West Spotlight | Buccs win to set up monster Sunday clash

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The front court trio of Liam Hunt, Cooper Creek and Josh Keyes dominated as the Geraldton Buccaneers made it eight straight NBL1 West wins beating the Eastern Suns 103-95 ahead of Sunday's clash with the Rockingham Flames.

The defending champions arrived at Ray Owen Sports Centre on a seven-game winning run and yet to lose away from Geraldton in 2026 while the Eastern Suns were fresh off beating the Warwick Senators the previous night with Marley Sam going for 40.

That set up a fascinating battle between two top four teams but the Buccs worked on top early and maintained that advantage most of the night, and continued to build on it on the way to the eventual eight-point victory.

The win improves the Buccaneers to an 11-2 record with eight on the trot and to be 7-0 on the road while the Eastern Suns split their weekend to be 11-5 now on the season.

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With Kalamunda missing captain Lewis Thomas, Geraldton had a real advantage in the front court and in the end that saw them have 41 rebounds to 28 including 12 to eight at the offensive end with Josh Keyes, Liam Hunt and Cooper Creek combining for 72 points and 27 rebounds in the win.

The Buccs ended the night shooting 54 per cent to the 48 from the Suns but again the pressure led by Marley Sam did force the Buccaneers into 19 turnovers to help keep the home team in the contest.

Keyes finished with another 26 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals in the win for the Buccaneers with Creek landing 4/5 from downtown for 26 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Hunt also had 20 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks with Devondrick Walker adding 12 points, five assists and three boards, Verle Williams eight points, two rebounds and two assists, and Matt Norman six points, five boards and four assists.

The Suns end up splitting their weekend against the two Grand Final teams from last year with Terrandus Smith having 16 of his 24 points in the first half to go with four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Marley Sam had another 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, Joe Cook-Green 18 points, three assists and two boards, Seb Salinas 14 points on 4/6 three-point shooting in game 563 with Hayden Price contributing 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.

The Eastern Suns were fresh off beating the Warwick Senators the night before and the Buccaneers were starting their road trip on a seven-game winning run with the visitors starting well to lead 23-19 by quarter-time with Josh Keyes up to eight points.

The Buccs were leading despite coughing up the six turnovers while shooting 9/18 from the field with the Suns also turning the ball over six times and shooting 7/15.

Geraldton pushed out to a nine-point lead in the second term but Kalamunda hit back with an 8-0 run and with Terrandus Smith up to 16 points, at half-time the Buccaneers were just clinging to the 47-44 advantage.

Keyes was up to 14 points with Liam Hunt adding nine points and seven rebounds with the Suns struggling with their physicality with the absence of captain Lewis Thomas.

Hunt then had another nine points and three rebounds in the third frame for Geraldton and by there quarter-time they were on top by seven points, and then that blew out to 15 in the last term and the reigning champions went on to score the eight-point victory to start their road double.

The Eastern Suns now don't play again until Saturday night on the road to the Cockburn Cougars while the Buccaneers have what shapes as the match of the season on Sunday in Rockingham against the Flames for Devondrick Walker's return to his old home floor.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 13

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 95 (Smith 24, Sam 22, Cook-Green 18)

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 103 (Keyes 26, Creek 26, Hunt 20)