The frontcourt duo for the Tigers of Michael Vigor and Oliver Hayes-Brown showed they could prove quite the powerful force as this season rolls on if they can stay on the floor together.

Hayes-Brown, fresh off re-signing at the Wildcats for #NBL23, finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds on 8/11 shooting with Vigor delivering 23 points, six rebounds and four assists on 10/13 shooting.

Andrew Black stepped up to produce 15 points on 3/6 shooting from downtown with Hunter Clark adding 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Connor Mincherton 10 points, six boards and five assists.

The Lightning fought valiantly with Ben Lee top-scoring with 19 points along with 5/13 shooting from three-point territory.

Josh Davey added 17 points and 12 rebounds with Majier Garang delivering 15 points, eight boards and three blocked shots, and Dom Jackson 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.