NBL1 West Recap | Men's Round 5 Friday

The East Perth Eagles notched their first win of the NBL1 West Men's season on Friday night at the expense of the Perth Redbacks while the Rockingham Flames kept their winning form going against the South West Slammers.

There were the two matches on Friday night to open Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men's season with the East Perth Eagles tasting victory for the first time with the 90-86 victory against the Perth Redbacks.

Justin King put up 24 points in the win for the Eagles while Tevin Jackson delivered 26 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and four assists for the Redbacks.

Then at Eaton Recreation Centre, the South West Slammers put up a fight chasing their first victory of 2022 but the Rockingham Flames ended up prevailing 87-74 away from home.

Devondrick Walker produced another standout performance for the Flames in the win with 32 points and 13 rebounds while hitting 7/13 from beyond the arc. Buay Tuach put up 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals for the Slammers.

Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men's competition continues on Saturday evening with the Joondalup Wolves at home to the Lakeside Lightning with the Warwick Senators hosting the Willetton Tigers, and the Cockburn Cougars taking on the Mandurah Magic.

The Perry Lakes Hawks will also be hosting the South West Slammers with the Rockingham Flames also at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns. The Geraldton Buccaneers and Goldfields also lock horns in Geraldton.

The round will then wrap on Sunday afternoon at Ray Owen Sports Centre with the Eastern Suns at home to the East Perth Eagles.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 5 – FRIDAY NIGHT

EAST PERTH EAGLES 90 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 86

Two teams desperate for a win did battle at Herb Graham Recreation Centre on Friday night and it was the East Perth Eagles who got their wish over the Perth Redbacks.

The Eagles were back on their home floor to open Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men's competition still hunting their first win of the season while they were up against a Redbacks team attempting to string back-to-back wins together after beating Lakeside last week.

The Redbacks started on fire as they looked to start finding their groove this season with Louis Timms, Zac Gattorna, Jerami Grace and Tevin Jackson all in the line-up together.

They put up 31 points to 21 in the opening quarter but the Eagles were able to hit back strongly to hold their opponents to eight points in the second period. They put up 23 themselves and went into the half-time break leading 44-39.

The Eagles then extended their advantage to 62-54 by three quarter-time and despite the Redbacks putting up 32 points in the fourth period, East Perth held on for the 90-86 win to break their duck this season.

Justin King tasted a win for the first time since joining the East Perth Eagles this season from the Warwick Senators. He delivered 24 points, seven rebounds and two assists despite shooting 6/17. He did go 12/13 from the foul line though.

Mateo Campbell added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, Christian Bonnar 13 points, eight boards, five assists and two steals, Fabian Johnson 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Elijah Pawson eight points, three boards and three assists.

Tevin Jackson put up an impressive performance for the Redbacks made up of 26 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Louis Timms added 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists with Zac Gattorna contributing 13 points, six rebounds and four assists fresh off his season in the NBL with the Adelaide 36ers.

Jerami Grace also had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists for Perth with Denzel Jackson contributing eight points on 4/5 shooting in under 10 minutes.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 74 lost to ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 87

The South West Slammers put in a spirited performance on their home floor on Friday night but ultimately Devondrick Walker and the Rockingham Flames proved too strong.

The Slammers were hunting their first win still of the 2022 season after losing their opening five matches but it was never going to be an easy task against a Rockingham team featuring Devondrick Walker, Greg Hire, Marshall Nelson and Ryan Godfrey in the starting group.

Still the Slammers had come out motivated to hunt that first one and take what would be a significant scalp, and by quarter-time the scores were all locked away at 21-apiece.

Rockingham pulled away a little in the second quarter but the game was still up for grabs at half-time with the Flames holding a 45-41 advantage.

Rockingham took the game out of the reach of the Slammers with 20 points to 13 in the third quarter, but to South West's credit and kept fighting to the end even though it was an eventual 87-74 victory for the Flames.

Devondrick Walker was ultimately the major difference between the two teams with the former South East Melbourne Phoenix NBL import putting up 32 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and two assists on the back of 7/13 shooting from three-point territory.

Marshall Nelson added 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals for Rockingham, Ryan Godfrey 13 points, and Greg Hire 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Buay Tuach put together another exciting display showing off his energy and athleticism for the Slammers finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and two assists.

Brody England contributed 19 points and four rebounds for South West, Caleb Van De Griend 10 points, 11 boards and four assists, and Cody Hill 10 points and three assists.