NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Round 15

Mikaela Dombkins had a remarkable 38-point, 29-rebound performance in an NBL1 East win for the Inner West Bulls while Nicole Munger dominated for Newcastle Falcons, Davo Hickey was inspirational for Illawarra Hawks, and Sydney Comets hit the last 10 points to sink Newcastle's men.

Saturday's Round 15 NBL1 East women's matches saw the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles beat the Canberra Nationals 75-69, Norths Bears defeat the Albury-Wodonga Bandits 70-57, Illawarra Hawks down the Bankstown Bruins, and the Maitland Mustangs win 81-68 against the Sutherland Sharks.

The Central Coast Crusaders also beat Hills Hornets 73-47, Newcastle Falcons downed the Sydney Comets 71-50, and the Inner West Bulls defeated the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders 104-56.

The men's matches then saw the Comets beat the Falcons 79-74, the Gunners down the Sea Eagles 108-71, the Bears beat the Bandits 107-97, the Hawks defeat the Bruins 102-84, the Mustangs win 110-79 against the Sharks, the Hornets defeat the Crusaders 73-71, and Inner West beat Hornsby 84-59.

WOMEN

Sea Eagles beat Nationals to maintain top spot

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles had to dig deep but were able to overcome the Canberra Nationals to win 75-69 and maintain their hold on top spot in the NBL1 East.

The Sea Eagles were back home to host the Nationals on Saturday knowing they needed to keep winning to keep hold of top spot but Canberra was never going to hand them anything.

The Nationals did lead by five points during the opening term and were still leading Manly-Warringah 18-16 by quarter-time.

The Sea Eagles were able to work their way on top throughout the second period, though, with 29 points to 20 to head into the half-time break leading 45-38.

It remained a tight contest throughout the second half but Canberra could never quite recapture the lead with Manly-Warringah holding on to win by six to improve to 16-2 on the season. The Nationals are now 8-10 with consecutive defeats.

Bree Delaney produced a strong performance for the Sea Eagles with 21 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists with Zoey Miller contributing 19 points, four boards and three assists.

Kim Hodge also had 17 points and seven rebounds, Felicity Henderson six points, nine boards, three assists and two steals, and Antonia Henderson six points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Lizzy Tonks put up 20 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for Canberra while Issy Bourne added 14 points, seven boards and five assists, and Jasmyn Boutzos 11 points and two assists with 3/6 shooting from downtown.

Bears hold out Bandits for crucial win

The Norths Bears maintained their hold on a top four position beating the Albury-Wodonga Bandits 70-57 at home on Saturday afternoon.

It was a crucial game for both teams at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre with the Bears needing to keep winning to stay in the top four and the defending champion Bandits still an outside chance of breaking in if they could string some wins together.

It was a tight contest in the first half too with Albury-Wodonga leading by a point at quarter-time and even though Norths shot out to a nine-point edge in the second period, by half-time the Bears only led 35-32.

However, the third quarter was when the home team made their move to outscore the Bandits 24 points to 14. The Bears would lead by as much as 16 points before ending up winning 13.

The result improves the Bears to a 14-3 record with the three straight wins while the Bandits slip further from the top four as reigning champs at 9-8.

Jolene Anderson finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Bears on the back of shooting 8/15 from the field and 4/9 from behind the three-point line.

Emily Simons contributed 11 points, four steals and three rebounds, Madeleine O'Hehir eight points and four boards, Carla Pitman eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Kate Seebohm five points and 11 assists.

Mikayla Pivec continued her strong finish to the season for Albury-Wodonga with another 15 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks.

Ashlee Hannan added 11 points and seven rebounds, Malury Bates 11 points and nine boards, and Emma Mahady 10 points and four rebounds.

Abel leads Hawks to win over Bruins

Rebecca Abel and Violet Morrow had big performances for their respective teams but it was Abel who got more support with the Illawarra Hawks scoring the 84-74 victory against the Bankstown Bruins.

The Hawks and Bruins locked horns at The Snakepit on Saturday evening and it turned out to be quite the entertaining affair.

The lead continued to seesaw throughout the opening half with Illawarra leading by two at quarter-time but Bankstown had their moments in the second stanza to open up a six-point advantage.

However, Illawarra turned things back around by scoring 17 consecutive points from that momentum to end up on top 41-31 head into the half-time interval.

The lead for the Hawks did get out to as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter too before winning by 10 and improving to a 4-13 record snapping a three-game losing run. The Bruins are now 7-10 having lost back-to-back games.

Rebecca Abel was outstanding in the win for Illawarra with 29 points, four rebounds and four assists while shooting 10/20 from the field, 4/10 from beyond the arc and 5/8 at the foul line.

Emilia Garcia Leon put up 21 points and five rebounds, Teagan Edwards nine points, five steals, three assists and two boards, and Melanie Kirby seven points and two rebounds.

Violet Morrow did what she could to keep Bankstown in the contest with 28 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two assists with Britney Wright contributing 14 points and nine boards, and Jurnee-A'Mour Straker 11 points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds.

Light work for Bec Abel ?

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Shak Reilly shoots Mustangs to win over Sharks

The Maitland Mustangs kept their NBL1 East playoff hopes alive by making it four straight wins defeating the Sutherland Sharks 81-68.

Both teams arrived at Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday evening trying to still remain a chance to break into the top four over the last month of the regular season with the Sharks on a 12-5 record and Mustangs 10-6.

The Sharks did get the better of the start being on top by as much as nine points in the first term before still leading 25-22 by quarter-time.

Maitland was able to turn the tide in the second period with 16 points to 10 and that saw the home team lead 38-35 by half-time.

The Mustangs then took control further in the third stanza completing a 13-0 run to take a 12-point advantage. That lead got out to 14 points in the final term and Maitland would go on to win by 13.

It leaves things fascinating with both teams still trying to stay in top four hunt with Maitland improving to 11-6 with the fourth straight win while Sutherland is 12-6 with a four-game winning run ending.

Shakera Reilly came up huge in the win for the Mustangs hitting 5/8 from three-point territory on her way to 27 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Madison Washington added 15 points, nine boards, six assists, three steals and two blocks, Sydney Hunter 12 points, 12 boards and eight assists, and Rachel Williams eight points and five dimes.

It was a shorthanded Sutherland team with only seven players available to suit up including the absence of Opals star Lauren Nicholson with Madeleine Norris delivering 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Aliza Fabbro also had 16 points and two assists, Kallie Hovatter 12 points, four assists and three boards, and Olivia White 10 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.

Forcadilla, Penn shoot Crusaders to big win

The Central Coast Crusaders scored their sixth win of the NBL1 East season with Jasmine Forcadilla and Maddison Penn combining for 10 three-pointers in the 73-47 victory against the Hills Hornets.

For three quarters not much separated the two teams as they looked to get a morale boosting late season victory with the Crusaders leading by just three points at quarter-time and then by nine at the main break.

Central Coast then pulled away further in the third stanza to lead by as much as 13 points before dominating the final term with 27 points to six to end up scoring the 26-point victory.

The win improves the Crusaders to a 6-12 record on the season with the Hornets now 3-15 with back-to-back defeats.

Maddison Penn knocked down 6/12 from behind the three-point line in the win for Central Coast on her way to 20 points and eight rebounds.

Jasmine Forcadilla also hit 4/10 from downtown for 22 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals while Mikaela Miller contributed eight points and four boards, and Jonalyn Wittwer seven points, three rebounds and two assists.

Rhiannon Yetsenga top-scored for the Hornets with 15 points and 11 rebounds with Taylah Cottees contributing nine points, eight boards and two steals, and Britnee Sewell eight points and six rebounds.

Dombkins unstoppable for Inner West

The numbers Mikaela Dombkins finished with almost defy belief in the 104-56 victory for the Inner West Bulls against the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.

What Dombkins was able to do for the Bulls in the big win at ELS Hall Park was simply phenomenal with the 36-year-old former WNBL star at the Sydney Flames, UC Capitals and Adelaide Lightning putting in a remarkably dominant showing.

The Bulls ended up snapping a seven-game losing streak to record their fourth win of the season in emphatic fashion with the 48-point victory, but it was Dombkins who was the story of the evening.

She ended up playing all but 2:12 of the game and finished with the remarkable numbers of 38 points, 29 rebounds, six assists and two steals on shooting 13/25 from the field, 8/14 from three-point territory and 4/4 at the foul line.

It was just a performance that is hard to comprehend but the efforts of her partner Leilani Mitchell were superb too as she delivered 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals for Inner West.

Jaydan Thomson also had 12 points and four rebounds, and Maja Peric 13 points, eight boards and two assists.

It was a tough evening for Hornsby with Mizuki Wakamatsu finishing with 22 points and three rebounds, Tylah Mundine 12 points, three boards and three steals, and Alicia Poto nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Munger dominates as Falcons hammer Comets

The Newcastle Falcons took full advantage of the shorthanded Sydney Comets to win 71-50 on Saturday night to further enhance their top two position.

Sydney was playing at home at Comets Stadium but were without Opals star Shyla Heal and Sydney Flames WNBL guard Vanessa Panousis. That took 50.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 11.3 assists out of the Comets team and it showed as the evening went on.

Newcastle did need to keep winning to maintain its hold on a top two position and the Falcons dominated from the outset to lead 14-9 by quarter-time.

The Comets did well to stick with the Falcons in the second quarter to only be down three at the main break, but Newcastle took charge from there.

The Falcons outscored the Comets 40 points to 22 in the second half to run away with the 21-point win to stay in second spot at 15-2 while Sydney is now 11-6 with four straight losses and finals are slipping away.

Nicole Munger had a monster night again for Newcastle finishing with 28 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Mykea Gray added 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals, Hannah Chicken 10 points and seven boards, Kate Kingham eight points, four assists, two rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Alison Ebzery 11 boards to go with two points, four assists and two steals.

Sarah Wacher put up 18 points and two rebounds for Sydney with Jada Crawshaw contributing 17 points, nine boards, four blocks and two steals, and Alex Kayrouz eight points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

MEN

Gunners stay alive with big win over Sea Eagles

The defending champion Canberra Gunners continued their push for a top four spot again in 2023 by beating the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 108-71 on the road on Saturday evening.

Canberra does need to continue to keep winning to try and break into the top four to be a chance to defend their NBL1 East championship, and they came out a team on a mission against the Sea Eagles.

The Gunners piled on 37 points to 20 in the opening period and that set the tone for the rest of the evening.

The lead for Canberra would be as much as 26 in the second term before they led 58-36 at half-time.

It was more of the same in the second half with the lead getting out to as much as 37 in the fourth period before the Gunners settled on that as the final margin.

The victory keeps Canberra banging on the top four door with a 12-6 record have now won three in-a-row with the loss seeing Manly Warringah slip to 4-14 unable to back up last week's win against Hornsby.

Dhal Fieg was tremendous in the win for Canberra with 22 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals on 9/14 shooting from the field with James Toohey adding 17 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Last year's Grand Final MVP Glenn Morison added 17 points, four rebounds and two assists on 4/8 shooting with 9/9 at the free-throw line with Lachlan Smith contributing 15 points, three boards and two assists, and Max Cooper nine points, four rebounds and two assists.

Matthew Eldridge produced 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists for Manly Warringah while Aku Makki put up 10 points and five boards, Stefan Valkovic nine points and two rebounds, and Mitch Evans nine points and three assists.

Bears prevail in double OT classic with Bandits

With one team trying to hold on to their place in the top four and the other trying to play spoilers, it was quite the spectacular double overtime encounter between the Norths Bears and Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

The Bears played host to the Bandits at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre in what turned out potentially the game of the NBL1 East season.

Norths were narrowly on top for most of the first half including turning into the main break leading by nine points.

However, Albury-Wodonga fired back in the third quarter with 27 points to 21 and then even briefly grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter.

It was big shot after big shot to close regulation and ultimately it was a triple from Jamir Coleman for the Bandits that forced the game into the first overtime.

It was then the turn of Robert Moore for the Bears to hit the game tying three near the end of the first extra time to force the game to another five minutes.

And it was in that second overtime where Norths took control outscoring the Bandits 11 points to one to claim the crucial 107-97 victory.

The win steadies the Bears inside the top four at 13-4 after a loss to the Centre of Excellence with the Bandits now 8-10 with back-to-back losses.

There were some spectacular individual performances throughout the game including Lewis Holey delivering 24 points, 25 rebounds and two steals for Norths.

Robert Moore top-scored with 27 points, five rebounds and three assists with Michael Yoong contributing 15 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals, Lucas Morgan 11 points and two steals, and Michael Golding 10 points, 13 boards, four assists and four steals.

Lochlan Cummings was the high scorer in the game with 30 points, three rebounds and three assists for Albury-Wodonga with Jamir Coleman adding 25 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, Jacob Cincurak 15 points, eight assists and five boards, and Michael Parks 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Hickey brilliant as Hawks beat Bruins

Davo Hickey returned for the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday and produced a scorching performance to lead his team to the 102-84 win against the Bankstown Bruins.

Hickey is readying himself for another NBL season also with the Hawks and he showed just how much he benefited from his increased minutes in NBL23, and what he could be capable of looking to NBL24.

Scores were all square at 26-26 by quarter-time but it was in the second period when Hickey and the Hawks took control of the contest with 28 points to 12 to go into the half-time break leading 54-38.

Illawarra kept it going in the second half too to lead by as much as 25 points in the third quarter and to go on to score the 18-point victory to improve to 8-9 while Bankstown is now 4-13.

Davo Hickey was the star of the night for the Hawks with 38 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals on the back of shooting 9/13 from the field, 2/2 from beyond the arc and then a remarkable 18/19 at the free-throw line.

Tim Coenraad added 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Harry Morris 11 points and five boards, Noah Pagotto 10 points and four rebounds, and Frederick Webb six points, six assists and five boards.

Dragan Elkaz ended up top-scoring for Bankstown with 25 points, three rebounds and two assists with Alex Foster contributing 16 points and 10 boards, and Hayden Blankley 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Davo Hickey is a MENACE in the paint ?

Illawarra's star guard went OFF with:

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Mustangs keep charging towards top four

The race for the top four in the NBL1 East has become all the more fascinating thanks to the Maitland Mustangs overrunning the Sutherland Sharks to win 110-79 on Saturday night.

Coming into the clash at Maitland Federation Centre and the Sharks were clinging to their place in the top four and the Mustangs were attempting to break in before finals time.

That set the stage for the contest and Maitland started on fire with 30 points to 16 in the opening period. The Mustangs kept the momentum going to lead by as much as 21 points in the second term and were leading 58-45 at the main interval.

The lead for Maitland grew to 14 points at three quarter-time before the Mustangs went on to dominate the fourth stanza with 33 points to 16 to run away with the contest and end up winning by 31.

It was an emphatic result for Maitland who improve to an 11-6 record with seven straight wins to continue to charge towards the top four where the Sharks are just holding on at 12-6.

There were plenty of strong contributors for the Mustangs with Will Cranston-Lown finishing with 18 points, 12 assists and five steals while hitting 4/9 from behind the three-point arc.

James Hunter added 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals, Kevin Warren 17 points, five assists and four boards, Matthew Gray 13 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and Billy Parsons 13 points, seven boards, seven assists and three steals.

Lochlan Hutchison top-scored for Sutherland with 21 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists on hitting 4/7 from downtown with Jordan Mitchell contributing 18 points and three boards, Geoff Gerlach 12 points and three rebounds, and Deng Gak 12 points and eight boards.

Hornets stay alive with thrilling win

The Hills Hornets kept their NBL1 East playoff aspirations alive but only just with the thrilling 73-71 home victory against the Central Coast Crusaders.

The Hornets don't have any room for error if they want to try and break into the top four before the end of the season as they hosted a Crusaders team on a 12-game losing run at Hills Basketball Stadium.

It turned out to be a terrific contest all evening and the Hornets had to withstand the Crusaders opening up an early eight-point lead.

Hills managed to turn it around to lead 23-21 by quarter-time and by the third quarter, the Hornets had extended that advantage to 15 points and were threatening to run away with the contest.

However, it wasn’t to be and the Crusaders fired back and found themselves leading by four points on the back of a Nicholas Wooller bucket with 1:45 to play.

The challenge was back on the Hornets to respond with their season riding on the result. Liam Moss knocked down a huge three to bring the deficit back to a point.

Then after Moss had his drive blocked by Wooller, Ben Kearins took it inside and was able to finish with his left hand to give the home team the lead with just a minute to go.

It was a dramatic finish but ultimately the Crusaders did have one final chance to snatch it. Aaron Lawton got a good look at a corner three for Hammish Loader on the buzzer, and it threatened to go down. However, it just rimmed out and the Hornets held on for the crucial win.

The victory keeps the Hornets in the playoff hunt at 11-6 while Central Coast has lost 13 in-a-row at 3-15.

Shawn Montague produced 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Hornets with Liam Moss adding 17 points, five boards, three assists and two steals, and Paul Brotherson 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Aaron Lawton top-scored for the Crusaders with 27 points and five assists with 4/7 three-point shooting. Nicholas Wooller added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Hammish Loader 10 points and eight boards.

Bulls hammer Spiders to stay second

The Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders have had some close calls for that elusive first NBL1 East victory but Saturday night wasn’t one of them with the Inner West Bulls beating them 84-59.

There was too much at stake for the Bulls at ELS Hall Park to let it slip with them needing to keep winning to keep themselves in a playoff position as the hosted the winless bottom placed team.

Inner West got right on top from the outset to already be leading 26-11 by quarter-time. The Bulls continued to build on that throughout the evening to lead by 18 at half-time, 22 at three quarter-time and ending up winning by 25.

The win keeps the Bulls in second position in the standings at 14-3 with Hornsby now 0-18 in their inaugural NBL1 East season.

Tony Tolovae produced 16 points and four rebounds in the win for Inner West with Nicko Timonera contributing 15 points and six boards, Chris Bryant 12 points and six rebounds, Blake Morrow 10 points, 12 boards, five assists and three steals, and Alex Higgins-Titsha nine points, 14 rebounds and three steals.

Peitok Machar top-scored for Hornsby with 15 points and 13 rebounds with Kwabena Brefo adding 14 points and nine boards, and Tom Gillis 11 points and three rebounds.

Comets with last 10 points to sink Falcons

The Sydney Comets delivered a scintillating finish to score the last 10 points of the game to beat the Newcastle Falcons 79-74 and deliver a cruel blow their playoff chances in the process.

Newcastle arrived at Comets Stadium having won their past two games to stay in the top four hunt, but they knew they did need to keep winning to ensure that remained the case.

While the Comets did get off to a hot start to score 11 straight points in the opening quarter to lead by as much as 10, by the third quarter Newcastle had worked its way on top with Ryan Beisty once again leading the charge.

The Falcons were leading by as much as seven in the third period and still in control up 74-69 with five minutes on the clock after a dunk from Beisty.

However, the game then underwent quite the dramatic transformation starting with a jumper for the Comets from Wani Swaka Lo Buluk. 

The defensive pressure went up from Sydney as well and they were taking advantage up the other end with a couple of layups to Isaac Ayoubi and then Archer Woodhill, who converted his into a three-point play. 

That saw the Comets grab the lead and then complete the job with a triple from Woodhill to end up scoring the game's last 10 points to go from five points down to winning by five.

The loss could be a cruel blow to Newcastle's playoff hopes as they slip to a 10-7 record while Sydney makes it consecutive wins at 8-9.

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk ended the night with 22 points, five rebounds and two steals for Sydney with Archer Woodhill putting up 20 points and seven boards.

Julian Revell-Reade added 11 points and five rebounds on 5/5 field goal shooting while Indiana Faithfull was important with nine points, seven assists and six boards.

Ryan Beisty ended up with 25 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Newcastle on 9/12 shooting from the floor and 6/8 from downtown.

Jaidyn Goodwin contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Matur Maluach 11 points, four boards and two assists, and Myles Cherry eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

Wani Swaka Lo Buluk ??????? ?? off balance ?

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