Sun
Mar 30, 2025
East Recap | Round 1 Sunday
By Chris Pike for NBL1.com.au
The Centre of Excellence scored a pair of NBL1 East Sunday wins on the road to the Bankstown Bruins.
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Image credit: Greg Francis (@DiscoveryOne_Photography)
The Centre of Excellence opened their NBL1 East women's account with a Sunday win while the depth of the men's team was again on show despite some early Bankstown Bruins heroics from Jason Cadee.
WOMEN
Bankstown Bruins (61) lost to Centre of Excellence (86)
The Centre of Excellence bounced back from losing at home to start the NBL1 East season by impressively hitting the road on Sunday afternoon and defeating the Bankstown Bruins 86-61.
The CoE started their season on Saturday with a loss at home to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles as they backed up on the road on Sunday at Bankstown Basketball Stadium with the Bruins also looking to hit back from a first up loss to the Norths Bears.
The Basketball Australia young guns made a flying start with 32 points to 12 in the first quarter and then kept that momentum going outscoring Bankstown 24-13 in the second frame on the way to leading 56-27 by half-time.
The Centre of Excellence would end up leading by as much as 33 points in the second half before ending up winning by 25 with Zara Russell outstanding while the CoE outscored Bankstown by 28 points with her on the court.
Russell also finished with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists while hitting 4/11 from three-point territory with Isabel Smith adding 18 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Jade Crook delivered 14 points, 13 rebounds and four steals with Sitaya Fagan adding 11 points, six steals and four boards, Sophie Taylor nine points, eight rebounds and two steals, and Emilija Dakic seven points, six boards, six assists and three steals.
It's a tough start to the season with the pair of home defeats in less than 24 hours for Bankstown by a combined 52 points with Jane Dunlop ending up top-scoring with 16 points and two steals while going 6/7 at the foul line.
Shalome Dunlop added 14 points for the Bruins, Sienna Tutani 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Dominique Leuzzi eight points and four boards.
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 61 (J Dunlop 16, S Dunlop 14, Tutani 10)
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 86 (Russell 18, Smith 18, Crook 14)
MEN
Bankstown Bruins (65) lost to Centre of Excellence (102)
Jason Cadee showed the Centre of Excellence how it was done early on Sunday but the Basketball Australia young guns soon took control with their depth again shining in the 102-65 road win over the Bankstown Bruins.
Both teams started their NBL1 East seasons on Saturday with the CoE winning at home by 28 points against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles while the Bruins started life with Cadee rejoining the club with a victory against the Norths Bears.
It was the second home game at Bankstown Basketball Stadium for the opening weekend for the Bruins and the recently retired 424-game NBL veteran Cadee led their charge early against the Centre of Excellence.
Looking to show the young guns a thing or two, Cadee produced 14 points in the first quarter alone and by the end of that first 10 minutes, Bankstown were leading 23-21.
However, from there the Centre of Excellence took charge of the contest with 31 points to 26 in the second frame, 22 to 12 in the third, and then a dominant 28 to four in the fourth on the way to the eventual 37-point victory.
The CoE ended up pulling down 45 rebounds to 32 for the game while shooting 52.9 per cent from the floor opposed to 33.9 while making 15/29 from three-point range to 5/22.
The Basketball Australia rising stars also had seven blocks for the game highlighting their athleticism including three each to Ladji Coulibaly and Ajak Nyuon.
Once again, the CoE had 11 players hitting the court for at least 15 minutes with all of them scoring and contributing with Jacob Furphy delivering 15 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Sebastien Emenalo also had 14 points and five rebounds, Che Brogan 12 points and three assists, Marcus Vaughns 10 points and three rebounds, Coulibaly 10 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Alex Dickeson nine points, six assists and four boards.
After that hot start to the game, Jason Cadee finished with 21 points and three assists for Bankstown with Charlie McBeath contributing 13 points and two rebounds, and Hayden Blankley 10 points and three boards.
BANKSTOWN BRUINS 65 (Cadee 21, McBeath 13, Blankley 10)
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 102 (Furphy 15, Emenalo 14, Brogan 12)
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