Geraldton Buccaneers forced to work hard to avoid back-to-back shocks in NBL1 West

The Buccaneers overcame a spirited Eastern Suns outfit to split results in their double-header weekend in Perth. The Suns were sitting second-last on the ladder coming off losses in their last five games but they matched the Buccs early, trailing by a single point after the first quarter. The Buccs then took control going on a 16-point run as Johnny Narkle and Ryan Blanchett got to work inside the paint to start the second quarter as they threatened to run away with it. But they immediately suffered a three-point barrage, for the second time over the weekend,with Spencer Alone and Cooper Lowe doing the bulk of the damage to score a scarcely believable 26 unanswered points. Blanchett managed to stop the bleeding with a three of his own but the leaders were under immense pressure having coughed up a hefty advantage for the second time in as many days. Both sides made big changes for the second half with the Buccs bringing on Cameron Coleman and Mathew Wundenberg for Narkle and Fletcher Klasztorny respectively. The third period was tight with teams trading baskets, but the Suns managed to extend their lead by one point going into the final term as the Buccs were behind by seven. An 11-0 run to start the fourth quarter saw the Buccs finally get momentum back with Coleman and Liam Hunt stepping up to put the Buccs in control. From there they kept the Suns at arm’s length, getting the win 80-74. Coleman was outstanding with 26 points while Hunt finished with 15 and Blanchett had 13 and was instrumental in keeping the game during the tough second quarter. It was an important win though that second quarter collapse will worry them having suffered a similar fate on Saturday as the Perth Redbacks kept their play-off hopes alive with a three-point barrage late to see them overrun the Buccs. Perth had lost their past three games coming into the clash and were without captain Joel Wagner who is the club’s games record holder and the league’s all-time assists leader. The Buccs were also minus Mathiang Muo who wasn’t risked following extensive travel but they started the better of the sides with 25 points to 18 in the first quarter. Geraldton maintained that advantage to still lead 48-41 by half-time, and then despite an 11-0 run during the third quarter from the Redbacks, held a 66-62 lead by three-quarter-time. The Buccs were still on top with four and-a-half minutes by six after a Shaun Stewart triple, but that’s when the Redbacks caught fire in spectacular fashion going an a 14-point run. It started with three balls from Zac Gattorna, Jerami Grace and Tevin Jackson to see them grab the lead and then Gattorna nailed another from deep and those four three-pointers in two minutes sealed the 88-81 victory. Grace finished the night with 27 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals for the Redbacks while draining 6/11 from three-point land. Coleman put up 22 points, three rebounds and three steals for Geraldton with Stewart contributing 21 points, four boards, three assists and two steals, and Narkle 18 points but it wasn’t enough. The split results still has the Buccs on top by two wins although the Joondalup Wolves now have a game in hand. The Buccaneers will have another away double-header weekend facing the Perry Lake Hawks before a clash against the Wolves on Sunday.