NBL1 East Recap | Sunday ANZAC Round

The Canberra Gunners and Nationals scored commanding wins over the Penrith Panthers in Sunday's NBL1 East action while the Newcastle Falcons and Hills Hornets split their ANZAC Round match ups.

ANZAC Round in the NBL1 East continued on Sunday with the two women's fixtures with the Canberra Nationals beating the Penrith Panthers 61-46 and the Newcastle Falcons defeated the Hills Hornets 74-51.

In the men's match ups, the Hornets won a thriller 70-69 against the Falcons, and the Canberra Gunners beat the Panthers 92-54.

WOMEN

Panthers start hot before being overrun by Nationals

Two teams determined for their third wins of the season locked horns on Sunday and it was the Canberra Nationals proving too strong for the Penrith Panthers, winning 61-46.

Both Penrith and Canberra entered the clash on 2-5 records at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre, and it was the Panthers who started well enough to lead 16-14 by quarter-time on the back of scoring the first nine points of the contest.

However, Canberra dominated from there and after Penrith were leading 9-0, the Nationals outscored them 61 points to 37 the rest of the way to end up winning by 15 points.

Lizzy Tonks was the standout performer in the game and she produced 22 points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds for Canberra while knocking down 6/11 from three-point range.

Jasmyn Boutzos also had 12 points and four rebounds for the Nationals, and Bianca Dufelmeier nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Meg Jefferson top-scored for Penrith with 16 points and five rebounds with Emily Matthews contributing 14 points, five boards, four steals and two assists.

Munger dominates in big win for Newcastle

The Newcastle Falcons kept their impressive form going this NBL1 East season holding the Hills Hornets to just 15 points in the second half to end up winning 74-46.

The Falcons were on their home floor at Newcastle Basketball Stadium and for the first half it was a tight affair with the Hornets battling hard and Newcastle only narrowly leading 39-34 at the long break.

However, Newcastle proved too strong throughout the second half outscoring the Hornets 35 points to 15 to end up winning with a 25-point margin to improve to 5-1 on the season with Hills now 1-7.

Nicole Munger came up huge as the afternoon wore on for Newcastle finishing the game with 26 points, 20 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Kate Kingham added 15 points and three rebounds, Abigail Curtin 13 points, four boards and three steals, and Rachael McGinniskin eight points, three assists, three steals, two blocks and two rebounds.

Rhiannon Yetsenga top-scored for the Hornets with 13 points and 12 rebounds with Taryn Mahoney contributing 12 points, three boards, three blocks, two assists and two steals, and Cassandra Pentney 10 points and four rebounds.

Nicole Munger ??????? on the Hornets with a ridiculous 2??6?? point, 2??0?? rebound double-double ?

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MEN

Canberra too strong on the road to Penrith

The reigning NBL1 East champion Canberra Gunners had quite the scare the previous night, but it wasn’t the case on Sunday in a 92-54 victory against the Penrith Panthers.

The Gunners only just escaped with a one-point win on the road to the winless Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders on Saturday night, but they were more ready for the challenge of the one-win Panthers on Sunday.

Canberra started well away from home with 25 points to 19 in the opening quarter and went on the job from there with another 24 to seven in the second term to lead 49-26 by half-time.

The Gunners outscored Penrith a further 41 points to 28 in the second half to go on to score the 38-point win and improve to 5-3 on the season with the Panthers 1-7.

Nikhil Peters top-scored for Canberra with 17 points and four rebounds with last year's Grand Final MVP Glenn Morison putting up 14 points, eight boards, three assists and two blocked shots.

Pietro Badalassi also had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, Cameron Pender nine points and five boards, and John Mapiou eight points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Caleb Fetui-Fa'amoe produced 14 points and three rebounds for Penrith with Kaylis Beaumont-Tafua contributing 10 points and six rebounds, Brodie Schwarzer nine points and four boards, and Jaedyn Fetui-Fa'amoe nine points and four rebounds.

Hornets shake off slow start to beat Falcons

The Hills Hornets overcame a slow start to deliver a terrific last three quarters to beat the Newcastle Falcons in a thriller 70-69 on the road on Sunday.

Both teams came into the game with three wins to their name so far this NBL1 East season and it was Newcastle on their home floor who made the strong start with 21 points to nine in the opening period.

First shot blocked, off balance... Ben Kearins pulled out the party tricks ?

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From there, the Hornets took over with 23 points to 17 in the second quarter, 20 to 16 in the third and 18 to 15 in the fourth to claim the one-point win and improve to 4-4 on the season with the Falcons 3-3.

Late threes for Newcastle from Anthony Gaines and Matur Maluach did keep things interesting, but ultimately the Hornets had the answers and held out for the one-point road victory.

Liam Moss had a standout performance for the Hornets finishing with 27 points, five rebounds and two steals on shooting 10/15 from the field, 3/5 from beyond the arc and 4/4 at the charity stripe.

Shawn Montague added 15 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, and Josh Kalwy 10 points and two steals.

Anthony Gaines top-scored for Newcastle with 21 points and six rebounds on hitting 3/6 from three-point land with Matur Maluach contributing 10 points, four boards, three assists and two steals, and Ryan Beisty 10 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

Shawn Montague got ? there and hyped the bench up ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 23, 2023