Unique Thompson produced a stunning triple-double to keep the Albury-Wodonga Bandits unbeaten in the NBL1 East on Sunday while the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders won in remarkable fashion and Andre Wolford starred again in a win for Bankstown Bruins.
Sunday's NBL1 East women's matches saw the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders beat the Bankstown Bruins 88-87 with the Albury-Wodonga Bandits beating the Centre of Excellence 86-73, and the Maitland Mustangs downed the Inner West Bulls 69-52.
Then in the men's contests, the Bruins defeated the Spiders 88-72, the Centre of Excellence beat the Bandits 96-83, and the Mustangs downed the Bulls 103-81.
RECAP NBL1 EAST | ROUND 7 SATURDAY
WOMEN
Bankstown Bruins (87) lost to Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (88)
The Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders have won at the buzzer in remarkable circumstances with the tip-in from the opposition as time expired for the 88-87 win over the Bankstown Bruins.
It was the most incredible finish imaginable with the Spiders calling the timeout down a point to the Bruins with 0.7 of a second left on the clock.
Keira Hudson took the inbounds and threw the lob pass directed towards Nicola Sainsbury, but instead Britney Wright intercepted for Bankstown and inadvertently tipped the ball up into the basket.
The score counted, the buzzer went and the Spiders scored their second win of the season in circumstances that just need to be seen to be believed.
Bankstown had done well to put themselves back in a winning position after falling 11 points down in the third quarter, and still trailing by eight during the final term.
It was Jihyun Park who put the Bruins back in front by a point with 0.7 seconds on the clock heading into that final timeout and the stunning finish.
Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai improves to a 2-10 record on the season with the win with Jessie Hall delivering 23 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Keira Hudson added 21 points and two rebounds, Haruna Inamura 13 points, three boards and three assists, and Courtney Murphy nine points, four rebounds and two steals.
It was a heartbreaking way for Bankstown to suffer a fifth consecutive defeat with Jihyun Park producing 29 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Britney Wright also had 25 points and nine rebounds on 4/7 three-point shooting with Kira-May Filemu delivering 19 points and five boards also going 4/7 from deep, and Lily Austin eight points, three rebounds and two assists.
The Bruins will next be on the road to the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday with the Spiders to play host to the Hills Hornets.
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 87 (Park 29, Wright 25, Filemu 19)
HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 88 (Hall 23, Hudson 21, Inamura)
Centre of Excellence (73) lost to Albury-Wodonga Bandits (86)
Even without Lauren Jackson, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits stayed perfect this NBL1 East season with 2022 Grand Final MVP Unique Thompson starring in the 86-73 win over the Centre of Excellence.
Jackson delivered a remarkable 50 points and 19 rebounds in the Saturday night win over the Canberra Nationals, but she wasn’t there on Sunday as the Bandits put their undefeated record on the line against the Centre of Excellence.
Thompson returned in that game the previous night and with her in the line-up, Albury-Wodonga had little trouble still performing at a high level even without Jackson.
The Bandits were only narrowly leading 24-21 by quarter-time before narrowly extending that advantage to 44-39 by the half-time break.
Albury-Wodonga did keep stretching that lead in the third quarter opening up a 15-point advantage and from there going on to score the 13-point victory to improve to a perfect 11-0 on the season.
Unique Thompson showed she's still as impressive a force as when she won the Grand Final MVP in 2022 by delivering 30 points, 22 rebounds, 11 steals and three assists in a stunning triple-double performance.
Mikayla Pivec also put up 17 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds, Elizabeth Murphy 16 points and two boards, Ash Hannan 12 points and nine rebounds, and Awatea Leach nine points and eight steals.
The Centre of Excellence are now 5-5 on the season following the loss with Monique Bobongie producing another 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Sienna Harvey added 16 points, four boards and two assists, Sitaya Fagan nine points, five rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals, and Daisy Nousis nine points, four rebounds and two steals.
The Centre of Excellence will play host to the Central Coast Crusaders on Saturday afternoon with the Bandits back home on Saturday evening to host the Penrith Panthers.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 73 (Bobongie 18, Harvey 16, Nousis 9, Fagan 9)
ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 86 (Thompson 30, Pivec 17, Murphy 16)
Inner West Bulls (52) lost to Maitland Mustangs (69)
The Maitland Mustangs shook off a slow start to overpower the Inner West Bulls for the eventual 69-52 road victory on Sunday.
The Bulls were back home at Auburn Basketball Centre looking for a second win of the season with the Mustangs arriving attempting to snap their own run of five consecutive defeats.
Inner West made an impressive start on its home floor going on a 10-0 run in the first quarter to open up a 12-point advantage, and to still be on top 22-12 by the end of one.
Maitland were able to turn things around in the second quarter by scoring 15 straight points and that saw the Mustangs go into half-time leading 35-30.
From there Maitland was able to pull away through the second half with the lead growing to 14 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth before they scored the 17-point victory.
The win improves Maitland to a 4-6 record on the season with Shakera Reilly finishing with 17 points, 11 rebounds and two steals.
Isabella Jennings also ended up with 14 points and nine rebounds, Sydney Hunter 11 points and 17 boards, Natsumi Kohama nine points, thee rebounds and three assists, and Rachel Williams eight points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The Bulls slip to 1-11 on the season with the loss despite Piath Gabriel producing 16 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Shiho Yamazaki added 12 points, six assists and three rebounds, and Margaret Robinson 10 points, nine boards and three assists.
The Bulls will remain at home to host the Canberra Nationals on Saturday while the Mustangs are back home to take on the Sydney Comets.
INNER WEST BULLS 52 (Gabriel 16, Yamazaki 12, Robinson 10)
MAITLAND MUSTANGS 69 (Reilly 17, Jennings 14, Hunter 11)
MEN
Bankstown Bruins (88) defeated Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (72)
Andre Wolford produced another strong performance to lead the Bankstown Bruins to the 88-72 Sunday home victory against the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.
The Bruins scored the 16-point win away to the Sydney Comets the previous night with Wolford delivering 37 points and they were back home at Bankstown Basketball Stadium on Sunday.
They were hosting a Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai team still hunting a first win of the season and having lost the previous night to the Norths Bears by 19 points.
Scores were all level at 17-17 at quarter-time but then Bankstown took charge in the second period with 27 points to 16 to head into half-time leading 44-33.
Bankstown went on with the job from there with another 25 points to 20 in the third stanza to end up leading by as much as 18 points, and then winning by 16 in the finish.
The victory improves the Bruins to a 6-4 record on the season with the double win weekend with Andre Wolford delivering another 22 points and two steals on shooting 9/13 from the field and 3/7 from behind the three-point line.
Hayden Blankley also ended up with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots, Charlie McBeath 15 points, five boards, four steals and three assists, Wani Gwada nine points, and Naaman Hightower eight points, four rebounds and four assists.
With the loss, Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai remain winless after 12 games this season with Brian Ansuh-Yeboah top-scoring with 15 points and five rebounds.
Raymond Takchi also had 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Nathaniel Chappell 12 points, seven boards and three assists, Alexander Sidhu 11 points, six rebounds and three steals, and Aaron Redhead 10 points, three boards and three assists.
The Bruins will next be on the road to the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday with the Spiders to play host to the Hills Hornets.
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 88 (Wolford 22, Blankley 17, McBeath 15)
HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 72 (Ansuh-Yeboah 15, Takchi 13, Chappell 12)
Centre of Excellence (96) defeated Albury-Wodonga Bandits (83)
The Centre of Excellence kept their impressive winning form going on Sunday with the 96-83 victory at home to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits.
The CoE came into the contest having won their past five matches including the previous afternoon by 42 points against the defending champion Sutherland Sharks.
They were hosting a Bandits team at the AIS Basketball and Netball Centre who were attempting to bounce back from the Saturday loss also in Canberra at the expense of the Canberra Gunners to the tune of 18 points.
It was a terrific and closely contested match up through the first three quarters as well with no more than seven points separating the two sides.
The Centre of Excellence were leading by just a point at quarter-time before Albury-Wodonga had 25 points to 22 in the second frame to take the narrow 47-45 advantage into half-time.
It was then the CoE with the narrow one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and from there the Basketball Australia emerging stars proved too strong with 31 points to 19 to end up winning by 13.
It's a sixth consecutive victory for the CoE as they improve to a 7-3 record on the season with Luke Fennell top-scoring with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists.
Kye Savage added 16 points and seven rebounds, Jacob Furphy 14 points, three boards and two assists, James O'Donnell 14 points, 12 rebounds and two assists, and Julius Halaifonua seven points, seven boards and six assists.
The Bandits are now 7-4 with the two defeats in Canberra this weekend with Davo Hickey delivering another 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.
Mitchell Dance also finished with 18 points and five rebounds, Lochlan Cummings 15 points, eight assists and five boards, Kevion Blaylock 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, and Shawn Montague 12 points and five boards.
The Centre of Excellence will play host to the Central Coast Crusaders on Saturday afternoon with the Bandits back home on Saturday evening to host the Penrith Panthers.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 96 (Fennell 21, Savage 16, Furphy 14, O'Donnell 14)
ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 83 (Dance 18, Hickey 16, Cummings 15)
Inner West Bulls (81) lost to Maitland Mustangs (103)
The Maitland Mustangs made quite the ominous statement with the emphatic nature of their 103-81 Sunday afternoon road victory against the Inner West Bulls.
The Bulls were back home at Auburn Basketball Centre on the back of a thrilling win the previous night to the Illawarra Hawks ahead of hosting the league-leading Maitland.
The Mustangs hit back from their first loss of the season last week to the Hills Hornets by beating the Penrith Panthers on Saturday by 37 points and then keeping that momentum going on Sunday.
Maitland were already leading 27-16 by the end of the first quarter before pulling away further with 29 points to 17 in the second frame to lead by as much as 28 points and to go into the half-time break on top 56-33.
It was a commanding half-time advantage and the Mustangs maintained a lead around the 20-point mark for most of the second half before settling on the statement 22-point victory.
After losing the last two Grand Finals, Maitland clearly is on a mission in 2024 and sits atop the table after seven rebounds at 9-1 with reigning MVP Will Cranston-Lown delivering another 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
James Hunter was a strong force down low with 24 points and 10 rebounds with Billy Parsons contributing 19 points and 11 boards, Matthew Gray 12 points and 13 rebounds, Daniel Millburn 10 points, five assists and four boards, and Jay Cole 10 points, three rebounds and two steals.
It was a tough afternoon for the now 8-4 Bulls with Jacob Ohmer doing all he could with 33 points, three rebounds and three assists on shooting 12/24 from the field, 4/11 from downtown and 5/7 at the free-throw line.
Alex Higgins-Titsha added 19 points and 12 rebounds, Zachery Hudson 16 points, six boards and three assists, and Nicko Timonera nine points, four assists and three steals.
The Bulls will remain at home to host the Canberra Nationals on Saturday while the Mustangs are back home to take on the Sydney Comets.
INNER WEST BULLS 81 (Ohmer 33, Higgins-Titsha 19, Hudson 16)
MAITLAND MUSTANGS 103 (Cranston-Lown 25, Hunter 24, Parsons 19)
