East Spotlight | Sharks prevail after Bruins lose Cadee

Featured image: @flicksby.tessa

The Bankstown Bruins lost Jason Cadee to a hamstring injury and then Alex Higgins-Titsha fouled out with the Sutherland Sharks able to make the most of it with Adrian Cabrera huge in the 97-90 Sunday NBL1 East win.

The Bruins were back home at Bankstown Basketball Stadium looking to respond to the previous night's loss to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles while the Sharks were playing a first game since last Saturday's loss to the Newcastle Falcons.

Cadee helped Bankstown to the 7-2 start when he hit a triple but he soon was done for the day with a hamstring injury and then when Higgins-Titsha fouled out with six minutes to go, it was a big ask for the Bruins.

The Sharks weren’t in a charitable mood and ended up completing the seven-point win to snap their three-match losing run to improve to 2-4 with the Bruins now 4-5 after a pair of losses in less than 24 hours.

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It's a second win of the season for Sutherland with Adrian Cabrera showing the way with 32 points, four rebounds and four assists with 8/12 field goal shooting and going 15/16 at the free-throw line.

Harry Raynor added 14 points, four rebounds and two assists while going 3/5 behind the three-point arc with Bailey MacArthur providing 12 points and two boards, and Lochlan Hutchison 11 points, six assists and three steals.

The Bruins did a good job to stay in touch after losing Jason Cadee halfway through the first quarter and then even after Alex Higgins-Titsha fouled out with six minutes to go after he had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Deonte Williams had a huge performance to finish with 29 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists with 10/12 free-throw shooting with Zeke Evans adding nine points and six boards, and Anthony Mundine III nine points with 3/5 shooting from downtown.

The Bruins came into the clash at home after losing to the Sea Eagles the night before while the Bruins were playing for the first time since last Saturday's loss to the Newcastle Falcons.

Jason Cadee hit a triple to give Bankstown the hot start with the 7-2 lead but just a few minutes later his afternoon was over when he injured a hamstring and the Sharks were able to take advantage to lead 28-22 by quarter-time.

Sutherland then led by as much as 10 in the second quarter before going into half-time leading 53-46 with Adrian Cabrera having 13 points to his name while Deonte Williams was up to 17 already for Bankstown.

Things tightened up in the third term and Williams put up another eight points and the Bruins did briefly hit the front before it was Sutherland clinging to the 73-71 lead by three quarter-time.

Alex Higgins-Titsha hit a big three with seven minutes to play to put the Bruins in front once more before he was also done for the day a minute later when an offensive foul was his fifth personal.

So the Bruins had to go the rest of the way without Cadee and Higgins-Titsha and the Sharks were able to get back up by 10 with a minute to play, and completed the job from there for the seven-point victory.

Bankstown will be back on the road on Saturday against the Canberra Gunners while the Sharks will be heading to Albury Wodonga to play the Bandits on the same evening.

NBL1 EAST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 6

BANKSTOWN BRUINS 90 (Williams 29, Higgins-Titsha 16, Wolfe 12)

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 97 (Cabrera 32, Raynor 14, MacArthur 12)