Eagles Recap | Women/Men Heritage Round

Featured image: @codexdesignstudio, Mark Filpo

The East Perth Eagles women stayed undefeated at home this NBL1 West season before the men had to dig deep but new Brisbane Bullets NBL signing Lat Mayen got them to overtime, and led his team to the win over the Perth Redbacks.

The Eagles played host to the Redbacks on Saturday at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and first up was the 96-83 women's victory.

The East Perth men then needed overtime but ended up getting over the line against the Redbacks 90-83 to snap a four-game losing slide.

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WOMEN

Zaya Black and Ari Van Vliet grabbed their bigger responsibilities and Stacey Barr was outstanding as was Brooke Malone against her former team with the Eagles staying unbeaten at home this season with the 96-83 win over the Perth Redbacks.

The Eagles came into the match up after winning both games of a double the week before and having won all four matches so far at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre as they took on a Redbacks team also yet to win away from home in 2026.

East Perth then shot out of the blocks even in the absence of Sarah Mortensen who had returned home for a short time for personal reasons with the Eagles putting up 34 points to 16 in the first quarter.

The Eagles then maintained that advantage the rest of the way to secure the 13-point victory to improve to a 9-2 record and to be 5-0 at home.

Captain Stacey Barr was brilliant once more for East Perth with 32 points to go with eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals on 6/12 three-point shooting.

Brooke Malone was playing against her former team as well and delivered 23 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and two assists while Sydney Wright produced 13 points and four assists.

Ari Van Vliet also had 10 points and eight rebounds, Jade Williams 10 points, six boards and two assists, Aleka Kabugua four points and two rebounds, and Zaya Black four points, five boards and three assists in her first start with the Eagles.

The Eagles were undefeated on their home floor in 2026 and came out hot trying to keep that run going with 34 points to 16 in the opening quarter on the back of a 12-0 scoring run.

Stacey Barr already had eight nine points while Ari Van Vliet took advantage of the opportunities on offer in the absence of Sarah Mortensen with six points as well while East Perth also forced the Redbacks into six turnovers and held them to 6/22 shooting.

East Perth then maintained the 56-40 advantage at the half-time break and then with 20 points apiece in the third term, the Eagles remained in control with the 76-60 advantage and with captain Barr already up to 26 points.

The Eagles retained control on the way to the eventual 13-point victory to remain undefeated inside Peter Campbell Basketball Arena so far in 2026.

MEN

Lat Mayen hit a massive three on the buzzer to get the Eagles to overtime with the Perth Redbacks and then he was instrumental in an 8-1 run to close the extra period for the eventual 90-83 home victory.

The Eagles came into the Saturday night match up at home having lost their previous four matches and were needing a bounce back but it was never going to be easy against a plucky Redbacks outfit even if they were without Marshall Nelson.

East Perth were also missing Jonah Antonio who is with the Australian Gangurrus for the 3x3 World Cup and it's also the first game without Max Rice who has departed to take up a coaching position at Boise State.

It proved a tight and tense battle between the two teams all evening with no more than seven points ever separating them.

The Eagles had to dig deep late in regulation after a three-point play for the Redbacks from Luke Phillips, but Mayen was the hero fresh off signing on at the Brisbane Bullets for NBL27.

Then at the end of overtime, Mayen threw a couple of alley-oop passes to De'Sean Parsons and David Okwera, and the Eagles got the job done to win by seven and improve to a 6-6 record.

Mayen had a big say in the win for East Perth with 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks with his now former Perth Wildcats teammate Okwera producing 24 points, nine boards and three assists.

Parsons also put up 21 points and 11 rebounds in his third game for East Perth with Kai Kabugua having a big impact stepping up for 10 points and three rebounds while playing 24:39.

Bing Huang added four points, four rebounds and two assists, Jermaine Malie three points, five assists and two boards, Nick Filpo three points and two assists, Lee Roberts seven rebounds with two assists and a point, and debutant Emmanuel Dech five boards and four assists.

East Perth did make a good start to open up an early five-point lead but then the Redbacks responded with eight straight points themselves and by quarter-time it was the Eagles leading 26-23.

Lat Mayen was already up to 10 points with De'Sean Parsons adding six with the Eagles shooting 47 per cent from the field to the 44 from the Redbacks.

It remained a tight battle throughout the second quarter with the Redbacks managing 19 points to 15 to go into half-time leading 42-41 with Sean Conway up to 16 points.

While Mayen was up to 17 points for East Perth, the Eagles had nine turnovers in the second term and that contributed to conceding the one-point deficit.

It was just 25 combined points in the third quarter with 13 for the Redbacks on 5/13 shooting and 12 for the Eagles on 5/17.

That had Perth still leading 55-53 by three quarter-time setting up a big finish and East Perth did open up a seven-point lead when De'Sean Parsons drained a three-pointer with five minutes to play.

The Redbacks hit a couple of huge shots in response to get back within one and then Conway put them in front once more in the final minute.

Luke Phillips completed a massive three-point play with 3.8 seconds to go but East Perth responded with a massive three on the buzzer to Mayen to give the Eagles all the momentum heading into overtime.

Then with scores tied with 1:30 to play, East Perth made their move starting with a finish inside to David Okwera before he threw down the alley-oop dunk on the pass from his former Perth Wildcats teammate Mayen.

Mayen then hit two free throws and Parsons sealed the deal this time finishing the dunk on the pass from Mayen with the Eagles ending strongly for the seven-point win.