Eagles Recap | Men Round 9

Featured image: @codexdesignstudio, Mark Filpo

It wasn’t the weekend double the East Perth Eagles were hoping for but they will now look to bounce back this Saturday night back at home and with De'Sean Parsons settling into the line-up.

The Eagles came into the weekend with Parsons just signed during the week to replace the departing Max Rice but they didn’t quite get off to a winning start with the Perry Lakes Hawks winning 91-83 at Bendat Basketball Centre on Friday night.

East Perth then had a slow start back at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday night with the Joondalup Wolves ending up winning 99-87.

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FRIDAY

The East Perth Eagles did finish strongly but it proved too big of a gap to make up having fallen down 22 in the second half and the Perry Lakes Hawks able to convert that into the 91-83 win.

The Eagles arrived at Bendat Basketball Centre attempting to make up for the overtime loss to the Hawks back on Anzac Day and with De'Sean Parsons having now arrived on the back of being named to the All-First Team the past two NBL1 West seasons.

Max Rice is about to depart the Eagles so he will be his replacement as of next week and the pair got to play together on Friday night, but East Perth found themselves 22 points down in the third quarter.

The Eagles did put up 33 points in the last quarter but couldn’t quite get close enough to strike with the Hawks ending up winning by eight to give East Perth a third straight defeat.

Despite the 33 points in the fourth quarter, it was a tough night for the Eagles at Bendat Basketball Centre with Lat Mayen top scoring with 16 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

David Okwera added 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists with new arrival De'Sean Parsons contributing 12 points, eight boards, five assists and three steals.

Captain Lee Roberts added nine points, four rebounds and two steals, Jonah Antonio eight points and two steals, Max Rice seven points in his last road game, Nick Filpo seven points and three rebounds, Kai Kabugua five points and two steals, Bing Huang three points and two assists, and Ioannis Dimakopoulos four points and three rebounds.

Perry Lakes did open up a six-point lead in the first quarter but East Perth were able to cut that deficit back to two by quarter-time with Lat Mayen putting up six points while the Eagles as a team were shooting just 30 per cent from the field while having the only three turnovers.

Mayen added another eight points in the second quarter and new signing De'Sean Parsons was up to seven by half-time but the Eagles did only go into half-time shooting 1/12 from three-point range and on the back of 19 points from Jack Browder, the Hawks were leading 42-37.

Perry Lakes then went on a 15-4 run coming out of half-time on the way to building a 17-point lead by three quarter-time and even with East Perth going on a 9-0 run and putting up 33 points in the last quarter, the gap was too much to make up and the Hawks went on to win by nine.

SATURDAY

The East Perth Eagles came back home on Saturday night to host the Joondalup Wolves and again they were playing catch up after a slow start with the visitors going on to win 99-87.

The Eagles were back on Morley Sport and Recreation Centre trying to avoid a fourth straight defeat as they welcomed back former captain Taylor Young and were trying to continue their good recent run against the Wolves.

East Perth beat the Wolfpack to open the finals last year and then also earlier this season at Arena Joondalup, but it was Joondalup who raced out to a 17-point by quarter-time.

The Eagles were playing catch up the rest of the way and couldn’t quite get it done for the 12-point loss to now have lost four straight to sit on a 5-6 record.

Jonah Antonio produced 24 points with 5/7 three-point shooting on the night for East Perth as he now prepares for the 3x3 World Cup with the Australian Gangurrus under Eagles championship coach Adam Forde.

David Okwera added 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for East Perth, Lat Mayen 17 points, five boards and three assists, Lee Roberts 11 points, six boards and two steals, Ioannis Dimakopoulos four points, and De'Sean Parsons four points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

Bing Huang also had three points and five rebounds, and Max Rice four points in his last game before now taking up a coaching role at Boise State University.

While the Eagles were back home and looking for a good start to try and bounce back from the previous night, it didn’t eventuate with the Wolves getting the better of the opening going on a 14-0 run in the first quarter.

That saw Joondalup leading 33-16 already by quarter-time and they were dominating the offensive glass for 11 second chance points and getting out in transition for eight fast break points.

The Eagles tried to work back into the game in the second quarter and David Okwera was up to 10 points and seven rebound by half-time but the Wolves were still leading 55-36 with Sharif Black having 17 points while the East Perth 10 turnovers and the nine offensive rebounds form Joondalup were proving costly.

East Perth did pick up some momentum in the third quarter with 23 points to 16 to close the gap to 12 by three quarter-time, but it was proving too much to make up and with both teams putting up 28 points in the last team, it was the Wolves going on to score the 12-point road victory.