NBL1 West Recap | Men's Saturday Round 11

Top four contending teams Geraldton Buccaneers, Warwick Senators, Joondalup Wolves, Goldfields Giants and Cockburn Cougars all recorded NBL1 West Men's victories on Saturday night as did the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

Round 11 in the NBL1 West Men's competition began with a Grand Final rematch on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Rockingham Flames 102-93 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The round continued on Saturday night with the Joondalup Wolves proving too strong for the East Perth Eagles winning 83-61.

Jonathan Wade finished with 27 points and seven assists for the Wolfpack with Julian Pesava adding 21 points and 11 boards. Justin King had 17 points and nine rebounds for East Perth.

The Geraldton Buccaneers then maintained their hold on top position by beating the Perth Redbacks 94-69 at Active West Stadium.

Cameron Coleman produced 22 points and nine rebounds for the Buccs with Shaun Stewart adding 19 points and 12 boards. Louis Timms finished with 15 points for the Redbacks.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns won their third match of the 2022 season with a hard earned 84-80 victory on the road to the South West Slammers.

Albert Almanza finished with 17 points and six rebounds for Kalamunda while Rob Huntington had 19 points and five boards. Brody England top-scored for South West with 16 points and five rebounds.

The Warwick Senators showed their credentials once more with a commanding 95-71 home victory against the Mandurah Magic.

Caleb Davis finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and four steals for Warwick in the win while Dequan Abrom top-scored for Mandurah with 20 points.

On a stunning 10 three-point shooting night from Gavin Field, the Cockburn Cougars beat the Lakeside Lightning 104-94.

Field finished the evening with 35 points for Cockburn on 10/16 shooting from downtown while Carter Skaggs added 21 points. Landon Taliaferro led the scoring for Lakeside with 20 points.

It was a tight affair at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Goldfields Giants scoring on three successive plays in the dying stages to secure the 86-81 victory against the Willetton Tigers.

Gairges Daow finished with 25 points for the Giants and Jesse Ghee 24 while Oliver Hayes-Brown put up 25 points and 15 rebounds for Willetton.

Round 11 in the NBL1 West Men's competition wraps up on Sunday at midday with a tantalising match up between the Rockingham Flames and Goldfields Giants at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 11 – SATURDAY NIGHT

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 94 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 69

The Geraldton Buccaneers might have been without a star but had no trouble covering with a commanding 25-point home win against the Perth Redbacks.

The Buccs might have been missing star Mathiang Muo who has been averaging 15.3 points and 5.2 rebounds a game this season, but on their home floor on Saturday night they had too much still for the Redbacks to maintain their hold on top spot.

It's not as if it's not a talented and experienced Redbacks group who came to Active West Stadium, though, and they kept pace with the Buccs throughout the first half.

Geraldton led by just two points at quarter-time and that had only grown to six by half-time on the back of a buzzer-beating prayer from Cameron Coleman.

The Buccaneers then dominated the second half with their lead growing out to 18 points in the third quarter, and 25 in the fourth with them ending up winning 94-69.

It was celebration time for the home team as well with veteran Clayton Parfitt hitting the floor for just the fourth time this season to knock down a three-pointer in his 200th appearance for Geraldton.

It was a remarkable dominance from Geraldton on the boards with 59 rebounds to 36 and that's a Redbacks team featuring Louis Timms and Ben Smith.

Cameron Coleman finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Buccs with Shaun Stewart contributing 19 points, 12 boards and three steals.

Malik Meunier added nine points and eight assists, Mat Wundenberg eight points and two rebounds, and Fletcher Klasztorny six points and six boards.

Louis Timms produced 15 points for the Redbacks while Jerami Grace ended up with 13 points, five boards and three steals, Zac Gattorna 13 points, and Ben Smith 14 points and six rebounds.

 

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 80 lost to KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 84

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns secured their third win of the season but it was a nail-biter with the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Coming into the Saturday night contest the Slammers and Eastern Suns had only combined for a 3-21 record so far this season so both teams were hungry for a rare victory.

Despite losing to Rockingham by 33 points last week, the Eastern Suns had won two of their last six games coming into the contest after starting the season losing six in-a-row while the Slammers had lost their last three after breaking through for a win against East Perth.

The Slammers started well on their home floor and were leading 20-19 by quarter-time and they were able to maintain that slight edge to go into half-time up 36-33.

Kalamunda was able to turn the tide during the third quarter outscoring South West 29 points to 19 as they turned that three-point half-time deficit into a seven-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

It still remained a close game but in the end it was two turnovers that led to breakaway finishes for Kalamunda that sealed the deal. 

The first was with two minutes to go when Jacob Formosa forced the turnover on Cory Richardson and got it ahead to Rob Huntington who managed to flush it. 

A minute later and this time Xavier Shaw forced the turnover, he got it ahead to Formosa who finished at the rack, drew the foul and that ultimately sealed the 84-80 victory for the Eastern Suns.

The major difference in the game by the end of the evening was Kalamunda being rewarded by being aggressive taking the ball to the basket to end up getting to the foul line for 43 free-throw attempts opposed to 20 from the Slammers.

Rob Huntington starred for the Eastern Suns in his 273rd game in the league with 19 points and five rebounds with Albert Almanza contributing 17 points and six boards.

Xavier Shaw added 13 points and nine rebounds, Reece Maxwell 10 points and seven boards, Jacob Formosa 10 points and four assists, and captain Carl Aylett six points, four rebounds and two steals.

Cory Richardson finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Slammers with Brody England contributing 16 points and five boards, Cody Hill 14 points, Tanner Vogel 14 points, four rebounds and three steals, and Caleb Van De Griend 13 points and nine boards.

 

WARWICK SENATORS 95 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 71

The Warwick Senators produced a statement performance at home on Saturday night to beat the Mandurah Magic by 24 points.

The Senators came into the game welcoming back Kyle Zunic but still missing Bryan Michaels and were without Corban Wroe while sitting in third position and the Magic were dominant last week beating the Lakeside Lightning to be knocking on the door of the top four.

The stage was set for what loomed a terrific battle between two teams hoping to be genuine contenders in 2022, but the Senators asserted their dominance early on and never relented at Warwick Stadium.

The Senators went on a run of scoring 11 straight points during the first quarter to lead by as much as 12 and to head into the quarter-time huddle leading 25-16.

Warwick pulled away further in the second term including another 10-0 run to see the lead balloon out to 21 points, and the Senators turned into half-time in control leading 44-27.

The Magic could never gather any momentum to make a serious run during the second half with the Senators going on to win 95-71 to improve to 10-3 on the season while the Magic are 8-6 as a result of the defeat.

The Senators knocked down 13/31 from three-point range with Caleb Davis nailing 4/8 of those on his way to 24 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Captain Cody Ellis added 13 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals with Tyler Shand contributing 10 points and four boards, George Pearl 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Jay Thwaites 10 points and five boards.

It was a rough night a long way from home for Mandurah with Dequan Abrom top-scoring with 20 points while Ray Turner added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Christian Jurlina 13 points and five boards.

 

EAST PERTH EAGLES 61 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 83

The Joondalup Wolves made it four wins on the trot with a 22-point victory on the road to the East Perth Eagles on Saturday night.

East Perth did welcome back former Grand Final MVP with the Perth Redbacks and Joondalup big man Lee Roberts for his first appearance of the season, but it was always going to be a big ask against the Wolves at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

The Eagles came into the game on a seven-game losing streak with the Wolves having won three straight, and things went to form early with Joondalup quickly opening up a double-figure lead.

A streak of scoring 14 straight points for Joondalup saw the lead grow to 19 points during the second quarter and they went into the half-time break in control leading 44-30.

The Wolfpack continued to pull away further throughout the second half leading by as much as 21 points in the third quarter, and 24 in the fourth before winning 83-61.

The win is a fourth in-a-row for Joondalup who now hold a 10-3 record on the season while East Perth has lost eight straight at 1-12.

Jonathan Wade finished the evening with 27 points and seven assists for the Wolves on the back of draining 4/7 from three-point range.

Julian Pesava added 21 points, 11 rebounds and three steals while CJ Turnage contributed 12 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals, Joel Vaiangina 11 points, and Tom Parkinson five points and four rebounds.

Justin King finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for East Perth while Lee Roberts had 13 points and 10 boards in his first game of the season and 105th of his career.

 

COCKBURN COUGARS 104 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 94

A stunning shooting performance from Gavin Field saw the Cockburn Cougars keep their strong run of form going beating the Lakeside Lightning at home by 10 points on Saturday night.

The Cougars were back home at Wally Hagan Stadium to host the Lightning with Cockburn on a good run of form having won three of the last four, and the one they did lose on the road to Joondalup was a missed golden opportunity.

The Lightning might have won just two of 11 games so far this season but are a more dangerous team than that suggests, and it was a tight contest in the opening term.

The Cougars did open up an early nine-point edge but the Lightning fired back and Cockburn was only narrowly up 27-26 by the end of one.

It was still just a two-point Cougars lead by half-time but with Gavin Field on his way to one of the best shooting games of his 285-game career, the home team began to pull away in the third quarter.

Cockburn put up 31 points to 23 in the third period and they were up by 14 points during the fourth, and went on to secure the 104-94 victory.

The result improves the Cougars to an 8-5 record on the season to remain in touch with a top four spot while the Lightning slip to 2-10.

Gavin Field ended up nailing 10/16 from beyond the three-point arc on his way to 35 points to go with six rebounds and three assists.

Carter Skaggs contributed 21 points and five rebounds for the Cougars, Seva Chan 14 points and eight assists, Josh Hunt 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Paschal Chukwu eight points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

Landon Taliaferro top-scored for Lakeside with 20 points on 4/9 shooting from downtown while Donnie Vaughn added 19 points and six boards, Josh Davey 13 points and nine rebounds, Majier Garang 10 points and 11 boards, and Dom Jackson 10 points and five rebounds.

 

WILLETTON TIGERS 81 lost to GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 86

The Goldfields Giants came up with some huge plays late to score a crucial five-point road win on Saturday night against the Willetton Tigers.

The Tigers hosted the Giants at Willetton Basketball Stadium and at no point did more than seven points ever separate the two teams.

Willetton was without 253-game veteran centre Michael Vigor with Goldfields leading by a point at quarter-time before the Tigers went into half-time on top 39-38.

Willetton's lead was then three points at three quarter-time and it grew to seven with just under five minutes left when Oliver Hayes-Brown knocked down a three ball.

Mayo Malek responded with his own triple for the Giants and then a Gairges Daow three ball made it a one-point game. 

Damien Scott regained a three-point Willetton lead but then two finishes in transition from Jesse Ghee and Hussayn Ford, and then offensive rebound and putback from Malek ended up sealing the 86-81 Giants victory.

The Giants did well to grab their chances on the road for the crucial win but the frustrations of Tigers coach Adam Nener were boiling over by the final buzzer.

It was a tight and tense game all evening, but he felt things went against his team late in the piece starting with an off the ball foul call on Tom Gerovich seeing him foul out. 

Plenty of contact down low on Oliver Hayes-Brown ended up leading to a fast break finish and then there was a close out of bounds call that was strangely taken on the baseline by Goldfields and they ended up scoring on the play on an offensive rebounds to Malek. 

These are things that happen every night but Nener was frustrated by the way it ended with the Tigers slipping to 5-8 on the season as a result while the Giants improved to 8-4 ahead of taking on the Rockingham Flames on Sunday.

Gairges Daow finished the night with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Giants with Jesse Ghee contributing 24 points, five boards, three assists and three steals.

Mayo Malek added 16 points and six rebounds, Hussayn Ford nine points and 10 boards, and Lafonzo Smith eight points and eight rebounds.

Perth Wildcats development player Oliver Hayes-Brown delivered 25 points and 15 rebounds for Willetton with Damien Scott contributing 18 points and seven assists, Andrew Black 12 points, Travis Fee nine points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Hunter Clarke eight points and six rebounds.