Recap NBL1 East | Round 3 Friday

Lauren Jackson and Lochlan Cummings had huge games with Mikayla Pivec and Davo Hickey delivering triple-doubles in Albury-Wodonga Bandits home wins as part of Friday night in the NBL1 East.

The Round 3 Friday night's women's results featured the Albury-Wodonga Bandits defeat the Centre of Excellence 93-75 with the Bankstown Bruins beating the Penrith Panthers 104-72, and the Sydney Comets winning 75-56 against the Inner West Bulls.

The men's results then saw the Bandits beat the CoE 99-88 while the Bruins defeated the Panthers 88-77, and the Bulls downed the Comets 64-58.

RECAP NBL1 EAST | ROUND 2 SUNDAY

WOMEN

Albury-Wodonga Bandits (93) defeated Centre of Excellence (75)

Another standout Lauren Jackson performance on her own court and one more triple-double from Mikayla Pivec and the Albury-Wodonga Bandits stayed unbeaten defeating the Centre of Excellence 93-75.

The Basketball Australia young guns were playing their first game of the NBL1 East season up against an Albury-Wodonga team already with three wins under their belts ahead of the contest at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

It was in the second quarter where the Bandits blew the game open putting together a 10-0 scoring run to open up a 16-point lead, but the CoE did well to stay in touch and cut the home team's lead to 50-42 at half-time.

Albury-Wodonga did push its advantage back out to 16 points in the third period and then 20 in the fourth to end up winning by 18 and improving to 4-0 to start the season.

Lauren Jackson was a standout again for the Bandits with 27 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks on shooting 9/13 from the field, 3/5 from downtown and 6/8 at the foul line.

Mikayla Pivec produced yet another triple-double for Albury-Wodonga made up of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists with Emma Mahady contributing 14 points and five rebounds, and Ash Hannan 10 points, eight boards and three blocked shots.

It's a first game of the season for the Centre of Excellence with Sienna Harvey finishing with 20 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Bonnie Deas added 18 points and 13 rebounds with Monique Bobongie contributing 15 points, five boards and four assists, and Emilija Dakic seven points and 10 rebounds.

The Bandits back up to host the Norths Bears on Saturday at 5:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App while the Centre of Excellence face the Bankstown Bruins at home on Sunday.

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 93 (Jackson 27, Pivec 19, Mahady 14)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 75 (Harvey 20, Deas 18, Bobongie 15)

Bankstown Bruins (104) defeated Penrith Panthers (72)

Violet Morrow put up 34 points and the Bankstown Bruins won their first game of the season in style beating the Penrith Panthers 104-72.

Both the Bruins and Panthers had yet to win a game this season heading into the match up at Bankstown Basketball Stadium.

That increased the intrigue for the match up and after a tight opening quarter, it was Bankstown who took control in the second period by piling on 31 points to 15 to lead by as much as 21.

The Bruins were leading 59-38 by half-time as a result and then went on with the job in the second half to lead by as much as 36 and to end up winning by 32 to open their account for 2024 and leave the Panthers winless after three games.

Violet Morrow produced a huge performance for the Bruins in the win finishing with 34 points, four rebounds and two assists on the back of draining 8/11 from three-point territory.

Sienna Tutani added 13 points, eight boards and four assists, Abbey Vallance 13 points, six assists and three rebounds, and Britney Wright 13 points and four boards.

Tahlia Tupaea finished with 26 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for Penrith with Chloe Williams contributed 24 points, three boards and three assists on 5/11 three-point shooting.

The Panthers are on the road to the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Bruins are away to the Centre of Excellence on Sunday.

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 104 (Morrow 34, Tutani 13, Vallance 13, Wright 13)

PENRITH PANTHERS 72 (Tupaea 26, Williams 24, Byrne 13)

Sydney Comets (75) defeated Inner West Bulls (56)

The Sydney Comets were back home and recorded their first win of the season on the back of a hot start to beat the Inner West Bulls 75-56.

The Comets had lost their opening two games of the season before being back home at Comets Stadium to host the 1-3 Bulls on Friday to open Round 3.

That meant both teams needed the win and it was Sydney who shot out of the blocks going on a 16-0 run in the opening quarter to lead by 16 points, and still be leading 21-7 by the end of one.

The lead for the Comets did grow to 17 points in the second quarter and kept growing in the second half as well getting out to as high as 27 in the third period before Sydney settled on the 19-point win to improve to 1-2 on the season with the Bulls now 1-4.

Davida Dale is settling in nicely at the Comets having previously played in the NBL1 North with Mackay last year. She put up 17 points, 11 rebounds, eight steals and six assists.

Piper Anderson added 17 points, three rebounds and three steals with Dylan-Jada Alexander contributing 11 points and three boards, Alexandria Oliver 10 points, three rebounds and three steals, and Serika Shillingsworth 10 points and three boards.

Piath Gabriel top-scored for Inner West with 17 points and eight rebounds with Margaret Robinson adding 10 points and 10 boards, and Rachel Kemp 10 points, three steals, two blocks and two rebounds.

Both teams play again on Sunday with the Hawks at home to the Inner West Bulls at 1pm and the Comets hosting the Newcastle Falcons at 3pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.

SYDNEY COMETS 75 (Dale 17, Anderson 17, Alexander 11)

INNER WEST BULLS 56 (Gabriel 17, Kemp 10, Robinson 10)

MEN

Albury-Wodonga Bandits (99) defeated Centre of Excellence (88)

Davo Hickey kept his hot form going with a triple-double and the Albury-Wodonga Bandits put up 43 points in the third quarter to set up the eventual 99-88 victory at home to the Centre of Excellence.

The Bandits came into the round having won two of their first three matches this season before hosting the Centre of Excellence at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre who were making their first appearance of 2024.

The rising stars from Basketball Australia started strongly too in their first game opening up an eight-point lead in the first quarter and the Centre of Excellence were able to maintain their advantage to lead 43-34 at half-time.

The Bandits were up against it on their home floor but they caught fire in the third quarter going on a 12-0 scoring run to turn what was a nine-point deficit into a 13-point lead.

From there Albury-Wodonga held on for the 11-point win to improve to 2-2 on the season with the CoE 0-1 after their first appearance.

Davo Hickey is in a remarkable stretch of form right now which started in the back end of the NBL season at the Illawarra Hawks before he won gold with the Australian 3x3 team at the Asia Cup, and has brought that with him to the Bandits.

He finished with a triple-double consisting of 18 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists with Lochlan Cummings coming up huge too for 31 points, five boards and two assists on 7/12 three-point shooting.

Kevion Blaylock added 23 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks, Jacob Cincurak nine points, two boards and two assists, and Shawn Montague eight points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Jacob Furphy started his season with the CoE in impressive fashion hitting 4/8 from three-point range on his way to 20 points and nine rebounds with Julius Halaifonua putting up 16 points, five boards and three assists.

James O'Donnell also had 13 points and nine rebounds, Luke Fennell 11 points, seven boards and three assists, and Kye Savage 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.

The Bandits back up to host the Norths Bears on Saturday at 7:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App while the Centre of Excellence face the Bankstown Bruins at home on Sunday.

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 99 (Cummings 31, Blaylock 23, Hickey 18)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 88 (Furphy 20, Halaifonua 16, O'Donnell 13)

Bankstown Bruins (88) defeated Penrith Panthers (77)

With not only Hayden Blankley leading the way but five players scoring in double-figures, the Bankstown Bruins kept their winning start going beating the Penrith Panthers 88-77.

Bankstown won the opening two games of the season ahead of hosting the winless Penrith at Bankstown Basketball Stadium to open Round 3 on Friday night.

Even though the Bruins did open up an eight-point gap in the second quarter, Penrith were doing well sticking with them and Bankstown were only leading 34-32 by the half-time break.

The Bruins were then able to blow the game open in the third quarter going on an 11-0 scoring run. That saw them open up a 14-point advantage before winning by 11 to improve to 3-0 with the Panthers now 0-3.

Hayden Blankley finished the night with 24 points, seven rebounds and two assists for Bankstown on 9/15 shooting from the field, 3/6 from downtown and 3/3 from the foul line.

Thomas Buvac also had 12 points and seven rebounds, Andre Wolford 11 points and six boards, Naaman Hightower 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks, and Charlie McBeath 10 points and two boards.

Despite the loss, Ben Kearins had a big night for Penrith with 29 points, nine rebounds and assists with Zeke Evans adding 11 points, nine boards, three assists and two blocks, Brodie Schwarzer nine points, and Caleb Fetui-Fa'amoe nine points and six rebounds.

The Panthers are on the road to the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Bruins are away to the Centre of Excellence on Sunday.

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 88 (Blankley 24, Buvac 12, Wolford 11, Hightower 11)

PENRITH PANTHERS 77 (Kearins 29, Evans 11, Fetui-Fa'amoe 9, Schwarzer 9)

Sydney Comets (58) lost to Inner West Bulls (64)

It might have been low-scoring but it was still a fascinating contest between two in-form early season teams with the Inner West Bulls ending up beating the Sydney Comets 64-58.

With the Comets having won their first two games of the season and the Bulls three of their four, it shaped as a fascinating match up at Comets Stadium.

It was the visiting Inner West who raced out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter having held Sydney to just nine points to quarter-time.

The lead for the Bulls grew to as much as 17 points in the second period as well and by half-time the visitors were still leading 42-27.

However, things dried up for the Bulls in the third quarter and they managed just six points and with the Comets going on a 12-0 scoring run, they were able to grab the lead.

The momentum swings continued and the Bulls went on another 8-0 run themselves in the final stanza and that would prove enough for them to secure the six-point win and hand the Comets their first defeat of 2024.

Alex Higgins-Titsha continued his standout form to start the season for Inner West with another 18 points, 11 rebounds and two steals on 7/12 shooting including a statement dunk along the way.

Zachery Hudson also had 13 points and eight boards for the Bulls, Ramon Cao 10 points and eight rebounds, Tony Tolovae nine points, and Viliami Foketi five points, nine boards, six assists and three steals.

Biwali Bayles put up 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Comets with Obi Kyei contributing 17 points, 16 rebounds and three steals, and Johnny Crnogorac eight points and five boards.

Both teams play again on Sunday with the Hawks at home to the Inner West Bulls at 3pm and the Comets hosting the Newcastle Falcons at 1pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.

SYDNEY COMETS 58 (Kyei 17, Bayles 17, Crnogorac 8)

INNER WEST BULLS 64 (Higgins-Titsha 18, Hudson 13, Cao 10)