Eagles Recap | Men Round 11

Featured image: @codexdesignstudio, Mark Filpo

It was always going to be a challenge double for the East Perth Eagles against two teams above them in the NBL1 West and the end result was a tough home defeat to the Eastern Suns and then a big loss on the road to the league-leading Rockingham Flames.

First up was taking on the Suns at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Friday night and it was Kalamunda beating East Perth 96-83 having taken charge in the fourth quarter.

Rockingham then proved too strong on Saturday night at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the 120-86 win against the Eagles.

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FRIDAY

The Eagles were trying to build some momentum into their season when hosting the Eastern Suns on Friday night and they did lead by double figures in the second quarter only for Kalamunda to end up prevailing 96-83.

East Perth started the double header weekend trying to build on last week's overtime win against the Perth Redbacks that snapped a four-game losing slide and did open up an 11-point lead in the second term.

The Eagles were still leading 43-37 by half-time but the Suns from there outscored them 59 points to 40 in the second half to secure the eventual 13-point victory.

Lat Mayen ended up top scoring for East Perth with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists on an efficient 8/11 field goal shooting while the Eagles broke even in his 27 minutes despite losing the game by 13 points.

East Perth were then +12 in the 17 minutes that Bing Huang played with him on the way to four points and four rebounds but good things did happen with him out there.

Nick Filpo also had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists, De'Sean Parsons 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals, Mitch Benger eight points and two steals on 2/2 three-point shooting, and Sharif Watson seven points, six rebounds and four assists in his first 24 minutes of the season.

Lee Roberts also had seven points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, David Okwera seven points, nine boards and four assists, Ioannis Dimakopoulos five points, four assists and three rebounds.

The two teams came into the match up coming off wins and are trying to break back into the top four in what shaped as a fascinating contest, and it was the Eagles leading narrowly 21-19 by quarter-time.

East Perth took that lead thanks to a three on the buzzer from Ioannis Dimakopoulos while Lat Mayen had seven points with Terrandus Smith starting on fire for the Eastern Suns with 10 points on 3/3 three-point shooting.

The Eagles then pushed out to an 11-point lead in the second frame and they were still on top 43-37 by half-time thanks to Mayen scoring 14 points while they were shooting 17/31 from the field to 13/31 from Kalamunda along with 6/16 from downtown to 3/9.

But the Suns stayed in touch with 17 free-throw attempts to six along with forcing East Perth into 13 turnovers.

The Eastern Suns then took control in the third quarter with 28 points to 17 on 11/22 shooting to just 6/17 from East Perth while Cook-Green was up to 21 points by three quarter-time including his first triple of the game right on the buzzer.

That saw Kalamunda leading 65-60 by three quarter-time and then the Suns went on with that from there with another 31 points to 23 in the fourth term on the way to leading by as much as 19 and going on to score the impressive 13-point road win.

SATURDAY

It was a big task for the Eagles to back up against the rampant Rockingham Flames on Saturday night and the league-leaders did showcase their firepower once more in the 120-86 win.

East Perth arrived at Mike Barnett Sports Complex trying to bounce back from the loss the night before at home and to also avoid a 20th consecutive defeat against Rockingham dating back to the playoffs of 2014.

Rockingham put up 34 points in the first quarter and then retained control from there to lead by 24 points at half-time, 32 at three quarter-time and to end up winning by 34.

The Flames ended up scoring 120 points on 54 per cent shooting with 14/32 from three-point range and 20/26 at the foul line while the Eagles managed just the 86 points on 45 per cent shooting with 6/27 from downtown and 16/29 at the charity stripe.

Despite continuing to battle through an injured hand, De'Sean Parsons top scored for East Perth with 21 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists on 8/15 shooting from the floor.

Nick Filpo added 11 points and five assists, David Okwera 10 points, six assists and four rebounds, and Ioannis Dimakopoulos 10 points, five boards, four assists and two steals on 5/7 field goal shooting.

Kai Kabugua offered plenty in his 11 minutes with his energy and what he did with the ball in his hands with 10 points, three rebounds and two steals while Lat Mayen added nine points, three boards and two assists, and Lee Roberts nine points and four rebounds.

Bing Huang also had three points, John Aryang two and Mitch Benger one.

It was a rough start to the second half of the double header for East Perth with Rockingham going on a 9-0 run in the first quarter to be leading by as much as 16 points and still being on top 34-20 by quarter-time.

Nick Filpo did hit a couple of three-pointers for East Perth for six of their 20 points, but they did only shoot 44 per cent and had just one offensive rebound from those 10 missed shots.

Then up the other end, the Flames were going 61 per cent from the floor while having four offensive boards and Isaac White and Blake Jones combined for 19 points.

That lead for Rockingham then blew out to 26 points in the second quarter and they scored another 26 points on 8/20 shooting from the field and 8/12 at the foul line.

East Perth only managed another 16 points with 6/17 shooting but they did get to the foul line nine times only to missed five of those with the Flames leading 60-36 at the half.

It was another 33 points to 25 to the Flames in the third period with the home team shooting 13/22 from the field with White scoring 12 of those 33 points with East Perth going 11/19 from the floor and 3/8 from downtown but still it was Rockingham leading 93-61 by three quarter-time.

The Flames still outscored the Eagles 27 to 25 in the last quarter as well on the way to the eventual 34-point home victory.