NBL1 West Recap | Men's Saturday Round 5

The Geraldton Buccaneers continued their unbeaten run to start the 2022 NBL1 West Men's season while the Warwick Senators pulled off a miraculous comeback victory with Saturday night wins also for the Joondalup Wolves, Mandurah Magic, Perry Lakes Hawks and Rockingham Flames.

Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men's competition began with two games on Friday night which saw the East Perth Eagles defeat the Perth Redbacks 90-86 and the Rockingham Flames defeat the South West Slammers 87-74.

The Saturday night action then began at Active West Stadium and the Geraldton Buccaneers were able to maintain their undefeated start to the 2022 season with the 85-75 win against the Goldfields Giants.

Cameron Coleman delivered 24 points for the Buccs, Mathiang Muo 23 and Shaun Stewart 17 with Jesse Ghee top-scoring for the Giants with 25 points.

The Joondalup Wolves rebounded well from a tough loss last week at home to the Warwick Senators by beating the Lakeside Lightning 86-58 at HBF Arena.

Julian Pesava scored 18 points for the Wolfpack as did Jonathan Wade to go with 13 rebounds and four assists. Josh Davey had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Lightning.

It was a remarkable game at Warwick Stadium with the Willetton Tigers on top most of the way but the Warwick Senators stormed back from being 18 points down to force overtime.

It was then Cody Ellis who was the spark in the extra period to help the Senators win 97-89. Ellis finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks with Caleb Davis contributing 27 points and 4/8 from downtown including the shot to force the overtime.

Damien Scott scored 22 points for Willetton and Connor Mincherton 18.

The Mandurah Magic continued to find their groove this season with an impressive 93-67 road win over the Cockburn Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Jay Bowie was back for the Magic and produced 26 points with Ray Turner adding 16 points and 16 rebounds while Carter Skaggs and Gavin Field both had 14 points for the Cougars.

The Perry Lakes Hawks produced another strong performance with the defending champions beating the South West Slammers 87-65 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Cooper Hamilton top-scored for Perry Lakes with 17 points on a night where they had five players in double-figures. Caleb Van De Griend had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Slammers.

The Rockingham Flames won their second game inside 24 hours by beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 105-93 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Devondrick Walker was outstanding again for Rockingham with 33 points and 7/11 shooting from three-point land while Albert Almanza top-scored for Kalamunda with 19 points.

Round 5 in the NBL1 West Men's competition will now wrap up on Sunday afternoon at Ray Owen Sports Centre with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns hosting the East Perth Eagles.

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

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 85 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 75

Both regional powers the Geraldton Buccaneers and Goldfields Giants have made strong starts to the 2022 season coming into Saturday night's clash at Active West Stadium.

The Buccs came into the contest having won their opening five matches of the season while the Giants had won three of their four setting up what always loomed as a terrific match up.

Little separated the two teams in the first half as well with the scores tied at quarter-time and then Goldfields only narrowly leading 37-35 at half-time.

It was the third quarter that proved the different with Geraldton putting on the afterburners. The Buccs put up 26 points in the period while restricting the Giants to just 14 and that set the stage for the eventual 85-75 victory.

The result improves Geraldton to a perfect 6-0 record on the season after five rounds while the Giants are now 3-2.

Cameron Coleman put up 24 points and seven rebounds for the Buccs on 11/19 shooting from the floor with Mathiang Muo delivering 23 points and four boards, and Shaun Stewart 17 points, 10 assists and four rebounds.

Ryan Blanchett also contributed seven points, Liam Hunt five and Johny Narkle five. Captain Mat Wundenberg collected 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Jesse Ghee scored 25 points for Goldfields on 9/15 shooting with Mayo Malek contributing 17 points and eight rebounds, Gairges Daow 12 points and seven boards, Hussayn Ford 12 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.

 

JOONDALUP WOLVES 86 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 58

The Joondalup Wolves bounced back impressively from a hefty loss last Friday night to win big over the Lakeside Lightning at HBF Arena on Saturday night.

The Wolves suffered their first loss of the 2022 season last Friday night at home to the Warwick Senators losing by 33 points, but they bounced back impressively this Saturday hosting the still winless Lightning.

However, it was Lakeside who started the better and actually led the ball game 21-18 by quarter-time until Joondalup took over in the second quarter with 25 points to 10.

That saw the home team lead 43-31 at the half and they went on with the job from there with another 25 points to 20 in the third quarter, and 18 to seven in the fourth for the 86-58 victory.

That improves the Wolfpack to a 4-1 record on the season while Lakeside slips to 0-6 after five rounds.

Lakeside actually finished the night with two extra rebounds than Joondalup and 10 more offensive rebounds, and even got to the foul line 15 more times, but the Wolves just shot the ball a whole lot better.

The Wolfpack went 48.7 per cent from the field and knocked down 9/31 of their three-point attempts while the Lightning went at 26.0 per cent from the floor and hit 5/33 from beyond the arc.

Jonathan Wade finished the night with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for Joondalup with Julian Pesava contributing 18 points and four boards, CJ Turnage 14 points and five rebounds, Maris Colton 13 points and seven boards, and Mitch Newton 13 points and three rebounds.

Josh Davey finished with a hard working 15 points, 14 rebounds and four steals for Lakeside with Landon Taliaferro contributing 14 points, and Sebit Reath 10 points and nine boards.

 

WARWICK SENATORS 97 defeated WILLETTON TIGERS 89

The Willetton Tigers looked on track for their best win of the season for much of Saturday night before a stunning comeback from the Warwick Senators who went on to win in overtime at Warwick Stadium.

Having welcomed Michael Vigor, Damien Scott and Oliver Hayes-Brown into the line-up, Willetton had got back to winning coming into Saturday night's game while the Senators had built some momentum too including a 33-point hammering of the Joondalup Wolves last Friday night.

The Senators also welcomed back Cody Ellis for Saturday night's game while the Tigers were without Hayes-Brown, but still Willetton was able to open up a handy 47-35 lead by half-time on the back of 24 points to nine in the second quarter.

However, the Senators shot themselves back into the contest to set up a thrilling finish and in the end it was a massive three-point make from Caleb Davis that levelled scores up, and eventually forced the game into overtime.

Overtime was Cody Ellis time for the Senators and he scored his team's first eight points in the opening three minutes.

Emerging star George Pearl then grabbed yet another offensive rebound and made two at the stripe, before he then pulled off a steal to find Ellis for another two points. 

Ellis wasn’t done and blocked Travis Fee's three-point attempt and that proved enough for Warwick to have come from 18 points down to score the 97-89 overtime victory. That improves the Senators to 4-1 on the season while the Tigers are 2-4.

Caleb Davis finished the night with 27 points, five rebounds and two assists for Warwick while knocking down 4/8 from three-point land.

Cody Ellis had some early foul trouble but still delivered 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists by the end with Ash Litterick contributing 11 points and four boards, Bryan Michaels 10 points, five assists and four rebounds, and George Pearl 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Kyle Zunic didn’t suit up for the Senators but Corban Wroe had nine points and five assists before fouling out, and Tyler Shand stepped up for seven points, 10 rebounds and four steals.

Damien Scott top-scored for Willetton with 22points on 4/7 shooting from deep before fouling out with Connor Mincherton producing 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Travis Fee 12 points, five boards and four assists, Michael Vigor 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and Andrew Black 11 points and two assists.

 

COCKBURN COUGARS 67 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 93

The Mandurah Magic continue to build some impressive momentum this NBL1 West season following a strong road win against the Cockburn Cougars on Saturday night.

The Magic welcomed back Jay Bowie on Saturday night for the clash with the Cougars and Wally Hagan Stadium and they produced a mighty impressive performance.

Cockburn was on its home floor and were coming off their first loss of the season last week in Geraldton, and started strongly to lead the Magic 27-22 by the end of the opening quarter.

While Mandurah outscored Cockburn 21 points to 19 in the second quarter, it was still the Cougars leading 46-43 by half-time.

It was all the Magic in the second half, however, with the visitors outscoring the Cougars 24 points to seven in the third quarter, and 26 points to 14 in the fourth to end up with the impressive 93-67 win.

The result improves Mandurah to 4-2 on the season while Cockburn is now also 4-2 on the back of the two consecutive losses.

Jay Bowie marked his return for the Magic in style with 26 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks while shooting 9/13 from the field and 3/5 from three-point land.

Ray Turner added 16 points and 16 rebounds with Dequan Abrom contributing 18 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Riley Parker 13 points, fie assists, four steals and four rebounds.

Carter Skaggs finished with 14 points and six rebounds for the Cougars on 4/13 shooting from beyond the arc with Gavid Field adding 14 points and five assists, and Seva Chan 13 points and seven assists.

 

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 87 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 65

The defending champion Perry Lakes Hawks proved too strong for the South West Slammers at Bendat Basketball Centre on Saturday night.

The Slammers were still chasing their first win of the 2022 season but had put in a competitive performance on Friday night despite the eventual loss to the Rockingham Flames.

The Hawks came into the game having won three of their four matches so far in 2022 and then started on fire on their home floor on Saturday night putting up 30 points to 12 in the opening quarter.

To the Slammers' credit, they put in an impressive second quarter to make a game of it with 23 points to 16 in the second period to cut the Perry Lakes lead to 46-35 at the major break.

South West continued to fight hard but the Hawks were able to pull away with 25 points to 13 in the fourth quarter to claim the eventual 87-65 victory.

The result improves the Hawks to 4-1 on the season in their championship defence while the Slammers are now 0-7.

Cooper Hamilton top-scored for Perry Lakes with 17 points and four rebounds with Adam Thoseby putting up 15 points, Andrew Ferguson 15 points and 15 rebounds, Bailey Cole 13 points and three assists, and Lewis Thomas 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Caleb Van De Griend continued his breakout season with the Slammers with another 17 points and 14 rebounds with Brody England adding 15 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Lochlainn Simpson 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.

 

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 105 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 93

The Rockingham Flames made it two wins inside 24 hours on Saturday night by defeating the still winless Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Flames were fresh off a win on the road to the South West Slammers on Friday night while the Eastern Suns were still chasing their first win of the season at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night.

On the back of a spectacular first quarter from Devondrick Walker where he had 15 points and knocked down four three-pointers, the Flames blew the game wide open to lead 38-16 by quarter-time.

The Eastern Suns showed some impressive fight the rest of the way including outscoring the Flames 25 points to 16 in the fourth term, but Rockingham was able to still win 105-93 and improve to 5-1 on the season while leaving Kalamunda still searching for that elusive first win.

Both teams had good three-point shooting nights with Rockingham going for 16/36 and Kalamunda 15/34 but the Flames ended up getting to the foul line 28 times to 16, and had 16 extra rebounds for the night.

Devondrick Walker finished the night with 33 points and five assists for the Flames on 9/13 shooting from floor, 7/11 from three-point range and 8/8 at the foul line.

Marshall Nelson added 20 points and six rebounds for Rockingham while going 4/8 from deep with Tom Jervis contributing 15 points and five boards, Greg Hire 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Travis Durnin eight points and four boards.

Albert Almanza put up 19 points and three rebounds for the Eastern Suns while Rob Huntington produced 15 points and three boards, Spencer Alone 14 points and three rebounds, and Tom Atkinson 14 points, seven boards and three assists.