NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Men's Round 8

A game winner from Paul Brotherson for the Hills Hornets and 40 points from Kiwi Gardner for the Illawarra Hawks made up part of the Saturday night action in Round 8 of the NBL1 East Men's competition.

Round 8 in the NBL1 East Men's season got underway on Saturday evening with victories for the Canberra Gunners, Illawarra Hawks, Hills Hornets, Newcastle Falcons, Central Coast Crusaders and Maitland Mustangs.

It got underway with the Canberra Gunners winning on the road 92-87 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Glenn Morison top-scored for Canberra with 23 points while Steven White had 23 points for the Sea Eagles.

The Central Coast Crusaders produced an impressive performance on the road to beat the Inner West Bulls 90-76. Jacob Cracknell top-scored for the Crusaders with 22 points, eight assists, seven steals and five rebounds. Chier Maker scored 26 points for Inner West.

The Maitland Mustangs held off the Bankstown Bruins for a 77-68 win at home on Saturday evening. Scott McGann top-scored for Maitland with 12 points while Jack Lope put up 23 points for Bankstown.

The Illawarra Hawks produced an impressive performance on the road to defeat the Norths Bears 100-72. Kiwi Gardner was the star for the Hawks with 40 points while Fletcher MacDonald added 20 points and 19 rebounds. Patrick Sanders-McClain had 17 points for the Bears.

It was a thriller at Sutherland Basketball Stadium with a late finish going to the rack from Paul Brotherson delivering the 80-78 victory for the Hills Hornets on the road to the Sutherland Sharks.

Brotherson ended the night with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Hills while Geoffrey Gerlach had 23 points for the Sharks.

The Newcastle Falcons also were impressive in defeating the Albury-Wodonga Bandits 92-61 at home with Ryan Beisty top-scoring with 17 points to go with 12 rebounds and five assists. Hamish Warden had 13 points for the Bandits.

Round 8 in the NBL1 East competition continues on Sunday with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles hosting the Newcastle Falcons, the Sutherland Sharks taking on the Norths Bears, the Maitland Mustangs playing the Albury-Wodonga Bandits, and the Central Coast Crusaders playing the Hills Hornets.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 8 – SATURDAY NIGHT

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 87 lost to CANBERRA GUNNERS 92

The Canberra Gunners delivered a spectacular second half fight back to beat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles by five points on Saturday night.

The Sea Eagles hosted the Gunners at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre and started impressively on their home floor putting up 28 points to 17 in the opening quarter.

Manly-Warringah were able to extend their advantage in the second term further with another 21 points to 13 to be in control at the main break leading 49-30.

Canberra had to find something at the half and they came out a different unit to start the second half. The Gunners put up 32 points to 13 in the third quarter to suddenly tie scores up by three quarter-time, and they were able to complete the job.

Canberra sealed the eventual 92-87 in spectacular fashion too when Dhai Fieg forced the steal in the back court on Matthew Wacher, got the ball ahead to Dhai Fieg who threw down the most spectacular of reverse jams.

The result improves the Gunners to a 7-2 record on the season after eight rounds while the Sea Eagles are now 4-6 ahead of hosting the Newcastle Falcons on Sunday.

Glenn Morrison came up huge for Canberra with 23 points and 16 rebounds with Dhai Fieg producing 17 points, nine boards, six assists and six steals.

Max Cooper added 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, Shaun Mills 15 points and five assists, and Will Mayfield 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Steven White put up 23 points and six assists for Manly-Warringah, William McFee 14 points, Kyle Painter 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Abe Bulgin 11 points.

 

NORTHS BEARS 72 lost to ILLAWARRA HAWKS 100

The Illawarra Hawks dominated the second half to come away with a 28-point victory over the Norths Bears on Saturday night.

The Bears were at home at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre to host the Hawks on Saturday night and it was a tight affair for the first half.

Illawarra narrowly led 18-16 by quarter-time before extending that advantage with 19 points to 12 in the second term, but the 37-28 lead still meant the Bears were in the contest at the major break.

The Hawks started to extend their advantage in the third quarter with 32 points to 24 and then completed the job with 31 points to 20 in the fourth term to end up winning 100-72.

The win improves Illawarra to a 6-4 record on the season after eight rounds while the Bears slip to 3-5 ahead of taking on the Sutherland Sharks on Sunday.

Illawarra pulled down 52 rebounds to 30 for the night including 18 offensive boards to seven while the Hawks ended up with 30 free-throw attempts to 12 from the Bears.

Kiwi Gardner produced a stunning performance in the win for the Hawks with 40 points, nine rebounds and five assists on the back of shooting 15/30 from the field, 3/7 from three-point range and 7/10 at the foul line.

Fletcher MacDonald added 20 points, 19 rebounds and five assists for Illawarra, Harry Morris 19 points, seven boards and four steals, Noman Massimino seven points, and Sean Mullan seven points and three rebounds.

Patrick Sanders put up 17 points and four rebounds for the Bears with Anatoly Bose contributing eight points, five rebounds and four blocks, and Brandon Freire eight points.

 

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 78 lost to HILLS HORNETS 80

It was a thriller on Saturday night with the Hills Hornets prevailing over the Sutherland Sharks on the back of a strong finish from Paul Brotherson with time almost expiring.

The two teams did battle at Sutherland Basketball Stadium and it just felt like a game destined to be decided on the final possession.

The Hornets led narrowly 17-15 by quarter-time but the Sharks produced an impressive second period with 23 points to 16 to head into the half-time break leading 38-33.

Sutherland was able to extend that advantage to as much as 11 during the third quarter and to still lead 60-51 at three quarter-time, but the Hornets weren't done with yet.

They went on an 8-0 run to fire themselves back into the contest before taking the lead on the back of a Jack Giddens three ball with three minutes left on the clock.

David Hayman put Hills out to a three-point lead before a nice inside bucket from Geoff Gerlach brought Sutherland back within a point with a minute to play.

In the end, a strong bucket from Adrian Cabrera with just under seven seconds to go tied scores up before the Hornets came out of a timeout with Paul Brotherson taking it to the hole, creating some space and putting in what turned out to be the winning bucket.

The Sharks had one last shot but Gerlach's attempt wouldn’t fall after a good look in the block and the Hornets went on to win the game 80-78 after a terrific contest.

On top of making the game winning bucket, Paul Brotherson put up 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Hornets while Ben Kearins added 13 points, six boards and five assists.

Marvin Fidel added 12 points and two assists, Liam Moss 10 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Jayden Prakash eight points and three boards.

Geoff Gerlach top-scored for Sutherland with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists on 11/16 shooting while Lochlan Hutchinson added 13 points, six boards and four assists, Bailey Musulin 13 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Adrian Cabrera 12 points, 10 boards and four assists.

 

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 92 defeated ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 61

The Newcastle Falcons started on fire to set up an eventual 31-point victory at home to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits on Saturday night.

The Falcons hosted the Bandits at Newcastle Basketball Stadium and put up 30 points to just nine in the opening quarter having gone on a run of scoring 16 straight points.

Another 10 consecutive points for the Falcons during the second quarter saw them extend their advantage to 28 points and they went into the half-time break leading 49-23.

The lead for the Falcons continued to grow throughout the second half to be as much as 33 points during the third quarter, and 36 during the fourth before they wrapped up the 92-61 victory.

The win improves Newcastle to a 6-2 record on the season ahead of Sunday's clash with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles while the Bandits are now 5-4 before taking on the Maitland Mustangs also on Sunday.

Ryan Beisty finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals with 3/5 shooting from downtown for Newcastle.

Matur Maluach added 15 points and seven rebounds, Jaidyn Goodwin 12 points and four assists, Myles Cherry 11 points and six assists, Jai Smith 10 points and three rebounds, and Tom Dawson eight points and six boards.

Hamish Warden ended up with 13 points and two rebounds for Albury-Wodonga, Lochlan Cummings 11 points, five rebounds and five assists, Jack Saunders 11 points and five boards, and Bailey Lloyd eight points.

 

INNER WEST BULLS 76 lost to CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 90

The Central Coast Crusaders produced a dominant first half to set up an eventual 14-point Saturday night victory on the road to the Inner West Bulls.

The Bulls hosted the Crusaders at ELS Hall Park but it was Central Coast who started the better with 21 points to nine in the opening quarter.

The Central Coast then rammed home their advantage further in the second term with 33 points to 17 to head into the half-time break in control leading 54-26.

Inner West was able to stem the tide and turn things around in the second to outscore Central Coast in the second half 50 points to 36 but that only cut the eventual win for the Crusaders to 90-76.

The result saw Central Coast improve to a 4-5 record on the season with a game to come against the Hills Hornets on Sunday in Round 8 while the Bulls are now 6-3.

Jacob Cracknell ended up with 22 points, eight assists, seven steals and five rebounds for Central Coast with Callum Jenkins contributing 15 points, nine boards, four assists and two steals.

Oliver Robilliard added 14 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals, James Trustum 10 points and three boards, and Jamal Shoaib nine points with a pair of three balls.

Chier Maker finished with 26 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls on shooting 6/14 at three-point territory.

Chol Adup added 18 points, Jasper Rentoy 11 points and six assists, and Alex Higgins-Titsha eight points, four rebounds and three steals.

 

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 77 defeated BANKSTOWN BRUINS 68

The Maitland Mustangs withstood a fast finish from the Bankstown to score a nine-point victory at home on Saturday night.

The Mustangs hosted the Bruins at Maitland Federation Centre and started well with 18 points to 11 in each of the first two quarters to go into the half-time break leading 36-22.

Maitland extended its lead further in the third quarter with 27 points to 20 to lead by as much as 26 points during that third period.

Bankstown was able to put up a big final quarter including going on a 14-0 run and outscoring Maitland 26 points to 14, but the Mustangs still ended up winning 77-68.

The Mustangs improved to 4-5 with the victory while the Bruins are now 1-8 following the defeat.

Scott McGann finished the evening with 12 points and six rebounds for the Mustangs with Jack Edwards contributing 10 points, six steals, four boards and three assists, Daniel Millburn 10 points and three rebounds, and Billy Parsons nine points, four boards and four assists.

Jack Lopez led the way for the Bruins with 23 points and five rebounds with Aaron Waban adding 10 points and three boards, Aqeel Alexander nine points, and Nathaniel Brown eight points, three assists and three steals.