Recap NBL1 West | Round 5 Anzac Day

Melisa Brcaninovic put up 39 points for the Willetton Tigers in a big Anzac Day win against the Eastern Suns before the Tigers' men kept their momentum going with plenty of standout contributors.

It's become an annual event in the NBL1 West for the two teams to play to commemorate Anzac Day and it was Ray Owen Sports Centre's turn to play host in 2024.

It turned out to be two big wins for Willetton with the Tigers' women prevailing 104-71 and then the men backing up with the 102-76 victory.

GOULDING SHOCKING HERSELF WITH INSPIRATIONAL RETURN

NELSON EXCITED BY WILLETTON HOME HE'S LANDED AT

RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 3 SATURDAY

WOMEN

Kalamunda Eastern Suns (71) lost to Willetton Tigers (104)

It's been an uncharacteristically slow start to the season from the Willetton Tigers but Melisa Brcaninovic ensured that started turning around with 39 points in the 104-71 Anzac Day win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The Tigers arrived at Ray Owen Sports Centre for the now annual match up against the Eastern Suns on Anzac Day with both teams needing a win.

Kalamunda came into the match up with one win from five games while Willetton had one win from four so that heightened the stakes on Thursday afternoon of Anzac Day.

The Tigers are coming off playing in the past three Grand Finals and winning a championship back in 2021 so they arrived to face the Suns ready to get their 2024 campaign back on track.

It was Kalamunda who got the better of the start on their home floor, though, opening up an early nine-point advantage but by quarter-time Willetton had managed to bring scores level at 26-26.

The Eastern Suns did well again to push back out to a six-point lead early in the second quarter chasing their second win of the season, but then the Tigers began to take over in the back end of the opening half.

Willetton were able to score 11 consecutive points to take a 52-47 advantage into the half-time break.

The Tigers then took complete control in the third quarter outscoring the Suns 28 points to 12.

It was another 24 points to 12 in the fourth quarter as the lead ballooned out to 33 points and Willetton won by 33 in the finish to improve to 2-3 on the season.

Melisa Brcaninovic is playing her second season with the Tigers and was playing her second game of 2024 after finishing up in Europe, and she was the difference between the two teams on Anzac Day.

She finished the game with 39 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots on 14/22 shooting from the field, 4/9 from three-point land and 7/8 from the foul line.

Claire Jacobs is fitting in nicely at the Tigers too after her college career finishing up at the University of Nevada, Reno, and she put up 21 points, 11 rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks.

Her sister Amy Jacobs also delivered 19 points and seven assists with Katie Duncan contributing six points and five rebounds in just 12 and-a-half minutes.

It turned into a tough afternoon after a good start for the Eastern Suns with Tiahna Sears top-scoring with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Ella Fotu added 15 points, four boards, four assists and four steals, and Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Willetton backs up to host the East Perth Eagles on Saturday at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Eastern Suns don't play until being on the road to Lakeside next Friday.

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 71 (Sears 18, Fotu 15, McGhee-Pleasant 13)

WILLETTON TIGERS 104 (Brcaninovic 39, C Jacobs 21, A Jacobs 19)

MEN

Kalamunda Eastern Suns (76) lost to Willetton Tigers (102)

The impressive early season momentum continues to build for the Willetton Tigers with the 102-76 Anzac Day victory on the road to the Eastern Suns.

The Tigers came into the now traditional Anzac Day match up between the two teams on the back of a three-game winning run including handing the Rockingham Flames a first loss of the season last Friday night.

While it wasn’t quite on the same scale as the demolition job on Anzac Day back in 2016 in Alan Black's last game as coach as Willetton beat Kalamunda by 81 points, it was another emphatic performance from the Tigers.

While the Tigers arrived in hot form, the Suns have been playing better than a 1-4 record suggests including last Saturday's incredible triple-overtime loss to the Perth Redbacks.

Scores were all level at 22-22 after an entertaining first quarter but then it was all the Tigers in the second as their size, athleticism and combination of youth and experience came to the fore.

Willetton outscored Kalamunda 28 points to 11 to go into the locker room leading 50-33 at the half.

The lead for the Tigers blew out to as much as 29 points in the third quarter and then 32 in the fourth with Willetton ending up winning by 26 to improve to 5-1 on the season with four consecutive wins.

It was the evenness of the performance that was key again for Willetton with 11 players scoring and seven of them finishing with at least eight points.

Young gun Josh Ibukunoluwa won the Anzac Day Medal after his 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Michael Vigor showed what a threat he remains 288 games into his career with 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and a statement block with Thomas Musumeci adding 14 points and five assists.

Michael Dupree also had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Deng Gak 12 points and four boards, Aiden Fitzgerald nine points, and Roosevelt Williams eight points, three rebounds and three assists.

Marek Nelson top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 26 points, 11 rebounds and two steals with Dyson Lowe contributing 11 points, and Bryan Michaels eight points and four rebounds despite shooting just 3/14 on the back of 43 points on Saturday night.

Willetton backs up to host the East Perth Eagles on Saturday at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Eastern Suns don't play until being on the road to Lakeside next Friday.

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 76 (Nelson 26, Lowe 11, Michaels 8)

WILLETTON TIGERS 102 (Musumeci 14, Ibukunoluwa 14, Vigor 14)