East Spotlight | Sharks beat Gunners for fourth straight

Featured image: @rexbergas_ | rex bergas

The Sutherland Sharks made it four straight NBL1 East wins beating the Canberra Gunners 100-87 who fell to a fourth consecutive defeat on a night of wild fluctuations.

Canberra were back home at Southern Cross Stadium having lost three straight with their championship defence hitting a significant hurdle while Sutherland were building some momentum with three wins in-a-row.

It was also a rematch from last year's preliminary final when Canberra won on the way to the championship while it was the second time the two teams had met over the past two weeks with the Sharks winning by three points at home aback on June 14.

Canberra then managed just 12 points on 4/16 shooting in the first quarter and 12 points on 4/13 in the fourth, but in between scored 63 points with 21/36 shooting along with 8/14 from behind the arc to be leading by six at three quarter-time.

But Sutherland took over in the final term with 31 points to end up scoring the 13-point victory to make it four on the trot to improve to 9-6 while Canberra lost a fourth straight to be 10-7.

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Sutherland finished the night shooting 56 per cent from the field with 14/31 from three-point territory while Canberra went at 45 per cent with 14/33 from downtown, but the big difference was the Sharks going 24/37 inside the arc to 15/31 from the Gunners.

It's four consecutive wins now for Sutherland with Tyler Robertson knocking down 4/10 from behind the arc for 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Jason Spurgin also had 18 points, six assists and four rebounds, Lochlan Hutchison 18 points, 12 assists and three boards, Luke Jamieson 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Bailey MacArthur 14 points, three boards and three assists.

Canberra have now lost four straight as they continue to battle in the absence of the inspirational Glenn Morison despite Will Mayfield delivering another 29 points, six rebounds and two assists with 7/12 three-point shooting.

DJ Hoskins also had 16 points with 3/5 three-point shooting, Evan Wardlow 14 points and five assists, and Angus Byatt nine points, six boards, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

The Gunners were back home in Tuggeranong trying to arrest their three-game losing slide while the Sharks were hot on their heels suddenly with three straight wins, but Sutherland took over in the first quarter.

The Sharks were leading 20-12 by quarter-time and while they did only shoot 41 per cent themselves with 1/8 three-point shooting, but it was a rough start for Canberra with them going 4/16 from the floor and thanks to that, Sutherland wiped up the glass with 17 rebounds in the first 10 minutes.

Canberra did shoot a little better in the second frame going 7/14 from the floor and 8/9 at the foul line for 24 points with Sutherland adding another 23 with 9/19 shooting with the Sharks still clinging to the 43-36 half-time edge.

The Gunners had a monster third quarter with 39 points including 13 of those courtesy of Will Mayfield as they went about shooting 14/21 from the field including 6/9 from beyond the arc to turn that seven-point deficit into the 75-69 lead by three quarter-time.

Sutherland turned the tide once more with 31 points to 12 in the final quarter with 10/14 from the floor and 7/10 from three-point range with Canberra managing just 4/13 shooting with the Sharks taking over on the way to the 13-point victory.

The challenging keep coming for the defending champion Gunners when they host the Norths Bears next Saturday while the Sharks are on the road also next Saturday away to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 12

CANBERRA GUNNERS 87 (Mayfield 29, Hoskins )

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 100 (Beggs 17, Rettstatt 14, Zugna 9)