Eagles Preview – Round 13

The East Perth Eagles are back home on Friday night in a lone appearance in Round 13 of the NBL1 West season with both teams looking to keep the momentum going against the Lakeside Lightning.

Both the Eagles women's and men's teams are now on three-game winning streaks coming into Round 13 of the 2024 season with the women trying to break into the top eight, and the men into the top four.

That significantly raises the stakes for the Friday night match ups with the Lakeside Lightning on Peter Campbell Basketball Arena at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The women's contest tips off at 6.30pm followed by the men's at 8.30pm.

WOMEN

Things are starting to come together nicely for the East Perth Eagles women and they could very well end the weekend inside the top eight if they are able to beat the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night.

The Eagles play host to the Lightning at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre in what is a crucial match up for both teams with East Perth looking for a fourth consecutive win and Lakeside a bounce back victory.

While East Perth did lose its first six games of the 2024 season, it did appear a team capable of playing winning basketball with the roster assembled and that's now starting to come to fruition.

Not only have the Eagles won their last three games, but five of the past eight to be building form, momentum and confidence but it's going to be another significant challenge at home to the Lightning on Friday night.

Coming into the round and East Perth have improved to a 5-9 record on the season to be knocking on the door of a top eight position to be just a game behind both the Willetton Tigers and Joondalup Wolves.

Lakeside come into the game on Friday having lost to the Cockburn Cougars by 36 points last Saturday but the Lightning remain in fifth position in the standings with an 8-5 record and are a dangerous opposition.

Not only is it going to be a potentially season-defining match up for both teams with the Eagles trying to break into the top eight and the Lightning into the top four, there are fascinating match ups all over the court.

Firstly the battle up front of Eagles import pair Laci Hawthorne and Mary Baskerville against the Lightning's Marnelle Garraud and Teige Morrell will be fascinating to watch. Not to mention it will be Hawthorne's first opportunity to play against the team she was with in 2023 in the NBL1 West.

East Perth's front court will be further boosted with the presence of Sam Lubcke who made her return in last Saturday's win over the South West Slammers with 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

The back court battle will also feature experienced point guards Tessa Morrison and Tia Ucich up against one another along with Bri Bailey, Sarah Allen and Taylor Roberts for the Eagles.

Lakeside will be sweating on the return of dynamic captain Caitie Jones who has missed the previous three games now.

With East Perth fresh off the wins against the Joondalup Wolves, Mandurah Magic and South West Slammers, claiming another scalp on Friday night would not only be another step towards the playoffs, but the ideal way to start a weekend where they can freshen up afterwards.

MEN

The East Perth Eagles men remain one of the in-form teams of the NBL1 West competition and have the chance to finish Round 13 inside a top four position with a win at home to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night.

The Eagles have now strung together three consecutive victories against the Joondalup Wolves, Mandurah Magic and South West Slammers to improve to a 10-6 record on the season and to be hot on the hammer of current top four teams Joondalup and Mandurah as a result.

East Perth can take another significant step forward towards a top four spot with a win on Friday night at Peter Campbell Basketball Arena, but it will be a significant challenge against the Lightning.

It's a Lakeside team who is fresh off a 26-point victory themselves last Saturday against the Cockburn Cougars to keep their season alive and the Lightning do need to keep winning to remain a chance of taking part in the playoffs in 2024.

Lakeside come into the weekend with a 5-9 record on the season but have a team capable of beating anybody on their night with the firepower in the line-up.

The Lightning possess two dangerous imports with Mike Adewunmi averaging 21.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists a game including two 40-plus point outbursts already in 2024 against the Eastern Suns and Perth Redbacks respectively.

So the Eagles will need to keep him in check along with Marshawn Blackmon who is producing 21.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 2024 including a best of 36 points against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Then with the presence of Josh Davey down low with solid contributors Max Richards, Tim Hollick, Ben Lee, Dom Jackson and 269-game veteran Tom Parkinson, and it's going to be another significant challenge for the Eagles.

However, things are coming together nicely for East Perth with import centre Lukas Milner in for the past four games even with Sunday Dech having sat out the last two games and being on the verge of departing to gear up for his Olympics campaign with South Sudan.

But with the bigs of Milner, Lee Roberts, Sebit Reath, David Okwera and Sharif Watson, and that size, athleticism and versatility is making the Eagles tough to match up on for opposition teams.

Taylor Young continues to run the ship expertly as well and then there is someone like Elijah Pawson grabbing his chances including two huge threes to get last Saturday's game against the Slammers to overtime.

East Perth will now look to keep the momentum rolling at home to the Lightning on Friday, but with the way both teams play it's going to be an exciting match up with plenty at stake for each.