East Spotlight | Flying Bruins start leads to 10th straight

Featured image: @flicksby.tessa

Triple NBL1 East MVP Nicole Munger did her best to bring the Newcastle Falcons back into the contest but falling 23 points down early proved too much with Shyla Heal again leading the Bankstown Bruins to the 85-72 win to make it 10 in-a-row.

The NBL1 East season resumed on Saturday following the King's Birthday long weekend with the Bruins putting their nine-game winning streak on the line hosting the Falcons at Bankstown Basketball Stadium.

Newcastle are still awaiting the arrival of Saffron Shiels with Bankstown trying to stay unbeaten with Heal in the line-up too dating back to last year and the home team made a flying start with a 12-0 run in the opening quarter to lead by 21.

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That lead for Bankstown grew to 23 in the second quarter before Munger fired up with 20 points in the term alone for Newcastle to make it an 11-point game by half-time.

The margin remained around that mark through the majority of the second half with the Bruins going on to score the 13-point victory to improve to 11-2 on the season with 10 straight victories on the back of also winning all eight matches that Heal played with them in 2025.

Bankstown's past three wins had come at an average of 45 so they were significantly more tested by Newcastle with Heal finishing with another 34 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals on 11/22 field goal shooting along with 9/9 at the free-throw line.

Tahlia Tupaea also produced 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, Margot De Freitas 13 points and five boards, Kaila Proctor six points and three steals, and Kira-May Filemu.

Nicole Munger finished with 36 points with 10 rebounds and five assists for the now 8-4 Newcastle on the back of shooting 12/18 from the floor, 6/11 from three-point territory and 6/8 at the foul line.

Mia Heide added 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks, Meg Jefferson 13 points, seven boards and six assists, and Isabelle Burns six points and three rebounds.

The Bruins returned to action hosting the Falcons looking to stay undefeated with Shyla Heal in the line-up and they made a flying start with 28 points to nine in the first quarter with Heal delivering 15 points while hitting both three-point attempts and all five free throws.

The Bruins scored 12 straight points in that first term to lead by as much as 21 and end up shooting 8/16 from the field and 10/11 at the foul line to 3/16 and 3/4 from the Falcons who also had six turnovers.

But with three-time MVP Nicole Munger catching fire with 20 points in the second quarter, Newcastle did stay in touch outscoring Bankstown 31 to 23 to cut the Bruins lead to 51-40 by half-time.

There was just 25 combined points between the teams in the third quarter with the Bruins still leading by 10 at three quarter-time and then they were able to hold out Newcastle for the eventual 13-point despite the Falcons outscoring them by six over the last three quarters.

The Bruins now don't play again until taking on the Illawarra Hawks next Sunday on the road while Newcastle back up on Sunday on the road to the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 85 (Heal 34, Tupaea 18, De Freitas 13)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 72 (Munger 36, Jefferson 13, Heide 13)