NBL1 West Recap | Men's Saturday Round 7

Former NBL players Cody Ellis, Devondrick Walker and Mathiang Muo all delivered impressive match-winning NBL1 West performances on Saturday night while the South West Slammers won their first game of 2022 in thrilling fashion.

Round 7 in the NBL1 West Men's competition began on Friday night with the Warwick Senators beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 82-73 and the Willetton Tigers defeating the Lakeside Lightning 97-84.

Then on Saturday night, the Warwick Senators kept their impressive form rolling up the hill to beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 102-63.

Cody Ellis had a spectacular scoring night for the Senators with 31 points on 12/15 shooting with Caleb Davis and Corban Wroe both contributing double-doubles. Jacob Formosa top-scored for Kalamunda with 11 points.

The Geraldton Buccaneers maintained their undefeated run to start the 2022 season with a 111-85 victory at home to the Mandurah Magic.

Mathiang Muo came up huge for the Buccs with 35 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while Jay Bowie scored 25 points for the Magic.

The spectacular finish of the night came at Herb Graham Recreation Centre with the South West Slammers beating the East Perth Eagles 81-80 for their first victory of 2022.

East Perth was still up four before Xavier Cotton hit a three for the Slammers who then forced a turnover, and it was Tanner Vogel who took the ball up the other end to finish and give the Slammers the dramatic and remarkable one-point win.

The Goldfields Giants prevailed in a tight and tense battle in Kalgoorlie against the Joondalup Wolves, winning 73-70 on Saturday night.

Jesse Ghee finished with 19 points for Goldfields and Hussayn Ford 19 points and 13 rebounds with CJ Turnage delivering 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Wolfpack.

The defending champion Perry Lakes Hawks bounced back well from losing on Friday beating the Perth Redbacks 111-83 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Adam Thoseby had his best game of the season for the Hawks with 30 points on the back of six three balls while Louis Timms had 24 points for Perth and Zac Gattorna 22.

The Rockingham Flames continued their good form and handed the Cockburn Cougars a fourth successive defeat with the 82-63 win at home on Saturday night.

Devondrick Walker delivered another 25 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Flames with Gavin Field top-scoring for the Cougars with 18 points.

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

EAST PERTH EAGLES 80 lost to SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 81

If the South West Slammers were going to win their first game of the 2022 NBL1 West season it was always going to be in dramatic fashion, and that was exactly the case on the road to East Perth on Saturday night.

The Slammers had lost their previous 12 matches in the competition coming into Saturday's clash with the Eagles at Herb Graham Recreation Centre with East Perth also attempting to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss to the previously winless Lakeside last Friday night.

The Eagles started strongly on their home court with 31 points to 20 in the first quarter and then extended their advantage to 45-32 by half-time.

They led by as much as 19 points but the Slammers had come to fight chasing that elusive first win of 2022 and would score nine consecutive points during the third quarter to help them stay within 13 at three quarter-time.

But still with three minutes to play, East Perth remained on top by six points following a strong finish by returning big man Jarrad Anastasio.

South West would have to produce something special to break their duck in 2022 and it started with a Cody Hill steal on Justin King leading to a Brody England finish at the rim.

Cody Hill then drained a three-pointer and with two minutes on the clock, it was just a one-point ball game.

Some free-throws from Kieran Berry helped East Perth back out to a four-point edge but the Slammers weren’t done. Xavier Cotton drained a three before free-throws from King kept East Perth on top 79-76 with just under a minute remaining.

While King hit another free-throw to make it 80-76, the Slammers came out of a timeout with Cotton hitting another huge three. Then after an Eat Perth timeout, Rhys Barrett managed to force King to turn it over, he got it on to Tanner Vogel who took it to the rack and finished.

That put the Slammers on top and while he missed the and-one attempt, it was enough to give the Slammers the remarkable 81-80 victory as they won for the first time since beating the Goldfields Giants at home on July 24 last year.

Brody England finished the night with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists for the winning Slammers while Buay Tuach produced some spectacular plays at both ends on his way to 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Xavier Cotton added 11 points and three steals, Cody Hill nine points and four steals, and Rhys Barrett seven points.

It was a second straight loss on the buzzer in heartbreaking fashion for East Perth against a previously winless team, but Justin King top-scored with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four assists despite shooting just 4/17 and the five turnovers.

Kieran Berry added 14 points and five assists, Jarrad Anastasio 12 points, nine boards, five blocks and three assists, and Fabian Johnson 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

 

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 63 lost to WARWICK SENATORS 102

The Warwick Senators continued their momentum on Saturday night with Cody Ellis leading them to a 39-point win on the road to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The Senators beat the Perry Lakes Hawks the previous night by nine points at Warwick Stadium before heading to Ray Owen Sports Centre on Saturday to take on the Eastern Suns.

Warwick were on fire early with Corban Wroe and Caleb Davis combining for 14 first quarter points as they opened up a 32-19 advantage by quarter-time.

Kalamunda fired back in the second term, though, and cut the Senators lead to just 49-40 by half-time.

Warwick, however, pulled away further throughout the second half with 29 points to 14 in the third term, and 24 to nine in the fourth to end up winning 102-63.

The victory improves the Senators to a 6-2 record on the season with the two wins in Round 7 while the Eastern Suns are 1-8.

The Senators pulled down 49 rebounds to 31 from the Suns while also shooting 47.8 per cent from the field opposed to 35.8, and hitting 15/35 from three-point range to 5/27.

Captain Cody Ellis came up huge for the Senators delivering 31 points, three rebounds and three assists on some stunning shooting going 12/15 from the field and 5/8 from beyond the arc.

Caleb Davis added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Warwick, Kyle Zunic 12 points and six assists, George Pearl 12 points and 10 boards, and Corban Wroe 12 points and 11 assists.

Jacob Formosa put up 11 points and three assists for the Eastern Suns with Rob Huntington contributing 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, Albert Almanza 10 points and seven boards, and Brendan Dinardo 10 points. 

 

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 111 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 85

The Geraldton Buccaneers maintained their undefeated start to the 2022 NBL1 West season with another impressive display at home to the Mandurah Magic on Saturday night.

The Buccs had won their opening seven matches of the 2022 season coming into Saturday's clash with the Magic at Active West Stadium.

While Mandurah loaded up with talent this season including the additions of Ray Turner, Jay Bowie and Kyle Armour, things haven’t quite clicked how they'd hope and already they have had a change in coach with Jamie O'Loughlin replacing Aaron Trahair.

Again on Saturday night, though, the Buccaneers flexed their muscles on their home court starting with 31 points to 21 in the opening term.

It was more of the same in the second quarter with another 29 points to 20 to see the Buccs head into the half-time interval leading the Magic 60-41.

From there, Geraldton cruised to the 111-85 victory to improve to a perfect 8-0 record on the season after seven rounds while Mandurah is now 5-3.

There was a lot to like once more in the Buccs performance even in the absence of captain Mat Wundenberg, Grand Final MVP Liam Hunt and star import Cameron Coleman.

Mathiang Muo stepped up in the absence to deliver 35 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on a stunning shooting night going 11/12 from the field and 9/9 from three-point territory.

Ryan Blanchett added 26 points and seven rebounds in his best performance with the Buccaneers since joining from Kalamunda while Shaun Stewart had 18 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a superb triple-double.

Johny Narkle had a hot start to the game on the back of hitting the game winner last week against Rockingham to finish with 17 points and eight rebounds for the night.

Mandurah weren't quite able to match the firepower of Geraldton with Jay Bowie putting up 25 points, five rebounds and five steals on an impressive 11/18 shooting from the field.

Byron Pearson added 19 points and five rebounds, Dequan Abrom 15 points and four boards, and Ray Turner 12 points and seven rebounds.

 

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 73 defeated JOONDALUP WOLVES 70

It turned out to be a defensive grind in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night, but it ended up with a thrilling three-point victory for the Goldfields Giants against the Joondalup Wolves.

The Giants were fresh off also beating the Warwick Senators last week on their home floor at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium ahead of hosting the Wolves on Saturday night.

The Giants ended up leading 24-23 by the end of the opening quarter before stretching their lead to 47-39 by half-time.

However, Joondalup hit back in the third quarter with 19 points to 11 to leave scores all square at 58-58 by three quarter-time.

The Giants opened up a handy advantage midway through the fourth term on the back of Gairges Daow draining a three ball, then delivering a huge block that led to the flush up the other end from Hussayn Ford.

That had Goldfields on top by seven but the Wolves weren’t going away and on the back of a putbacks off offensive rebounds from CJ Turnage and Joel Vaiangina, it was again a one-point ball game with a minute to play.

The last points in the final minute would be two free-throws from Ghee and that was enough for Goldfields to win 73-70 and improve to 5-2 on the season after seven rounds while Joondalup is now 5-2 as well.

Hussayn Ford put up 19 points and 13 rebounds on 9/13 shooting for the Giants with Jesse Ghee contributing 19 points and four steals, Gairges Daow 17 points and three boards, and Mayo Malek 12 points and nine rebounds.

CJ Turnage produced 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Wolfpack with Julian Pesava contributing 16 points and four boards, Jonathan Wade 13 points and eight rebounds, and Joel Vaiangina 11 points and 12 rebounds.

 

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 82 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 63

The Rockingham Flames bounced back from a heartbreaking loss in Geraldton to hand the Cockburn Cougars a fourth successive defeat at home on Saturday night.

Rockingham did a lot right last Saturday night in Geraldton before losing with a late three from the Buccs so they returned to Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night motivated to bounce back.

The Cougars were also attempting to snap their three-game losing slide, but it was Rockingham who started on fire with 24 points to 11 in the opening quarter.

The Flames extended that advantage to 41-27 by half-time and then went on with the job in the second half to end up winning 82-63.

The victory improves Rockingham to a 6-2 record on the season by the end of Round 7 while Cockburn is now 4-4 having won its first four matches and now having lost the past four.

Devondrick Walker continued his standout form for the Flames producing another 25 points, six rebounds and four steals while shooting 5/13 from three-point territory.

Brendan Redhead marked his return and first game of the season for Rockingham with 16 points in 15:30 off the bench while Ryan Godfrey added 15 points and six rebounds, and Greg Hire nine points, eight boards and two blocked shots.

Gavin Field once again top-scored for Cockburn with 18 points on 8/13 shooting from the field with Paschal Chukwu contributing 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots on 5/6 shooting.

Carter Skaggs added nine points and six rebounds for the Cougars, Josh Hunt seven points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Nathan Pond six points and six rebounds.

 

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 111 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 83

The Perry Lakes Hawks bounced back as champion teams do with a strong showing to beat the Perth Redbacks by 28 points at home on Saturday night.

The Hawks lost the previous night by nine points to the Warwick Senators at Warwick Stadium, but they bounced back impressively on Saturday hosting the Redbacks at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Perry Lakes led 21-19 by quarter-time but the Hawks put their foot down in the second period with 33 points to 19 to head into the half-time break leading 54-38.

The Hawks continued on with the job from there to outscore the Redbacks 57 points to 45 also in the second half to end up winning 111-83.

The result improves Perry Lakes to a 5-3 record in their championship defence this season while Perth slips to 4-4 with the loss.

It was a dominant rebounding performance from the Hawks who collected 50 boards to 32 including 17 at the offensive end to nine.

Adam Thoseby produced his best game in Perry Lakes colours putting up 30 points in just 25 minutes of court time on the back of draining 6/12 from three-point territory.

Two-time championship winning co-captain and Grand Final MVP Ben Purser added 18 points and four assists for Perry Lakes with Andrew Ferguson contributing 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Matt Leary 14 points on 4/8 shooting from deep, and Lewis Thomas 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Louis Timms led the charge for the Redbacks with 24 points on 10/17 shooting while Zac Gattorna contributed 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, Jerami Grace 12 points and six assists, Tevin Jackson nine points and six boards, and Joel Wagner four points and six assists.