NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Round 7

The Penrith Panthers men scored a dramatic late win over the Albury-Wodonga Bandits as part of Saturday's NBL1 East action while the Bankstown Bruins again denied Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders their first win in heartbreaking fashion.

The Saturday women's match ups saw the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles beat the Sutherland Sharks 91-65, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits defeat the Penrith Panthers 86-68, the Bankstown Bruins down the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiers 91-60, and Maitland Mustangs defeat Hills Hornets 69-59.

The Inner West Bulls also defeated the Central Coast Crusaders 73-66 while the Norths Bears beat the Illawarra Hawks 114-56, and the Newcastle Falcons downed the Sydney Comets 86-70.

Then in the men's contests, Bankstown beat Hornsby 71-70 while Norths beat Illawarra 101-75, Newcastle defeated Sydney 89-74 and the Sharks downed the Sea Eagles 89-71, the Panthers defeated the Bandits 81-80, the Hornets prevailed 82-76 against the Mustangs, and the Bulls beat the Crusaders 102-55.

WOMEN

Sea Eagles maintain top spot with home win over Sharks

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles remain clear on top of the NBL1 East after a 91-65 win on Saturday at home to the Sutherland Sharks.

The Sea Eagles came into the round having won seven of their eight matches so far this season but it was always going to be a test against the Sharks.

However, Manly Warringah continued to pull further away as the game unfolded leading by four points at quarter-time, 10 at half-time, 11 at three quarter-time and with 23 points to eight in the fourth term they would go on to win by 26.

The Sea Eagles improve to 8-1 on the season with the win with Kim Hodge finishing with 16 points and three steals, and Bree Delaney 16 points and five rebounds.

Felicity Henderson also had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Antonia Henderson 12 points and five boards, and Alex Delaney 11 points and six rebounds.

Madeleine Norris delivered 21 points for Sutherland with Lauren Nicholson contributing 16 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Kallie Hovatter 10 points, Hannan Clinen pulled down 12 rebounds.

How good is it to have Lauren Nicholson back ?

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Defending champs snap three-game losing streak

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits snapped a three-game losing streak with the defending champions scoring the 86-68 home victory against the Penrith Panthers.

The Bandits opened their championship defence in the NBL1 East winning their first four games of the season, but had lost their past three coming into Saturday's clash with the Panthers at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

It was the first time the teams have met in the NBL1 East and it was a tight first half with Albury-Wodonga only narrowly leading Penrith 37-35 at the main break.

However, the Bandits pulled away in the third quarter with 27 points to 13 and that's where they were able to set up the 18-point win to improve to 5-3 on the season with the Panthers now 2-7.

Elizabeth Murphy produced a terrific performance with 28 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists while Sarah Mellington had 15 points and four boards, Ashlee Hannan 14 points and seven rebounds, and Emma Mahady 12 points, eight assists, six boards and two steals.

Meg Jefferson top-scored for Penrith with 23 points and five rebounds with Chloe Williams contributing 15 points, seven boards, three assists and three steals, and Emily Matthews 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Bankstown keep Hornsby winless in the NBL1 East

The Bankstown Bruins enjoyed their first visit to The Brickpit to become the latest team to beat the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders with Saturday evening's 91-60 victory.

Hornsby came into the contest still chasing their first NBL1 East victory having lost their first seven matches by an average of 46.7 points so the job was ahead of them to make it a contest against the visiting Bruins.

But to their credit, the Spiders started impressively with 28 points to 21 in the opening quarter. Bankstown were able to begin to turn the tide in the second quarter to tie scores up by half-time.

It was then all the Bruins in the second half with 47 points to just 16 to win by 31 points and improve to 5-3 on the season with the Spiders now 0-8 as the last remaining winless team in the women's competition.

Violet Morrow delivered another strong performance for Bankstown in the win with 30 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists while draining 5/11 from three-point range.

Rachael Lavaki added 13 points and two rebounds, Britney Wright 12 points, 11 boards and four assists, and Shalome Dunlop 10 points, four boards, four assists and two steals.

Tylah Mundine put up 25 points, five rebounds and two steals for Hornsby with Alicia Poto adding eight points and four assists, and Mizuki Wakamatsu eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Tough buckets in OT for Shareef Saipaia ?

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Maitland get road win over the Hornets

A fast finish from the Hills Hornets at home wasn’t quite enough to stop the Maitland Mustangs holding on for the 69-59 victory.

Maitland started well at Hills Basketball Stadium with 18 points to 10 in the opening quarter and by half-time were leading the Hornets 39-26.

By three quarter-time the Hornets stretched their advantage to 61-42. That allowed Maitland to hold on and win by 10 despite Hills outscoring them 17 to eight in the final period.

The Mustangs improve to 5-3 with the win with Sydney Hunter putting up 21 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and four assists while Shakera Reilly had 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Mila Wawszkowicz 11 points and nine boards.

Kelsey Curtin top-scored for the Hornets with 16 points and three assists with Cassandra Pentney adding 10 points, 10 boards and four assists, and Rhiannon Yetsenga 10 points and seven rebounds.

Dombkins, Mitchell lift Inner West to consecutive wins

Terrific performances from Mikaela Dombkins and Leilani Mitchell led the Inner West Bulls to a second straight NBL1 East win as they beat the Central Coast Crusaders 73-66.

The Bulls were fresh off last week's 21-point win against the Sutherland Sharks where Mitchell was brilliant, and they opened up a handy gap up on the Crusaders with 20 points to 13 in the second quarter.

That saw Inner West lead 34-26 going into the half-time break and they maintained 10 or 11-point lead for a lot of the second half on the way to the eventual seven-point victory.

It's consecutive wins now for the Bulls as they improve to 3-6 on the season with the loss a third in-a-row for the Crusaders who are 4-5.

Mikaela Dombkins finished the night for Inner West with 26 points, 18 rebounds, three steals and two assists with Leilani Mitchell continuing her tremendous form with 25 points, nine assists, two boards and two steals.

Maja Peric added 12 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists, and Abby O'Flynn seven points, six rebounds and two steals.

Jonalyn Wittwer led the charge for Central Coast with 18 points and five rebounds with Nicole Hutchins delivering 15 points and 13 boards, Sara Matthews 11 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks, and Jasmine Forcadilla 10 points, five assists, four boards and two steals.

Deep Bears with third straight massive win

The Norths Bears made it three wins in succession by hammering the hapless Illawarra Hawks with the 114-56 home victory on Saturday night.

The Bears came into the clash having won their last couple by a combined 114 points with back-to-back 57-point thumpings of Penrith and Hills, and the signs were ominous for a Hawks team with just one win so far this season.

That was even more the case by quarter-time with Norths already leading 26-9 and they went on with the job from there. Another 36 points to 19 in the second term and the Bears were up 62-28 at half-time.

Norths outscored Illawarra 52 points to 28 in the second half to end up winning by 58 points to now mean their last three wins have come at a combined 172 points as they improve to a 6-2 record on the season.

Emily Simons top-scored for the Bears with 19 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals but their strength is their depth with Carla Pitman also having 17 points, five assists and four boards.

Madeleine O'Hehir also had 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, Holly Wills 15 points and five boards, Sarah Schlicher 12 points, nine rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks, and Kate Seebohm 12 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals.

Ella Dent delivered 10 points and seven assists for Illawarra, Rebecca Abel 10 points, four assists and three rebounds, and Georgia Chrystal Foy 10 points and eight boards.

Falcons hand Comets consecutive defeats

The Newcastle Falcons have handed the Sydney Comets their second successive defeat with Saturday night's 86-70 victory at Newcastle Basketball Stadium.

The Comets won their opening six matches in the NBL1 East this season but then suffered a first defeat last week to the Sea Eagles in the absence of Vanessa Panousis.

Even with Panousis back in the line-up on Saturday night, Newcastle proved too strong and the Falcons began to pull away with 22 points to 16 in the second quarter.

Newcastle then produced a terrific final period at home with 25 points to 12 to end up winning by 16 which improves the Falcons to 6-1 on the season with Sydney slipping to 6-2.

Abigail Curtin produced a strong performance for Newcastle in the win with 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals on 9/13 shooting.

Nicole Munger contributed 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, Kate Kingham 16 points, Mykea Gray 15 points and three rebounds, and Emily Foy 12 points, six boards and two steals.

Shyla Heal delivered 28 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in the loss for the Comets while Jada Crawshaw had 19 points, 12 boards, three steals and two blocks, and Vanessa Panousis 16 points and two steals.

MEN

Sharks score emphatic road win over Sea Eagles

The Sutherland Sharks proved too strong on the road for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, coming away with the 89-71 victory.

The job was ahead of Manly Warringah even at home with them having just one win to their name so far this season, but they did start impressively against the Sharks with 16 points to 12 in the opening term.

Sutherland worked its way on top in the second period with 27 points to 17, and then went on with the job outscoring the Sea Eagles 50 points to 38 in the second half to win by 18.

The result improves the Sharks to 6-3 on the season on the back of playing in last year's Grand Final while the Sea Eagles slide to 1-8.

Jordan Mitchell top-scored in the win for the Sharks with 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds on 5/7 shooting from the floor and 8/10 from the free-throw line.

Geoff Gerlach added 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Marquel Beasley 15 points, nine boards and three blocks, and Lochlan Hutchinson 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Matthew Eldridge finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and two blocks for Manly Warringah with Keeto Browne contributing 12 points and four assists, Aku Makki 10 points, two rebounds and two steals, and Mitch Evans eight points, eight boards and three steals.

Watch out for Marquel Beasley ?

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Dramatic finish sees Panthers snatch it from Bandits

The Penrith Panthers trailed most of the night but in the most dramatic of finishes, they snatched the 81-80 victory from the Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

The Bandits were in control most of the way at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre including leading by as much as 12 points in the third quarter, and still by seven several times through the fourth.

Even with a minute and-a-half remaining, Albury-Wodonga was still leading by four but the Panthers weren’t going away.

The Bandits were still up three with just over 30 seconds to play after a bucket to Lochlan Cummings, but Caleb Fetui-Fa'amoe scored up the other end to keep Penrith within a point.

That's when the drama started. With the Bandits looking to use up as much as the clock as possible, Michael Parks was called for the offensive foul on the screen, and suddenly Penrith had a chance to snatch it on the last possession.

Brodie Schwarzer drove to the hole and his little floater was well off, but Fetui-Fa'amoe was there for the offensive rebound, he put it back up and it went in, and Penrith had stolen the one-point win in the most remarkable fashion.

It was Penrith's second win of the season with Schwarzer finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds. Caleb Fetui-Fa'amoe added 13 points and six boards, Noman Massimino 12 points and eight rebounds, and Preston Matia 10 points and three boards.

Jamir Coleman put up 25 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and three assists for Albury-Wodonga with Lochlan Cummings contributing 19 points, eight boards and three assists, Dylan Wilkie 19 points and four rebounds, and Michael Parks 11 points and eight boards.

GAME-WINNING PUTBACK BY CALEB FETUI-FA'AMOE ?

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Bruins beat Spiders in OT in battle of winless teams

For the second time in a week the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders have been denied their first win in the NBL1 East by a solitary point, this time with the Bankstown Bruins winning 71-70.

The Spiders lost their opening seven matches of the season, but went ever so close to breaking through last week before losing by a point to the defending champion Canberra Gunners.

They were back in action at The Brickpit on Saturday afternoon to take on the Bruins who were also chasing their first win in the NBL1 East this season.

That set the stage for a fascinating match up and it couldn’t be decided in regulation.

Bankstown were leading 58-51 with just over a minute to play but Hornsby wouldn’t lie down. Kwabena Brefo knocked down a three-pointer and Ben White scored on the putback from an offensive rebound. 

The Spiders then forced a five second violation on the in-bounds pass for Bankstown out of a timeout. White was then fouled down low for Hornsby, but he missed both free-throws to keep Bankstown up two.

However, a horror backcourt turnover from Jonah Pares handed Jorgos Papadopoulos a path to the layup to score and send the game into an extra five minutes.

The drama continued as the lead continued to change hands in overtime but in the end, after White put Hornsby up one late as he continued his strong work inside, the game was decided with a Josh Shephard finish for Bankstown.

The Spiders had one more chance but Shareef Saipaia's three wouldn't fall and Bankstown got its first win of the season in memorable fashion.

Hayden Blankley ended the game with 23 points and six rebounds for the Bruins on shooting just 4/16 from the field but 12/12 at the foul line.

Jack Lopez added 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Josh Shephard 13 points and six boards.

Shareef Saipaia ended up with 22 points for Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai with Kwabena Brefo contributing 14 points and three rebounds, and Ben White 12 points and six boards.

Ben White threw it down! ?

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Hornets overrun Mustangs for fifth straight win

It was the Hills Hornets who finished the better after a rollercoaster affair against the Maitland Mustangs at Hills Basketball Stadium.

The Mustangs started strongly away from home with 28 points to 13 in the opening quarter but the Hornets then did well to respond with 28 points to 15 in the second term.

It remained a tight contest through most of the second half but in the end the Hornets outscored the Mustangs 21 points to 16 in the fourth quarter on the way to the six-point win.

The result improves the Hornets to a 5-4 record on the season having now strung together five consecutive wins while the Mustangs are 4-4 with their three-game losing run coming to an end.

Shawn Montague finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for Hills with Liam Moss adding 16 points, four boards, three assists and two steals, Paul Brotherson 14 points and six rebounds, and Ben Kearins nine points and eight assists.

James Hunter top-scored for Maitland with 20 points and five rebounds with Matthew Gray contributing 19 points and 10 boards, and Kevin Warren 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Bulls keep hold of top spot with big win over Crusaders

The NBL1 East league leading Inner West Bulls scored a seventh consecutive win by thrashing the Central Coast Crusaders 102-55 at home on Saturday night.

It didn’t take long for the Bulls to stamp their authority on the contest with 30 points to 15 in the opening quarter to set the tone for the rest of evening.

Inner West was still leading 47-31 by half-time before then outscoring Central Coast 55 points to 24 in the second half to romp to the 47-point win to improve to 8-1 on the season with the Crusaders now 3-6.

Chris Bryant had a big night in the win for the Bulls with 26 points, six rebounds and three steals on 10/13 shooting from the field.

Blake Morrow added 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds with Alex Higgins-Titsha contributing 20 points and seven boards, Jonni Mei-Edwards nine points, four assists and three rebounds, and Tony Tolovae nine points, five boards and three assists.

Nick Wooller top-scored for Central Coast with 10 points to go with five rebounds and three steals.

Rymer lights it up as Bears beat Hawks

The Norths Bears continued their strong form this NBL1 East season with a 101-75 home victory against the Illawarra Hawks.

The Bears were looking to bounce back from last week's loss to the Hills Hornets back home but it was a tight first half with the Hawks. Scores were level at quarter-time before Norths led narrowly 42-37 at the main break.

It was then all the Bears throughout the second half as they outscored Illawarra 59 points to 38 to win by 26 and improve to 7-2 on the season with the Hawks now 5-3.

Brennan Rymer proved the difference between the teams putting up 37 points and five assists while shooting 15/28 from the field and 3/6 from three-point range.

Robert Moore added 17 points, three rebounds and three steals for Norths, Nathaniel Musters 12 points and 13 boards, and Lewis Holey 10 points and nine rebounds.

Philip Dopud had a terrific game for Illawarra with 30 points and 15 rebounds on 13/26 shooting with Frederick Webb adding 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Judah Kami 10 points and four boards.

Falcons hand Comets second loss of season

The Newcastle Falcons delivered a statement performance to beat the Sydney Comets at home 89-74 on Saturday.

Sydney might have arrived at Newcastle Basketball Stadium with a 6-1 record, but the Falcons started emphatically with 24 points to 12 in the opening quarter.

Get out of Johnny Crnogorac's way! ?

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Newcastle went on with the job from there to lead by as much as 21 points on the way to the eventual 15-point win to improve to 4-3 on the season with the Comets now 6-2.

Myles Cherry produced a strong performance in the win for the Falcons with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks with Thomas Akamarmoi 15 points and four boards.

Jaidyn Goodwin also had 15 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals, Ryan Beisty 13 points, 11 boards, seven assists, five steals and two blocks, and Jakob Dorricott 11 points and a steal.

Christian Aukuso put up 13 points and five rebounds for Sydney, Johnny Crnogorac 13 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals, Isaiah Oste-Pinder 12 points and seven rebounds, and Archer Woodhill 10 points, two rebounds and two blocks.

Ryan Beisty is hustling ?

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