NBL1 West Recap | Sunday Men's Round 11

There might have only been two games to close Round 11 in the NBL1 West Men's Division on Sunday but it was a drama filled afternoon with the Perth Redbacks bouncing back while the Kalamunda Eastern Suns pulled off the stunning win on the buzzer.

With COVID-19 restrictions coming into place at midday just to make things extra interesting, the Perth Redbacks overcame the Geraldton Buccaneers despite 44 points from Mathiang Muo and then Buccs championship winner Brendan Dinardo turned hero for the Eastern Suns against the Warwick Senators.

Round 11 in the NBL1 West Men's Division got underway on Friday night with the Willetton Tigers holding on in a thriller 76-74 against the South West Slammers while the Lakeside Lightning beat the Cockburn Cougars 85-67 and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns started their remarkable weekend beating the Rockingham Flames 98-94.

Then on Saturday evening, the Cockburn Cougars snapped a seven-game losing run beating the Geraldton Buccaneers 101-58 while the Rockingham Flames bounced back as well to beat the Joondalup Wolves 93-75 at HBF Arena.

The East Perth Eagles also ended their losing run by beating the South West Slammers 86-70 with the Mandurah Magic getting their first win with Scott Machado in their line-up, downing the Goldfields Giants 99-89 in Kalgoorlie.

The Willetton Tigers made it eight straight too to maintain top spot with a 94-76 win over the Warwick Senators and the Perry Lakes Hawks ended the winning run of the Perth Redbacks, winning 97-74.

That led into the two games on Sunday starting at Belmont Oasis with the Perth Redbacks bouncing back to beat the Geraldton Buccaneers 105-83 despite the big showing from Mathiang Muo with Dayle Joseph also ending up ejected.

The final game of the round saw the Kalamunda Eastern Suns pull off the remarkable comeback to snatch the 96-94 win from the Warwick Senators at Warwick Stadium to give them two stunning wins in Round 11.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 11 – SUNDAY

PERTH REDBACKS 105 defeated GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 83
It turned out a more eventful afternoon at Belmont Oasis than anyone imagined with the COVID-19 restrictions coming into place as the game tipped off before the Perth Redbacks proved too strong despite a big Mathiang Muo showing and his Geraldton Buccaneers coach being ejected.

Both teams were coming off playing on Saturday night with the Redbacks losing to the Perry Lakes Hawks and the Buccs going down to the Cockburn Cougars, but things were still normal.

But by the midday tip-off, the COVID-19 restrictions were in place meaning everyone in the stadium had to wear a mask unless you were a player on the court and there was also a limit to those allowed inside to watch.

It didn’t detract from the spectacle, though, and a couple of hours later, Mathiang Muo had put up 44 points for the Buccs, his coach Dayle Joseph had found himself ejected and on the back of Louis Timms lighting it up in the first quarter, the Redbacks had too much firepower to win 105-83.

It was a hot opening from the Redbacks who were determined to bounce back from having their four-game winning streak ended the night before with the loss to the Hawks at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Timms was unstoppable putting up 14 points in the opening quarter alone knocking down threes, throwing down dunks and that helped the Redbacks opening up a 33-13 edge by quarter-time.

The Buccaneers kept fighting the rest of the way with Muo trying to close the deficit and then Aaron Ralph hit a couple of threes early in the second half to make it a 16-point game. But the Redbacks responded and the Buccs couldn’t ever really threaten despite Muo fighting to the end.

The Redbacks ended up winning comfortably by 22 points to improve to a 7-5 record on the season having won five of their last six. While the Buccs are finding the going tough in 2021 at 3-8 following the two road losses this weekend.

While Mathiang Muo was outstanding for the Buccaneers playing all but 1:45 of the game and ending up with 44 points, 10 rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 11/20 from the floor, 6/10 from three and 16/19 at the foul line, it was the number of contributors for the Redbacks that proved the difference.

After his hot start, Louis Timms didn’t even top-score for the Redbacks but still had 20 points including hitting 3/5 from beyond the arc.

In his third game of the season, Marshall Nelson did top-score for Perth with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 11/19 shooting while Zac Gattorna added 15 points on 3/6 shooting from the three-point line.

Tevin Jackson also had 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Redbacks with Lachlan Bertram scoring nine points, Derek Igbenoba eight and Kyden Edman six while captain Joel Wagner dished out another five assists.

As well as what Muo delivered for the Buccaneers, Aaron Ralph put up 12 points including hitting three triples before fouling out. The frustrations from the Buccs spilled over with coach Dayle Joseph receiving a second tech foul in the fourth quarter too.

Elijah Barbour had eight points and five assists while experienced guard Brandon Holloway has made the move from the Giants to the Buccs, and is working his way back nicely from a knee injury to play 24 minutes for four points and two assists.

WARWICK SENATORS 94 lost to KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 96
The Warwick Senators appeared on track to return to the winner's list most of the afternoon at Warwick Stadium on Sunday afternoon, but the Kalamunda Eastern Suns had other ideas in a spectacular finish.

On the back of winning the championship in the West Coast Classic last year, the Senators started the 2021 NBL1 West season on fire winning their opening five matches, but they had hit a speed bump recent.

Warwick had lost three of their past five matches coming into Round 11 and they then suffered another disappointing 18-point defeat away to the league-leading Willetton Tigers on Saturday night.

There was no guarantee of a bounce back despite being back home at Warwick Stadium on Sunday, though, for the Senators with the Eastern Suns fresh off having beaten the Rockingham Flames on the road on Friday night on the back of also scoring a thrilling win last week over the Goldfields Giants.

The Senators were again missing key players Justin King and Corban Wroe, and while they have terrific depth, their absence has been a factor in their recent form and Kalamunda was able to continue its momentum from its win against Rockingham on Friday.

The Eastern Suns led 24-22 by quarter-time before the Senators just managed to work their way on top in the second quarter to hold a narrow 47-45 lead by half-time.

Things remained tight most of the rest of the way during the second half too with neither team willing to take a backward step.

Caleb Davis helped Warwick to a seven-point lead early in the second half and another triple from Davis soon had the Senators lead get out to eight. But minutes later and the Eastern Suns were back in front and then by three quarter-time the Senators led 70-69.

The lead continued to change possession after possession to start the fourth quarter until Davis knocked down yet another three for Warwick to give the home team the 82-77 with just over five minutes on the clock.

Ethan Elliott kept the Senators up five with under four minutes to go but a minute later and an and-one play from Chris Johnson and three-pointer from Brendan Dinardo saw the Suns snatch the lead.

Johnson scored again to keep Kalamunda up three before a three-point play from Cody Ellis saw the Senators level scores up with a minute to go. Yet another Davis three-point bomb then appeared to give the Senators a significant edge until Dinardo answered immediately.

The game then had the most remarkable finish. Davis had a good look at three for the go-ahead bucket for the Senators but it was an air-ball. Warwick had two goes at a put back but couldn’t get it to fall before Johnson grabbed the offensive board.

His outlet pass found Dinardo all alone at half court and he strode in for the layup to give the Eastern Suns the 96-94 win as time expired.

It gives the Suns two remarkable wins this weekend over the Flames and Senators to improve to 4-8 while Warwick lost twice in Round 11 to be on a three-game losing run at 7-5.

Chris Johnson had a huge game for the Eastern Suns with 28 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 11/16 shooting from the floor.

Brendan Dinardo added 21 points including hitting 5/7 from the three-point line with Jermaine Malie contributing 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Chuatwech Reath nine points and two assists, and Ryan Blanchett eight points and five rebounds.

Cody Ellis put up 26 points and five rebounds on the afternoon for the Senators with Caleb Davis hitting 6/15 from three-point range for 24 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Alier Riak also had 14 points and three rebounds for the Senators, Ethan Elliott 11 points, six assists and five boards, and George Pearl seven points and six rebounds.