NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Men's Round 11

Four of the six Round 11 NBL1 East match ups turning out to be heart stoppers on Saturday night with the winners turning out to be the Maitland Mustangs, Norths Bears, Albury-Wodonga Bandits, Canberra Gunners, Newcastle Falcons and Illawarra Hawks.

All six Round 11 Men's NBL1 East matches took place on Saturday evening beginning with an overtime cracker between Maitland and Inner West, with the Mustangs ending up winning 109-103 on their home court.

James Hunter put up 35 points and 12 rebounds in the end for Maitland with Chol Adup ending up with 24 points and six rebounds for the Bulls.

It was another thrilling contest which saw the Norths Bears come from behind to defeat the Bankstown Bruins 76-73.

Brennan Rymer finished with 23 points in the win for the Bears while Lachlan Anderson also scored 23 points for Bankstown.

Lauren Jackson Sports Centre hosted another tight affair with the Albury-Wodonga Bandits ending up winning 101-96 against the Central Coast Crusaders.

Lochlan Cummings was the star for the Bandits with 34 points while James Trustum put up 27 points for the Crusaders.

The tight affairs continued with the Canberra Gunners managing to pull off the 70-69 road victory against the Sutherland Sharks.

Glenn Morison finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Gunners with Geoff Gerlach putting up 24 points and nine rebounds for Sutherland.

The Newcastle Falcons won a little bit more comfortably at home dominating after quarter-time to beat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 89-70.

Newcastle had six players scoring in double-figures in the win led by 15 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists from Ryan Beisty. Indiana Faithful finished with 17 points for the Sea Eagles.

The Illawarra Hawks also proved too strong at home for the Hills Hornets winning 75-62.

Lucas Walker delivered 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks while Lachlan Charlton scored 15 points for the Hornets.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 11 – SATURDAY NIGHT

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 109 defeated INNER WEST BULLS 103

It was a cracking overtime contest at Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday night with the Maitland Mustangs ending up beating the Inner West Bulls by six points.

While it was a tight contest in the opening half with the Bulls leading by three points at quarter-time and seven points at half-time, the visitors blew the game wide open in the third quarter.

Inner West ended up turning that seven-point half-time lead into a 22-point advantage during the third period. The Bulls were still up 16 in the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs refused to lie down.

The home team made their own 11-0 run to get back into the game before two late buckets from James Hunter and Will Cranston-Lown saw the Mustangs tie scores up at 94-94 and send the game into overtime.

Then in the extra period, Cranston-Lown continued that momentum by opening it up with a three ball before Hunter also maintained their three-point lead soon after.

In the end it was three balls as well to Daniel Millburn and Matthew Gray that were the dagger blows and the Mustangs ended up beating the Bulls 109-103 after being 22 points behind in the third quarter, and 16 in the fourth.

James Hunter had a huge night for the Mustangs to finish with 35 points and 12 rebounds on 16/26 shooting from the floor.

Matthew Gray finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, Daniel Millburn 14 points, three boards and three assists, Will Cranston-Lown 10 points and four assists, Sharif Watson 10 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Scott McGann eight points and three boards.

Chol Adup ended up top-scoring for Inner West with 24 points and six rebounds while hitting 4/10 from three-point territory.

Jasper Rentoy added 18 points and seven assists for the Bulls, Chier Maker 16 points, nine boards, six assists and four steals, and Alex Higgins-Titsha 16 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

 

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 89 defeated MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 70

The Newcastle Falcons maintained their hold on top spot in the NBL1 East with a 19-point win at home against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

The Falcons were at home at Newcastle Basketball Stadium in Round 11 Saturday night action hosting the Sea Eagles, and it was the visitors who started the game strongly despite taking on the league leaders.

Manly-Warringah scored nine consecutive points during the first quarter to lead by as much as 14 points and to end up leading still 26-17 by the end of one.

Newcastle needed to steady and respond, and they were able to do just that with a 16-0 run during the second term to end up outscoring the Sea Eagles 25-8 for the quarter and to then be in charge leading 42-34 by half-time.

The Falcons maintained their control of the contest throughout the second half with another 10-0 run in the third term to lead by 16 points.

The lead grew to 19 during the fourth term and that's where it was at the finish with Newcastle winning 89-70 to improve to a 9-3 record on the season while the loss saw Manly-Warringah slip to 5-9.

It was an impressive even performance across the board in the win from Newcastle with Myles Cherry finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Ryan Beisty 15 points, 13 board, seven assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

JaShaun Smith added 14 points and five rebounds, Jakob Dorricott 14 points and two steals, Jaidyn Goodwin 11 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Matur Maluach 11 points and four boards.

Indiana Faithful top-scored for Manly-Warringah with 17 points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds with Daniel Pitcher contributing 14 points and three assists, Adam Fawcett 12 points, and Kyle Painter 10 points, three boards and two assists.

 

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 101 defeated CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 96

It was quite the seesawing high quality affair at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre on Saturday night with the Albury-Wodonga Bandits narrowly beating the Central Coast Crusaders in the finish.

Both teams made runs in the opening quarter but by quarter-time it was the Bandits on top 29-22.

The home team then pulled further away during the second quarter scoring 11 consecutive points to lead by 17 points with the 51-34 advantage at the major break.

The Albury-Wodonga advantage then grew to 19 points early in the third quarter, but Central Coast wasn’t about to lie down and they fired all the way back.

By the time they had scored 12 straight points, they had assumed the lead and were three points up in the final quarter.

The onus was back on Albury-Wodonga to respond on their home floor and they were able to do just. The Bandits scored five straight points and would overrun the Crusaders in the end to finish up winning 101-96 after a tremendous contest.

The victory improves the Bandits to an 8-5 record on the season while the Crusaders are now 5-8.

Lochlan Cummings produced a terrific performance for the Bandits with the two-time NBL1 West championship winning guard delivering 34 points on the back of shooting 4/9 from three-point land and 12/14 at the charity stripe.

Kieran Hayward added 18 points and two assists for Albury-Wodonga, Jack Saunders 19 points and four rebounds, Duom Dawam 13 points and six boards, and Hamish Warden seven points and three rebounds.

James Trustum ended up top-scoring for Central Coast with 27 points and six rebounds with Callum Jenkins contributing 20 points and four boards, Jacob Cracknell 16 points, five boards, three assists and three steals, and Luke Cassidy 10 points and four rebounds.

 

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 69 lost to CANBERRA GUNNERS 70

The Sutherland Sharks and Canberra Gunners played out a tight battle on Saturday night before the home team ended up winning by a solitary point.

The Sharks played host to the Gunners at Sutherland Basketball Stadium in Round 11 of the 2022 NBL1 East season and while at one point of the first term Sutherland did lead by five points, it was Canberra leading 19-16 by quarter-time.

The lead for the Gunners did grow to 10 points in the second quarter but the Sharks fired back to go on a 9-0 run and by half-time they had cut the lead for Canberra to 40-38.

It remained a tight contest right throughout the second half and it always felt as though the last team that scored would end up being the winner.

James Toohey did score to put the Gunners up 69-66 with just under four minutes to play before a minute later Adriana Cabrera converted a layup to make it a one-point ball game. When he turned that into a three-point play, scores were all square.

In the end the game was decided with one lone free-throw made for Canberra by Glenn Morison. Archie Woodhill and Lochlan Hutchison both had chances at a game winner for the Sharks but couldn’t convert and the Gunners held on to win 70-69.

Glenn Morison not only hit that winning free-throw but finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for Canberra with Akech Aliir contributing 12 points and six boards, Shaun Mills 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

James Toohey added nine points and five rebounds, and Pietro Badalassi nine points, two boards and two assists.

Geoff Gerlach put up 24 points and nine rebounds for Sutherland on 8/11 shooting from the floor and 7/7 at the foul line.

Adrian Cabrera finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Sharks, Lochlan Hutchison 11 points, eight boards and six assists, Archer Woodhill seven points and three rebounds, and Charles Johnston seven points and six boards.

 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 75 defeated HILLS HORNETS 62

The Illawarra Hawks maintained their hold on a top four position in the NBL1 East by beating the Hills Hornets by 13 points on Saturday night.

The Hawks played host to the Hornets at The Snakepit on Saturday night and that just happened to see Illawarra take on a Hills team featuring the Hawks' NBL captain AJ Ogilvy.

The Hawks flew out of the blocks to open up an early 12-point lead too but Hills managed to work back into the contest and were just four points down by quarter-time.

Things remained tight in the second term with Illawarra maintaining a 37-30 advantage heading into half-time.

The Hornets then made their run in the third term and even briefly took the lead, but they couldn't quite maintain it with it lighting a fire underneath the Hawks.

Illawarra went on an 11-0 run then in the fourth term to take control and finish up winning 75-62.

The victory improved the Hawks to an 8-5 record on the season following the end of Round 11 while the Hornets are now 5-9.

Former 217-game NBL veteran Lucas Walker put up 26 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots in an outstanding all-round performance for the Hawks in the win.

Harry Morris added 19 points and six rebounds, Fletcher MacDonald 13 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Patrick Lancaster eight points, nine assists, five steals and four boards.

Lachlan Charlton put up 15 points and six rebounds for the Hornets while AJ Ogilvy had 12 points and nine boards, and Paul Brotherson 11 points and six rebounds. 

 

NORTHS BEARS 76 defeated BANKSTOWN BRUINS 73

The Norths Bears came from behind on their home floor on Saturday night to overrun the Bankstown Bruins in Round 11 of the NBL1 East.

The Bears played host to the Bruins at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre and it was a high-scoring opening to the contest with the two teams combining for 58 first-quarter points with Norths leading 31-27 by quarter-time.

Bankstown, however, turned the tide in the second term scoring eight straight points on the way to outscoring the Bears 20 points to 10 to then head into the half-time break leading 47-41.

The Bruins were still leading 62-58 by three quarter-time and were out to a six-point lead once more during the fourth period, but the Bears finishing strongly.

Norths would put together eight consecutive points to grab the lead and having trailed by nine in the second half, went on to win 76-73.

The victory improves the Bears to a 6-6 record on the season following Round 11 while the Bruins are now still anchored to bottom spot at 2-11.

Brennan Rymer starred in the win for the Bears with 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Patrick Sanders added 13 points and five rebounds while connecting on 3/6 from three-point range with Anatoly Bose contributing 10 points and 11 rebounds, Iggy Mitchell nine points and seven boards, Michael Golding eight points, three rebounds and three steals, and Michael Yoong seven points.

Lachlan Anderson delivered 23 points and five rebounds for Bankstown while knocking down 5/11 from three-point land.

Dragan Elkaz added 19 points, three boards and three assists, Jack Lopez 13 points and three rebounds, and Shareef Saipaia eight points, four boards, four assists and two steals.