NBL1 West Recap | Men's Sunday Round 9

A stunning Carter Skaggs shooting outburst helped the Cockburn Cougars snap the unbeaten run of the Geraldton Buccaneers in Sunday's NBL1 West action while the Mandurah Magic closed Round 9 with their second win of the weekend.

The Sunday match ups began at Wally Hagan Stadium and it was a remarkable contest which ended up seeing the Cockburn Cougars hand the Geraldton Buccaneers their first loss of the season with the 98-94 win.

Carter Skaggs was the star with nine three-pointers and 37 points for Cockburn including hitting the game winner. Cameron Coleman top-scored with 21 points for Geraldton.

Then at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, the Mandurah Magic made it a double win weekend with the 96-87 victory against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Jay Bowie delivered 24 points and eight rebounds for the Magic with Dequan Abrom adding 22 points while Andrew Ferguson put up 15 points and seven rebounds for the Hawks.

Round 9 in the NBL1 West Men's competition began with two matches on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Joondalup Wolves 96-90 and the Willetton Tigers overcoming the South West Slammers 94-77.

That led into the Saturday night action which saw the Geraldton Buccaneers come from behind to beat the Warwick Senators 95-88 and the Joondalup Wolves did the same to defeat the Cockburn Cougars 87-86.

The Mandurah Magic also beat the Willetton Tigers 95-88 while the Perth Redbacks won in Kalgoorlie 86-81 against the Goldfields Giants, the Rockingham Flames defeated the East Perth Eagles 98-75 and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns prevailed 86-68 against the Lakeside Lightning.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 9 – SUNDAY

COCKBURN COUGARS 98 defeated GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 94

Both the Cockburn Cougars and Geraldton Buccaneers took part in dramatic encounters on Saturday night, and backed it up to put together quite the show on Sunday at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Both teams played in thrillers on Saturday night as part of Round 9 in the NBL1 West Men's competition with the Buccs coming from the death to stay unbeaten to down the Warwick Senators while it was the opposite story for the Cougars who lost to the Joondalup Wolves by a point at HBF Arena.

That set the stage for Sunday's clash at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Buccs trying to keep their undefeated streak going while the Cougars were determined to make a statement on their home floor.

Cockburn got off to an impressive start to lead 28-23 by the end of the first quarter and they then really turned it on in the second quarter with sharpshooter Carter Skaggs catching fire in remarkable fashion.

He would end up scoring 29 points in the first half alone while knocking down 8/10 from three-point land with his shot making despite the Buccaneers doing all they could to get up in his grill simply remarkable.

His ability to drain contested three-pointers meant it was quite the spectacle and the result was Cockburn heading into the half-time break on target to hand Geraldton their first loss of 2022 with the 60-40 lead.

However, Geraldton came back from a 17-point deficit the previous night to beat the Senators at Warwick Stadium so they couldn’t be counted out and the Buccs showed their fighting qualities in the third quarter to get back into the contest.

The Buccaneers were able to lockdown Skaggs and hold him to two points for the third quarter and by going on an 11-0 streak at one stage, they built some momentum but were still 15 points down at three quarter-time.

The Buccs weren’t going to give up their undefeated season lightly, though, and when 2019 Grand Final MVP Liam Hunt drained a triple on his second attempt on the same possession, it was an eight-point game with five minutes to play.

Shaun Stewart then got to the rack to make it a six-point game, Malik Meunier caused the turnover and finished on the break, and then when Stewart scored again, suddenly a minute later the Buccs were just two points down after being behind 15 earlier in the fourth term.

Tensions were beginning to spill over with the intense Fletcher Klasztorny defence on Skaggs a big factor in the Geraldton fightback. They drew level when Hunt found Meunier for the alley-oop finish, but they couldn’t quite pull in front.

It was former Bucc Josh Hunt who regained the lead for Cockburn but it was only fitting the sealer would come off the hands of Skaggs. He nailed his only triple of the second half and ninth for the game to seal the deal for Cockburn who won 98-94 and handed Geraldton its first loss of 2022.

Carter Skaggs had a stunning afternoon for the Cougars finishing with 37 points, three steals and two rebounds while knocking down 9/13 from three-point territory.

Josh Hunt added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists for Cockburn, Luke Phillips 13 points, Seva Chan 10 points and eight assists, and Gavin Field nine points, four assists and three rebounds.

Cameron Coleman top-scored for Geraldton with 21 points while Malik Meunier finished with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Mathiang Muo added 16 points while Ryan Blanchett had 13 points and five rebounds, Shaun Stewart 10 points, seven boards and six assists, and Liam Hunt eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

MANDURAH MAGIC 96 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 87

The Mandurah Magic and Perry Lakes Hawks had already scored impressive Round 9 victories coming into their Sunday afternoon meeting at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Magic bounced back to the winning list beating the Willetton Tigers on Saturday night while back on Friday the Hawks were impressive at home to beat the Joondalup Wolves.

That consolidated both teams inside the top eight and kept them in touch of a top four position setting up a tantalising Sunday afternoon match up in Mandurah.

The Magic started strongly on their home floor to lead by as much as 11 in the first quarter to end up leading 27-17 by quarter-time.

However, Perry Lakes fought back impressively in the second quarter with 24 points to 16 and that cut the Mandurah lead to 43-41 at half-time.

The Magic were able to pull away once more and on the back of a 7-0 run they managed to build a game-high 16-point advantage during the third term.

That saw Mandurah lead 74-65 at three quarter-time, but the Hawks have made it their trademark to never say die and that was again the case.

All of a sudden when Adam Thoseby drained a three ball it was just a two-point ball game early in the fourth period and then the Hawks hit the front with Harry Imison connecting from deep.

Mandurah responded courtesy of Dequan Abrom before a couple of big buckets from Jay Bowie. Bowie then extended the Magic lead with a three ball and then the home team secured the eventual 96-87 when with Riley Parker stepping up to hit from the land of plenty too.

Jay Bowie continued his impressive form from the previous night for the Magic by delivering 24 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals while draining 4/8 from three-point territory.

Dequan Abrom added 22 points and six rebounds for Mandurah, Riley Parker 16 points with four three balls, Kyle Armour 14 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals, and Christian Jurlina 13 points, five boards and three assists.

Andrew Ferguson ended the afternoon with 15 points and seven rebounds for Perry Lakes with Adam Thoseby contributing 15 points, three assists and two steals while hitting 3/6 from three-point range.

Ryan Smith hit another four triples for 14 points with Ben Purser adding 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and Harry Imison 10 points on the back of 3/3 shooting from downtown.