NBL1 West Recap | Thursday Men's Round 17

The Warwick Senators proved too strong for the East Perth Eagles in Thursday night NBL1 West Men's Division action while the Joondalup Wolves won a critical heartstopper in a battle over eighth spot with the Cockburn Cougars.

It was important Thursday night wins for both the Senators and Wolves with Warwick winning to lock away a playoff and try and finish as high up as they can while the victory goes a long way to securing a spot in the top too for Joondalup.

The Warwick Senators proved too strong for East Perth Eagles virtually from the outset at Herb Graham Recreation Centre with them on their way to the eventual 87-74 victory.

Justin King put up 22 points for the Senators, Cody Ellis 14, Caleb Davis 13 and Ethan Elliott 12. Jarrad Anastasio finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Lee Roberts 16 points and 15 boards for East Perth.

It was a much tighter affair at HBF Arena with the Joondalup Wolves winning an 84-83 thriller over the Cockburn Cougars. Both teams came into the game on identical 8-10 records battling over eighth spot so it's a huge win for the Wolfpack.

Jonathan Wade came up huge late for the Wolves and ended the night with 22 points while Lochlan Cummings put up 27 against the team he won a championship with back in 2016. Gavin Field scored 25 points for the Cougars and Nic Pozoglou 23 along with 17 rebounds and six assists.

Now there are three matches to take place on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks hosting the Mandurah Magic at Belmont Oasis, the Perry Lakes Hawks playing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Bendat Basketball Centre, and the Willetton Tigers taking on the South West Slammers at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

There are then six matches to take place on Saturday night with the Mandurah Magic hosting the Rockingham Flames, the Geraldton Buccaneers at home to the Cockburn Cougars and South West Slammers taking on the Joondalup Wolves.

The Lakeside Lightning are also on their home floor against the Perth Redbacks while the Goldfields Giants are playing host to the East Perth Eagles and the Warwick Senators battle the Willetton Tigers in a tantalising match up at Warwick Stadium.

Then lastly on Sunday afternoon, the Geraldton Buccaneers are back on their home floor at Active West Stadium to host the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 17 – THURSDAY NIGHT

EAST PERTH EAGLES 74 lost to WARWICK SENATORS 87

The Warwick Senators kept their hopes of a top four finish alive in the NBL1 West Men's Division with a solid 13-point win on the road to the East Perth Eagles on Thursday night.

East Perth might have come into the clash at Herb Graham Recreation Centre on a four-game winning streak to be out of playoff contention coming into the final two rounds of the season, but they still have enough talent to be competitive.
Their front court of Jarrad Anastasio and Lee Roberts produced a strong showing too with the Senators still missing Ash Litterick through a shoulder injury. 

The East Perth pair combined for 34 points and 26 rebounds but it wasn’t enough for the Eagles to overcome the all-round depth and talent of the Senators.

The Senators have already locked in a playoff position with a 12-7 record coming into the last two rounds of the season, but they could still potentially finish in the top four if they win their remaining games, and they got the victory they needed on Thursday night.

The Senators were gradually able to build on their advantage throughout the evening leading the Eagles by four points at quarter-time, six points at the half and then on the back of a dominant 31-point to 20 third quarter, by 17 points at three quarter-time.

Warwick went on to score the 87-74 victory from there to improve to 13-7 on the season while it was a fifth consecutive loss for East Perth who are now 4-16.

Justin King continues to work his way back up to 100 per cent after an injury-interrupted season and he delivered 22 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Senators.

Cody Ellis also produced another strong all-round game for Warwick made up of 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals while Caleb Davis finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, and 17-year-old young gun point guard Ethan Elliott 12 points and three boards.

Alier Riak added nine points and 12 rebounds for the Senators and Isaac Campion seven points and three rebounds late in the piece.

Jarrad Anastasio proved a tough cover for the small Senators who continue to be without Ash Litterick, and he took advantage with an impressive display made up of 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots on shooting 8/11 from the floor.

Lee Roberts finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds as well for East Perth with Kieran Berry contributing 11 points and five assists, Andrej Donlagic 11 points and five rebounds, and Chris Bonnar six points and three assists.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 84 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 83

They entered Thursday night's game on identical records and precious little separated the Joondalup Wolves and Cockburn Cougars the entire evening at HBF Arena.

With the Wolfpack and Cougars battling over the last position in the playoffs coming into Round 17 of the NBL1 West Men's Division season, Thursday night's game had the potential decide who would take part in the post-season and who wouldn’t.

Both teams were fully aware of that too and that's why it was such a tight and tense evening the entire match.

The two teams have been on opposing form lines in recent times too to get to this point with the Wolfpack having lost six of their past seven matches while the Cougars have won six of their past seven.

That means that after a good start to the season the Wolves are only just clinging to playoff contention while the Cougars have rallied to put themselves back in the hunt.

The two teams entered Thursday night's game with 8-10 records with the winner to go clear in eighth and the loser to be back in ninth.

The scores were locked at 24-24 by quarter-time and then it was the Wolves who scored 24 points to 21 in the second term to take a narrow 48-45 advantage into half-time.

The Cougars outscored the Wolves 17 points to 16 in the third quarter and it was always going to be a game that went right down to the wire.

Cockburn tied scores up midway through the fourth quarter thanks to back-to-back threes by Gavin Field before the Wolves hit the next four points through Joel Vaiangina and Jonathan Wade.

Another Cockburn veteran Jaarod Holmes responded with a triple but Wade then took over the Wolfpack with two huge buckets to put the home team on top 82-77 with 1:45 on the clock.

Holmes nailed another three to keep Cockburn close and Seva Chan did the same soon after, but they couldn’t get closer to within a point and the Wolfpack held on for what could be a critical 84-83 victory.

Lochlan Cummings hit the two free-throws to ice the game and finished with 27 points, 13 rebounds and five assists against one of the teams he won an SBL championship with back in 2016.

Jonathan Wade also produced 22 points, six rebounds and three steals for the Wolves, Mitch Newton 14 points and five rebounds, Joel Vaiangina six points and three boards, and Seb Salinas six points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Gavin Field had another standout night for the Cougars with 25 points, four rebounds and two assists while knocking down 7/14 from the three-point line.

Nic Pozoglou had another 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists for Cockburn, Seva Chan 16 points and five rebounds, and Jaarod Holmes 13 points and six boards.