East Recap | Round 8 Sunday

Image credit: @DiscoveryOne_Photography (Greg Francis)

Sitaya Fagan had another dominant performance in NBL1 East win for Centre of Excellence as the CoE men remain clear on top while defending champion Newcastle Falcons women hit back emphatically over Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

EAST RECAP | ROUND 8 SATURDAY

EAST RECAP | ROUND 7 SUNDAY

WOMEN

Centre of Excellence (85) defeated Albury-Wodonga Bandits (66)

The Centre of Excellence snapped the winning run of the Albury-Wodonga Bandits with the 85-66 win on Sunday with Sitaya Fagan continuing her scorching form with another 31 points and 12 rebounds.

The two teams entered the match up at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra in terrific form including the CoE beating the Sydney Comets the previous night on the road while the Bandits made it four straight wins by beating the Canberra Nationals by 32 points.

That set up a tantalising Sunday afternoon match up with the Centre of Excellence opening up an early nine-point lead, but the Bandits responded with nine straight points of their own with scores level at 21-21 by quarter-time.

Albury-Wodonga then outscored the CoE 22 points to 18 as well in the second quarter to head into the half-time break leading 43-39.

The game then underwent a total transformation in the second half with the Centre of Excellence outscoring the Bandits 23 points to 10 in the third frame before they rammed home their advantage with another 23 points to 13 in the final quarter.

That saw the CoE lead by as much as 22 points on the way to the eventual 19-point win on the back of shooting 43 per cent from the field to 33 from the Bandits while also forcing Albury-Wodonga into 20 turnovers to allow them end up taking 11 extra shots.

The win improves the Centre of Excellence to a 10-2 record on the season with three straight wins with Sitaya Fagan once again dominant with 31 points, 12 rebounds and two steals on 12/20 shooting.

Isabel Smith added 19 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals, Zara Russell 18 points, six boards, five assists and three steals, and Emilija Dakic 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Albury-Wodonga's four-game winning streak came to an end with them now 8-3 for the season with Caitie Jones finishing with another 24 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Riley Lupfer did only shoot 4/20 from the floor and 2/12 from long-range for 13 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Brynn Masikewich 12 points, 10 boards and two steals.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 85 (Fagan 31, Smith 19, Russell 18)

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 66 (Jones 24, Lupfer 13, Masikewich 12)

Inner West Bulls (65) lost to Newcastle Falcons (87)

The Newcastle Falcons suffered a shock first loss of the season the previous evening but hit back hard led by MVP Nicole Munger to beat the Inner West Bulls 87-65 on Sunday.

The Falcons were on a 16-game winning streak dating back to last year's run to the championship before being knocked off by Shyla Heal and the Bankstown Bruins on their home floor on Saturday.

That was bad news for the Bulls because it meant the Falcons were on a mission on Sunday when they arrived to Concord Recreational Centre with Inner West attempting to hit back from the previous evening's 46-point loss against the unbeaten Norths Bears.

The horror weekend against the top two teams continued for the Bulls and they got off to a good start to be leading the Falcons 20-15 by quarter-time.

Newcastle then got rolling in the second frame by piling on 36 points on 14/22 shooting from the field with 4/5 from downtown which saw the defending champions go into the half-time break leading 51-35.

The Falcons then scored 22 consecutive points in the third quarter to put to bed any challenge from Inner West which saw them end up leading by as much as 24, and ending up winning by 22 in an emphatic bounce back performance.

Newcastle now sits at 9-1 in second place a game behind the Norths Bears and a game clear of the Centre of Excellence with Nicole Munger producing 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Sophie Brennan added 19 points and five assists, Hannah Chicken 14 points and two rebounds, Kate Kingham 11 points, four boards, two assists and two steals, and Claudea Waihape-Andrews nine points, three assists and three steals.

The Bulls are now sitting on a 5-5 record after losing this weekend to the top two teams by a combined 68 points despite Kristina Moore finishing with 23 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Tahlia Tupaea contributed 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, Mizuki Wakamatsu 12 points and seven boards, and Tylah Mundine six points and 10 rebounds.

INNER WEST BULLS 65 (Moore 23, Tupaea 15, Wakamatsu 12)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 87 (Munger 20, Brennan 19, Chicken 14)

MEN

Centre of Excellence (79) defeated Albury-Wodonga Bandits (67)

It was a shorthanded Albury-Wodonga Bandits who tried to take it up to the league-leaders and the Centre of Excellence did still have to fight hard to come away with the 79-67 victory.

It was top against bottom in the NBL1 East men's competition with the Centre of Excellence back home at the Australian Institute of Sport fresh off a loss to the Sydney Comets on the road on Saturday.

Albury-Wodonga spent the weekend in Canberra and lost to the Gunners on Saturday by 25 points and then the CoE got the better of the start on Sunday with 23 points to 15 in the first quarter.

The Centre of Excellence were still leading 40-32 by the half-time interval before the Basketball Australia rising stars produced another 23 points to 13 in the third quarter to end up leading by as much as 21 early in the fourth frame.

To the credit of the Bandits they fought the game out well to end up outscoring the CoE 22 points to 16 in the last quarter to cut the final winning margin for the top team to just 12 points in the finish.

The Centre of Excellence improve to a 10-2 record as a result of the win to bounce back from the loss on Saturday to be well clear of the Canberra Gunners who are second at 7-3.

Once again all 12 players for the CoE were out on the court for at least nine minutes with Luke Fennell top-scoring with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Jacob Furphy added 13 points and five rebounds, Roor Akhuar 12 points, four boards and two blocks, Alex Dickeson nine points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Jai Faale eight points and four boards.

Albury-Wodonga remain in last place at 2-9 with the two wins this weekend and it was a commendable effort considering they were missing Ahren Freeman and Matthew Gray.

Immanuel Allen stepped up for 30 points on 4/6 three-point shooting with Simon Lafaele adding nine points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Francis Wineera-Mulvihill nine points, eight boards, three assists and two steals.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE 79 (Fennell 14, Furphy 13, Akhuar 12)

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 67 (Allen 30, Lafaele 9, Wineera-Mulvihill 9)

Inner West Bulls (69) lost to Newcastle Falcons (93)

The Newcastle Falcons continued their impressive form and denied the Inner West Bulls a double win weekend with the 93-69 road victory with Myles Cherry delivering another 21 points and 16 rebounds.

Both teams were fresh off wins on Saturday with Inner West beating the Norths Bears by 13 points at home while Newcastle scored the seven-point win at home to the Bankstown Bruins.

The teams only combined for 27 points in the first quarter with Newcastle narrowly leading 14-13 by quarter-time with them only combining to shoot 13/35 from the field.

The scoring picked up in the second frame and the Falcons outscored the Bulls 29 points to 23 while shooting 14/22 including 4/5 from downtown on the way to the 43-36 lead at the half-time break.

It was then 30 points to 22 from Newcastle in the third quarter with the lead growing to 18 points, and then another 20 to 11 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 24-point victory.

The Falcons ended up shooting 46 per cent from the field to 31 and made 13/30 from three to just 5/31 from the Bulls.

Newcastle improves to a 5-6 record on the season to sit in eighth place with Myles Cherry leading the charge once more with 21 points, 16 rebounds and two assists on 10/16 shooting.

Leo O'Boyle added 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, Eylijah Stephens 15 points, eight boards and four assists, Kobe Shannon 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Ryan Beisty 11 points, seven boards and three assists.

Inner West are now 4-7 on the weekend with Dalen Ridgnal finishing with 14 points and six rebounds on 5/8 shooting with Dominik Subota contributing 11 points, Ramon Cao 11 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Maxwell Clark 11 points and three assists.

INNER WEST BULLS 69 (Ridgnal 14, Subota 11, Cao 11, Clark 11)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 93 (Cherry 21, O'Boyle 17, Stephens 15, Shannon 15)