East Spotlight | Sharks hand Gunners second weekend loss

The Sutherland Sharks scored the only 10 points of the last 1:45 to overrun the Canberra Gunners to win 78-75 and hand the defending NBL1 East champions a second nail-biting defeat in less than 24 hours.

Canberra came into the weekend after a pair of wins back on Thursday and Friday night against the Centre of Excellence before losing in overtime in the Grand Final rematch with the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday.

Sutherland then also lost at home to the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai the night before heading into the Sunday clash at Sutherland Basketball Stadium as they renewed their rivalry that including a preliminary final win for the Gunners last year.

Canberra were on top most of the afternoon including by as much as 16 points after a 14-0 run in the first quarter and still by 11 in the third term, and again by seven with just 1:45 remaining.

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It was then all Sutherland over the last 1:45 as they scored the only 10 points for the rest of the game made up of three balls to Jason Spurgin and Lochlan Hutchison, a dunk from Spurgin and then clutch free throws from Bailey Macarthur.

The win sees the Sharks to a 6-6 record by the end of Round 10 with the defending champion Gunners now 10-5 with the pair of losses in two thrillers this weekend.

Sutherland dug deep to avoid the double loss weekend with Jason Spurgin coming up big late on his way to 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.

His Sydney Kings NBL teammate Tyler Robertson also had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists on 4/9 three-point shooting with Lochlan Hutchison contributing 12 points and six assists.

Bailey Macarthur added 10 points and three rebounds, Luke Jamieson nine points and 13 boards, Harrison Raynor nine points and seven rebounds, and Adrian Cabrera seven points, four assists and three boards.

It's a double loss weekend for the Gunners despite being good chances to win both encounters with Will Mayfield finishing with another 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists even while going 1/8 from beyond the arc.

Will Rice added 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals, DJ Hoskins 12 points, Evan Wardlow 10 points, four assists and two steals, and James Toohey eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Sharks were trying to bounce back from the loss the night before to the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders while Canberra also lost in overtime to the Illawarra Hawks leaving both teams desperate to hit back.

It was a scorching start from the reigning champions with the Gunners going on a 14-0 run on the way to the 16-point lead seven minutes into the game, but Sutherland responded and by quarter-time Canberra's lead was only 26-24.

Both teams were shooting an identical 9/18 by quarter-time while Harrison Raynor was instrumental in the Sharks getting back in the contest when he hit three triples before quarter-time.

Canberra again pushed out to a 10-point lead in the second term but once again Sutherland fired back and by half-time the Gunners were only clinging to the 48-44 advantage even on just shooting 39 per cent from the field to the 47 from the Sharks.

But Canberra were going 10/10 to 3/4 at the foul line while they also forced Sutherland into 11 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

Once again the Gunners got out to an 11-point lead in the third frame and they were still on top 62-55 by three quarter having forced Sutherland into another five turnovers and just 5/17 shooting for the quarter.

Then all of a sudden it was all the Sharks in the final quarter and they ended up outscoring the Gunners 23 points to 13 but the game was always destined for a dramatic finish.

Canberra were still up seven with 1:45 to play after a three-point play from Will Rice before Sutherland then hit two straight triples from Jason Spurgin and Lochlan Hutchison.

Spurgin then nailed a dunk to put the Sharks in front inside the last minute before Hutchison missed two free throws for Sutherland and Evan Wardlow did the same for Canberra before Bailey Macarthur sealed the win for the home team when he made both at the stripe.

The Sharks will look to keep their winning run going against the Centre of Excellence on Saturday while the Gunners will try to hit back at home to the Inner West Bulls.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 78 (Spurgin 16, Robertson 15, Hutchison 12)

CANBERRA GUNNERS 75 (Mayfield 19, Rice 13, Hoskins 12)

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