East Recap | Round 7 Saturday

Image credit: @tanyahawkinsphotography

Taylor Wurtz landed eight three-pointers for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Riley Lupfer knocked down 12 for Albury-Wodonga Bandits and Carlie McAlister had 24 points and 21 rebounds for Canberra Nationals in the NBL1 East.

EAST RECAP | ROUND 6 SUNDAY

WOMEN

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (91) defeated Maitland Mustangs (64)

Taylor Wurtz knocked down eight three-pointers for 28 points and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles made it four straight wins with the 91-64 home victory against the Maitland Mustangs.

The Sea Eagles were back on their home floor at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre on a three-game winning streak as they played host to a Mustangs also having won their past couple and to be a win ahead of them on the season.

Manly Warringah made a hot start shooting 12/29 in the first quarter and 4/7 from deep to end up leading by as much as 14 points and to be on top 30-17 by quarter-time.

That lead got out to 18 points in the second frame with the Sea Eagles still on top 47-34 by half-time.

Maitland managed just 10 points in the third quarter on 4/15 shooting while Manly Warringah put up 24 points to continue to extend that lead and getting it out to as much as 27 points.

That advantage got to 35 points in the fourth term and from there the Sea Eagles secured the 27-point victory to make it four on the trot and improve to a 6-2 record on the season.

Taylor Wurtz had a night out for the Sea Eagles knocking down 8/16 from downtown for 28 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Kim Dickinson also added 20 points, 12 rebounds and two steals, Alex Delaney 12 points, seven boards and four assists, and Chloe Dix 11 points and five rebounds on 3/5 three-point shooting.

Maitland is now 6-3 on the season with the defeat with Kasey Neubert continuing her good form with another 19 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.

Alexia Plater also had 12 points with 2/3 from downtown with Mila Wawszkowicz contributing 11 points on 3/5 from downtown.

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 91 (Wurtz 28, Dickinson 20, Delaney 12)

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 64 (Neubert 19, Plater 12, Wawszkowicz 11)

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (72) lost to Newcastle Falcons (84)

The defending champion Newcastle Falcons kept their undefeated run to start the season going with the 84-72 road victory against Jessie-May Hall and the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.

The Falcons arrived at The Brickpit to take on the Spiders looking to remain undefeated as they took on a Hornsby team attempting to snap a four-game losing streak at the same time.

It was a tight opening to the contest with Newcastle clinging to the 23-22 lead by the end of the first quarter before scores were all square at 40-40 by half-time even with both teams struggling shooting from deep with the Spiders going 1/14 and the Falcons 3/15.

Newcastle began to take over in the third term with 20 points to 14 and then in the fourth the Falcons outscored the Spiders 24 points to 18 to end up leading by as much as 14 points and winning by 12.

Newcastle improves to 8-0 on the season following the win as defending champions and having won 16 in-a-row dating back to last year with Sophie Brennan top-scoring with 20 points, six rebounds and two assists while hooting 5/8 from behind the three-point arc.

Meg Jefferson also had 16 points, eight rebounds, four steals and four blocks, Jiselle Havas 15 points, four boards, four assists and three steals, and two-time MVP Nicole Munger 10 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai are now 3-5 on the season having lost five straight with 17-year-old Jessie-May Hall again leading their charge with 21 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and five assists.

Keira Hudson added 15 points and three rebounds, Ay'Anna Bey 13 points and nine boards, and Nicole Hutchins 11 points, 11 rebounds and two assists.

HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 72 (Hall 21, Hudson 15, Bey 13)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 84 (Brennan 20, Jefferson 16, Havas 15)

Norths Bears (88) defeated Centre of Excellence (74)

The two teams put their impressive winning streaks on the line and it was the Norths Bears who made it nine straight wins with Carla Pitman again leading the charge in the 88-74 win over the Centre of Excellence.

The Bears were back home at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre putting their eight-game winning streak on the line as they hosted a Centre of Excellence team having on seven in-a-row since losing the first game of the season.

The CoE had the better of the start going on a 7-0 run in the first quarter to lead by as much as nine points, but by quarter-time the Bears had got back to within just two points.

Norths continued with that momentum in the second stanza outscoring the Centre of Excellence 24 points to 18 and on the back of that the Bears went into half-time on top 41-37.

The Bears kept building on that lead in the third frame with another 22 points to 16 to lead by as much as 16 points before that lead got out to 19 in the fourth, and from there they were able to secure the 14-point victory.

The win is a ninth in-a-row for the Bears who improve to a perfect 9-0 record to start the season with Sydney Flames WNBL star Carla Pitman producing another 25 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Ruby Perkins added 17 points, four rebounds and four assists for Norths, Caitlyn Martin 13 points, four boards and three assists, Emma Donnelly 10 points, 12 rebounds and two assists, and Maddie O'Hehir eight points, 11 boards, three steals and two assists.

The Centre of Excellence's winning run ends at seven with them now sitting at 7-2 ahead of hosting the Bankstown Bruins on Sunday.

Zara Russell had a big showing for the CoE with 30 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals while Sitaya Fagan continued her hot form with another 23 points, 16 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.

Isabel Smith added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Ava Tawake seven points and five boards.

NORTHS BEARS 88 (Pitman 25, Perkins 17, Martin 13)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 74 (Russell 30, Fagan 23, Smith 10)

Illawarra Hawks (68) lost to Canberra Nationals (76)

Carlie McAlister delivered a monster performance of 24 points, 21 rebounds and five assists to lead the Canberra Nationals to the 76-68 road victory over the Illawarra Hawks.

The Nationals arrived at The Snakepit trying to bounce back from last week's loss to the Maitland Mustangs while the Hawks were home and also trying to respond to a defeat to the Penrith Panthers.

It would prove to be a fascinating seesaw contest right the way through and by the end of the first quarter the scores were locked at 17-17.

Even though Canberra pushed out to a seven-point lead in the second frame, by half-time that lead remained just 39-37 with the Nationals shooting 14/43 from the field and the Hawks 14/36.

The Hawks were the ones to have the better of the third quarter with 25 points to 19 and the home team were leading by six early in the fourth quarter when Sophia Johnston completed the layup.

However, Illawarra would only score four more points the entire last nine minutes of the game and only got off 12 shot attempts in all of the final period.

Opposed to that, Canberra shot 6/14 and 4/8 at the foul line to score 18 points to turn that six-point deficit into the eventual eight-point victory.

As a result of the win, the Nationals improve to a 4-4 record on the season with Carlie McAlister (Smith) ultimately the difference between the two teams with her 24 points, 21 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Jasmyn Boutzos also had 13 points and four rebounds on 4/8 three-point shooting for Canberra, Elise Finney 11 points, nine boards, four assists and two steals, and Abby Solway seven points three rebounds and three assists.

Illawarra are now 2-7 for the season following the defeat with Kiara Bell finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Asha Phillips added 12 points, eight rebound and four assists, Ella Dent 11 points, four boards, two assists and two steals, and Ruby MacDonald 10 points and six rebounds.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 68 (Bell 16, Phillips 12, Dent 11)

CANBERRA NATIONALS 76 (Carlie McAlister 24, Boutzos 13, Finney 11)

Sutherland Sharks (65) lost to Sydney Comets (79)

Piper Anderson knocked down six three-pointers on her way to 27 points as the Sydney Comets scored the 79-65 victory away to the Sutherland Sharks.

The Sharks were back home at Sutherland Basketball Stadium attempting to snap a four-game losing slide while the Comets arrived trying to bounce back from last Saturday's loss to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles where they scored just 41 points.

Sutherland made a fast start to go on a 10-0 run in the first quarter to lead by as much as six but by quarter-time that advantage was back to just two.

Sydney then dominated the second quarter with 24 points to seven on the back of shooting 9/23 from the floor and holding the Comets to 3/14.

That saw the Comets leading 40-25 by half-time before they ended up leading by as much as 21 points in the second half before the Sharks did bring it back under single figures by going on a 13-0 run.

Sydney were able to steady the ship and complete the deal on the 14-point victory to improve to a 4-5 record on the season with Piper Anderson the star with 27 points, three rebounds and three steals on 6/16 three-point shooting.

Mikayla Pirini added 12 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals, and Abi Curtin 11 points, 17 boards, four steals and two assists.

Sutherland have now lost five straight matches to sit on a 1-7 record with Maddie Norris finishing with 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Emily Garland added 18 points, three rebounds and two steals, Laci Hawthorne eight points, six boards and two assists, and Vanessa Panousis seven points, six assists and five rebounds.

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 65 (Norris 20, Garland 18, Hawthorne 8)

SYDNEY COMETS 79 (Anderson 27, Pirini 12, Curtin 11)

Albury-Wodonga Bandits (111) defeated Central Coast Crusaders (67)

Riley Lupfer delivered a miraculous three-point shooting performance with 12 threes on the way to 41 points as the Albury-Wodonga Bandits won big 111-67 against the shorthanded Central Coast Crusaders.

The Bandits were back home at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre looking for a third straight victory up against a Crusaders team with just one win from eight games, and missing Leilani Mitchell, Jasmine Simmons and Mikaela Dombkins.

The Bandits dominated the first quarter with 32 points to 20 including 4/10 from three-point range and shooting overall 13/22 to the 7/20 from Central Coast.

It was another 30 points to 20 in the second term as well for Albury-Wodonga and this time they shot 5/10 from deep to 4/8 on the way to leading 60-40 by half-time.

The Bandits kept the hot scoring going with another 30 points in the third period while holding the Crusaders to just 11 points as the lead grew to as much as 41 points.

Then it out to as much as 45 in the fourth quarter before Albury-Wodonga secured the eventual 44-point victory on 50 per cent shooting from the field and going 16/33 from downtown.

Central Coast shot just 30 per cent overall and made 8/28 from three-point territory.

The Bandits are now 7-2 on the season following the third straight win with Riley Lupfer brilliant with 41 points, nine rebounds and two assists on 12/16 shooting from behind the three-point arc.

Caitie Jones added 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Brynn Masikewich 15 points, 18 boards, two assists and two blocked shots, and Melanie Kirby 12 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists.

The Crusaders have now lost their last three to hold a 1-8 record having only had seven players available to suit up with Elizajane Loader finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Jess Stone 18 points and six boards, and Jasmine Forcadilla 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 111 (Lupfer 41, Jones 24, Masikewich 15)

CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 67 (Loader 23, Stone 18, Forcadilla 12)

Bankstown Bruins (91) defeated Hills Hornets (75)

Both teams were on the hunt for a second win of the 2025 season and it was the Bankstown Bruins who finished strongly at home for the eventual 91-75 victory over the Hills Hornets.

The Bruins were at home at Bankstown Basketball Stadium with the two teams holding a combined 2/13 record on the season coming into the match up on Saturday evening.

It was quite the high-quality opening from both teams as they combined to shoot 10/17 from behind the three-point line with the Hornets leading 26-24 by quarter-time.

The Bruins then outscored the Hornets 21 points to 14 to be leading 45-40 at half-time and that elusive second win of the season was there for the taking for both outfits.

Bankstown's lead was still only six by three quarter-time, but then the Bruins dominated the final term with 27 points to 17 while holding the Hornets to 2/10 three-point shooting on the way to the eventual 16-point win.

It's a second win of the season for Bruins as they improve to a 2-7 record with Sienna Tutani delivering 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

Jane Dunlop added 19 points on 6/11 shooting with Juliunn Redmond providing 16 points and six assists, Jada Rice 13 points and 17 rebounds, and Kiahna Davis-White five points, 15 boards, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots.

The Hornets have now lost seven straight matches to be 1-7 for the season with Jade Kirisome top-scoring with 20 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Hannah Griffin also had 17 points on 4/6 three-point shooting, Ella Gale nine points, seven boards and two steals, and Nikki Worner nine points, five rebounds and two assists.

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 91 (Tutani 19, J Dunlop 19, Redmond 16)

HILLS HORNETS 75 (Kirisome 20, Griffin 17, Worner 9, Gale 9)

Penrith Panthers (69) lost to Inner West Bulls (103)

Kristina Moore and Tahlia Tupaea combined for 58 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Inner West Bulls won big 103-69 away to the Penrith Panthers.

The Panthers were at home at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre looking to make it consecutive victories as they took on a Bulls team attempting to respond to a loss to the Centre of Excellence.

Inner West started strongly with 23 points to 15 in the first quarter on the back of knocking down 4/11 from downtown while the Panthers went just 0/3 from beyond the arc.

The Bulls then put up another 28 points to 21 in the second frame while they made another 5/7 from three-point land to the 2/10 from Penrith which saw them leading 51-36 at half-time.

Inner West continued to dominate with another six threes in the third term for 27 points to 13 and then another 25-20 fourth quarter on the way to the eventual 34-point victory.

The Bulls finished up shooting 18/38 from three-point range for the game while the Panthers went just 3/21 along with struggling at the foul line with 6/14.

Inner West improves to 5-3 on the season as a result of the win with Kristina Moore continuing her hot form with 30 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals with 5/8 three-point shooting.

Tahlia Tupaea also had 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists with 5/10 shooting from downtown while Tylah Mundine added 12 points, seven boards and seven assists, and Chieh Ou 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.

The Panthers are now 3-7 on the season with Jordan Vasquez finishing with 17 points and six rebounds with Mia Heide adding 14 points, 16 boards and three assists, and Jolzyne Impreso nine points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

PENRITH PANTHERS 69 (Vasquez 17, Heide 14, Impreso 9)

INNER WEST BULLS 103 (Moore 30, Tupaea 28, Mundine 12)

MEN

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (104) defeated Maitland Mustangs (91)

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles built up a 23-point lead and ended up with the 104-91 victory over the defending champion Maitland Mustangs who fell to consecutive defeats in their title defence.

The Sea Eagles were home at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre looking to rebound from last week's loss to the Sydney Comets while the Mustangs were also trying to respond to a defeat from the Central Coast Crusaders.

The two teams combined for 57 points in the first quarter with Manly Warringah leading 30-27 by quarter-time before the Sea Eagles kept up that pace with another 27 points to 19 in the second frame.

That saw the home team leading 57-46 going into the half-time break before the Sea Eagles saw their lead get out to as much as 23 points in the third quarter.

Even with Maitland outscoring the Sea Eagles 24 points to 19 in the fourth quarter, Manly Warringah still ended up winning by 13 points to improve to a 4-4 record on the season.

Isaiah Lee produced a starring performance in the win for the Sea Eagles with 34 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists on the back of knocking down 8/16 from three-point land.

Preston Purifoy also had 22 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists on 4/6 shooting from deep with Jamie Munro adding 15 points and nine rebounds, and Matthew Eldridge 10 points, eight boards and three assists.

Maitland now slips to 5-4 as defending champions having lost three of their previous four matches with Billy Parsons putting up 24 points and 10 rebounds on 9/16 shooting from the floor and 5/5 at the foul line.

Mandrell Worthy added 17 points and two steals, Daniel Millburn 14 points and six rebounds, and James Hunter 12 points and six boards.

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 104 (Lee 34, Purifoy 22, Munro 15)

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 91 (Parsons 24, Worthy 17, Millburn 14)

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (80) defeated Newcastle Falcons (77)

Mohamed Kone was one assist shy of a triple-double as he played a key role in the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders scoring the 80-77 home win over the Newcastle Falcons.

The Spiders were back home at The Brickpit looking for back-to-back wins after beating the Illawarra Hawks by 31 points last Saturday as they hosted a Falcons team also fresh off a win against the Canberra Gunners.

Newcastle were leading 20-17 by quarter-time before Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai got on top in the second term with 23 points to 16 to be leading 40-36 by half-time.

That lead for the Spiders got out to 10 points in the second half but they could never quite extend it out beyond that but nor could the Falcons ever quite either bring scores level or regain the lead.

In the end Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai closed out the three-point victory to make it back-to-back wins and to improve to a 2-6 record on the season as a result.

Mohamed Kone was the star in the win for the Spiders with 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists on the back of shooting 6/12 from the field, 3/5 from downtown and 8/9 at the free-throw line.

Daniel Titus added 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Akil Douglas 12 points and three boards, and Steven Hall nine points, four rebounds and three assists.

Newcastle are now 3-6 on the season following the loss with Ryan Beisty producing 22 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Myles Cherry 21 points, eight boards, six assists and three steals.

Eylijah Stephens also had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Kobe Shannon 13 points, five boards and four assists.

HORNSBY KU-RING-GAI SPIDERS 80 (Kone 23, Titus 14, Douglas 12)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 77 (Beisty 22, Cherry 21, Stephens 15)

Norths Bears (62) lost to Centre of Excellence (85)

Che Brogan started with 26 points and a strong all-round performance with the Centre of Excellence keeping their winning form going with the 85-62 win over the Norths Bears.

The Bears arrived at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre sitting atop the NBL1 East standings with five straight wins under their belt as they took on a Bears attempting to back up a win over the Penrith Panthers.

The Centre of Excellence started strongly to already be leading 23-13 by the end of the first quarter before that lead got out to 15 in the second term and by half-time the CoE were leading 47-34 at the half.

That lead kept on growing in favour of the rising stars from Basketball Australia through the second half as well getting out to 21 points in the third frame, and 23 in the fourth before they secured the win by that final 23-point margin.

It is a sixth straight win on the season for the CoE who now sit on an 8-1 record to retain top spot ahead of a tantalising Sunday match up now against Jaylin Galloway, Jason Cadee and the Bankstown Bruins.

Che Brogan starred in the win for the Centre of Excellence with 26 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals with 11/13 shooting at the free-throw line.

Jacob Furphy returned after being part of the Trans-Tasman Throwdown with the Australian Boomers to put up 12 points, six assists and four rebounds with Guer Bar adding 11 points and two boards, and Alex Dickeson eight points, four assists and three rebounds.

The Bears are now 4-5 following the loss with Austin Patterson top-scoring with 19 points on 6/11 shooting from the field and 4/4 at the foul line.

Michael Yoong added eight points and five rebounds, and Iggy Mitchell seven points, two boards and two assists.

NORTHS BEARS 62 (Patterson 19, Yoong 8, Mitchell 7)

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 85 (Brogan 26, Furphy 12, Bar 11)

Illawarra Hawks (85) defeated Canberra Gunners (78)

The Illawarra Hawks delivered a monster last quarter and Todd Blanchfield finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds as they came from behind to beat the Canberra Gunners 85-78.

Blanchfield was back in the line-up for the Hawks after taking part in the Trans-Tasman Throwdown last week for the Australian Boomers with Illawarra still managing to beat Penrith Panthers after a loss to Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders without him.

The Gunners, meanwhile, suffered two back-to-back losses to Newcastle and Maitland after starting the season winning the opening six matches as they arrived at The Snakepit looking to avoid a third consecutive loss.

It was the Gunners holding a narrow 24-22 lead by the end of the first quarter and then they got out to a 10-point lead in the second term and were still on top 44-34 at half-time having shot 18/35 from the field opposed to 13/37 from the Hawks with both teams only combining for seven free throws.

Canberra were still leading by six points at three quarter-time but then it was all the Hawks in the final 10 minutes as they piled on 31 points thanks to shooting 9/19 from the floor and 9/9 at the charity stripe to come from six points down to score the seven-point win.

The Hawks improve to a 6-3 record on the season as a result of the win with 441-game NBL veteran and 2025 championship winner Todd Blanchfield delivering 25 points, 17 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Lachlan Dent is fitting right now back in for Illawarra too with 18 points and six assists with Brad Ballinger contributing 16 points and three boards, Toby Campbell 10 points and seven rebounds, and Kobe McDowell-White eight points, five boards, three assists and two steals.

Canberra has now lost three straight matches after the six straight wins to start the season with Glenn Morison putting in a power of work for 20 points, 15 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Will Mayfield added 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, James Toohey 11 points, nine boards and three assists, and Derek Emelifeonwu 11 points, five assists and three rebounds.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 85 (Blanchfield 25, Dent 18, Ballinger 16)

CANBERRA GUNNERS 78 (Morison 20, Mayfield 19, Emelifeonwu 11, Toohey 11)

Sutherland Sharks (78) lost to Sydney Comets (87)

A big three of Biwali Bayles, Obi Kyei and Davo Hickey delivered the Sydney Comets an 87-78 win over the Sutherland Sharks despite 34 points from Kouat Noi.

It was quite the star studded match up at Sutherland Basketball Stadium with the Sharks looking to maintain pace with the league-leading Centre of Excellence and the Comets also looking for a third consecutive win.

Sydney hit 4/10 from three in the first quarter opposed to the 0/5 from Sutherland for the Comets to be leading 24-20 by quarter-time.

Despite the Sharks getting to the free-throw line 23 times in the first half, Sydney shot 17/39 from the floor opposed to 12/33 to be leading 47-41 at the half-time break.

Things remained tight throughout most of the second half and it was the Sharks back within two in the opening minute of the fourth quarter when Lochlan Hutchison scored.

That's when the Comets made their move by scoring the next 14 points including a pair of three-pointers from Chol Adup and from there they weren’t headed on the way to securing the nine-point victory.

Sydney has now won three straight to improve to a 6-3 record with Davo Hickey making his first appearance since his starring role on the Illawarra Hawks' NBL championship triumph. He put up 10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in over 38 minutes.

Biwali Bayles was the star of the win, though, with 35 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists while Obi Kyei contributed 13 points, 12 boards and four assists, and Goc Malual 10 points and six rebounds.

Sutherland now sit on a 6-2 record on the season with Sydney Kings NBL star Kouat Noi producing 34 points, eight rebounds and two steals with 5/12 three-point shooting, and 7/12 at the foul line.

Lochlan Hutchison also had 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals, and Jason Spurgin six points, 12 boards, four assists, three blocks and two assists.

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 78 (Noi 34, Hutchison 16, Raynor 7)

SYDNEY COMETS 87 (Bayles 35, Kyei 13, Hickey 10)

Albury-Wodonga Bandits (100) defeated Central Coast Crusaders (86)

Matthew Gray produced his best performance since joining the Albury-Wodonga Bandits and put up 34 points and 14 rebounds with six triples in his team's 100-86 win at home to the Central Coast Crusaders.

The Bandits were back home at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre sitting in last spot in the NBL1 East having lost their past five matches as they took on a Crusaders outfit having won two straight and clinging to a place in the top eight.

It was a flying start from Albury-Wodonga who were in unfamiliar territory at the foot of the table and they put up 26 points to 13 in the opening quarter.

That lead got out to 15 points in the second term too before the Crusaders did end up pulling the half-time deficit back to 11.

The Bandits were able to get further on top in the third quarter with 25 points to 18 with the lead growing to 22 points, and then it got to 27 in the fourth quarter before securing the eventual 14-point victory.

The win improves Albury-Wodonga to a 2-7 record on the season with Matthew Gray brilliant as he led the Bandits to just the second win since joining them this year with 34 points and 14 rebounds on 12/19 shooting fro the floor, 6/10 from downtown and 4/5 at the foul line.

Ahren Freeman added 28 points, seven rebounds and four steals on 11/18 shooting, Immanuel Allen 17 points, three boards, three steals and two assists, and Jacob Cincurak six points, 16 assists, five rebounds and three steals.

The Crusaders couldn’t quite make it three straight wins to now be 4-5 with Klairus Amir top-scoring with 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals with Lino Manhom adding 16 points and 16 boards, and Jamal Shoaib 16 points, three rebounds and two assists.

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 100 (Gray 34, Freeman 28, Allen 17)

CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 86 (Amir 17, Shoaib 16, Manhom 16)

Bankstown Bruins (94) defeated Hills Hornets (74)

The Bankstown Bruins continue to loom large with the arrival of Jaylin Galloway putting together another dominant showing to beat the Hills Hornets 94-74.

Galloway made his return from shoulder surgery last week that ended his NBL season at the Sydney Kings less than 12 months after he was in the NBA at the Milwaukee Bucks.

He was instrumental in their win last week over the Albury-Wodonga Bandits and was named NBL1 East Player of the Week ahead of this Saturday's clash back at home against the Hornets at Bankstown Basketball Stadium.

Hills arrived fresh off beating the Bandits last week as well so both teams had a similar form line but it was Bankstown who dominated the first term with 28 points to 10 on the back of going on a 12-0 run.

The Bruins remained in control leading 46-29 going into the half-time break before that lead continued to grow in the second half getting out to as much as 25 points.

From there Bankstown went on to secure the 20-point victory to improve to a 5-4 record with the Bruins going 27/31 at the foul line opposed to the 7/12 from the Hornets.

Andre Wolford top-scored in the win for Bankstown with 18 points and three rebounds with Jaylin Galloway providing another 15 points, three assists and two boards.

Jason Cadee also had 14 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals, Hayden Blankley 14 points, six assists, five boards and three steals, and Dominique Keyes 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hornets are now 4-5 on the season following the defeat with Zach Hudson top-scoring with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

Jacob Foy also had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Pafe Momoisea 12 points and two boards.

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 94 (Wolford 18, Galloway 15, Cadee 14, Blankley 14)

HILLS HORNETS 74 (Hudson 20, Momoisea 12, Foy 12)

Penrith Panthers (86) defeated Inner West Bulls (71)

Jonah Pares delivered 21 points and 19 rebounds as the Penrith Panters snapped their losing streak with the 86-71 victory against the Inner West Bulls.

The Panthers were back home at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre having lost their past six matches while the Bulls arrived also on a four-match losing streak.

It was the Bulls who got the better of the start opening up an eight-point lead in the first quarter and still clinging to the 17-16 lead by quarter-time even with both teams combining to shoot 2/16 from three-point land.

Penrith were able to turn the momentum with a 10-0 run and outscored Inner West 22 points to 20 in the second quarter, but that meant they were only just clinging to a 38-37 lead by half-time.

The Bulls continued to do well and maintained a three-point lead by three quarter-time, but then in the last quarter it was a domination from the Panthers.

Penrith outscored the Bulls 30 points to 14 on the back of shooting 10/19 from the field opposed to 5/18 from Inner West while also getting to the foul line nine times to three.

The win improves the Panthers to a 3-7 record having snapped a six-game slide with Jonah Pares finishing with 21 points, 19 rebounds and four assists on 8/12 shooting.

Zeke Evans also had 18 points and 10 rebounds with Ben Kearins contributing 14 points, five assists and four boards, and Brodie Schwarzer 13 points and three rebounds.

The Bulls are now 3-6 having lost five in-a-row with Ramon Cao finishing with 17 points and five rebounds, Maxwell Clark 17 points, four boards, three assists and three steals, Dalen Ridgnal 10 points, 13 rebounds and three steals, and Mirko Djeric 10 points, six boards and four assists.

PENRITH PANTHERS 86 (Pares 21, Evans 18, Kearins 14)

INNER WEST BULLS 71 (Clark 17, Cao 17, Ridgnal 10, Djeric 10)