West Spotlight | Cougars fire late to beat Magic

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The Cockburn Cougars might have dealt a serious blow to the NBL1 West playoff hopes of the Mandurah Magic with a 38-point fourth quarter with 12 of those from Johny Narkle for the 117-109 victory.

The Cougars were back home at Wally Hagan Stadium having broken into the top four winning their past three while the Magic were just clinging to finals contention by winning their last two games having now welcomed back Matt Kenyon and Michael Dupree.

Jock Perry is still out but the Magic started strongly to be leading most of the way including still by six points at three quarter-time before the Cougars delivered a dominant fourth term.

That saw Cockburn put up 38 points with 14/18 shooting from the field and 5/8 from downtown while holding the Magic to 24 points on 6/14 shooting with seven turnovers.

That saw the Cougars secure the eight-point victory to make it four straight and improve to a 12-5 record while the Magic slip further from the top eight at 6-12 with four matches remaining.

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The huge fourth quarter again showed what the Cougars are capable of to consolidate a top four spot as they finished up shooting 56 per cent from the field to 53 from Mandurah along with hitting 13/34 from deep to 16/37.

The Cougars got up an extra 10 shot attempts with 13 offensive rebounds and forcing the Magic into 14 turnovers.

Joe Bradshaw continued to impress as a versatile big man for Cockburn delivering 27 points, 11 rebounds and two assists with 6/9 three-point shooting.

Rowan Mackenzie produced another 26 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals while Johny Narkle put up 12 points in the fourth quarter on his way to 22 for the game with seven rebounds and four assists.

Seva Chan also had 15 points and six assists in his 322nd game with Fletcher Klasztorny providing 10 points, six boards and two assists.

The result will make it tough for the Magic to reach the playoffs but for a lot of the night they were the better team and showed what they're capable of even without Jock Perry still.

Matt Kenyon finished with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists with 10/12 field goal shooting along with 8/9 at the foul line.

Michael Christmas top scored with 33 points, seven rebounds and thee assists with 6/17 three-point shooting fresh off his engagement during the week.

Lachlan Bertram added 25 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals on 5/8 shooting from deep with Ryan Blanchett adding nine points, six boards and three assists in his 252nd game.

With the Cougars coming into the game on fire and into the top four and the Magic with most of their group together and building momentum to try and break into the top eight, it was always going to be a fascinating match up.

Mandurah went into quarter-time with the 27-25 advantage before that lead got out to nine points in the second term and by half-time the Magic were still clinging to the 57-53 edge.

The Magic had another 28 points to 26 in the third period and were leading again by as much as seven points and were on track for the important win thank to 55 per cent shooting and 13/28 from beyond the arc to the 8/26 from the Cougars.

Matt Kenyon was up to 24 points and five assists with Michael Christmas and Lachlan Bertram combining for 46 points and nine three-point makes to have the Magic on track for the important win.

Cockburn have become fourth quarter specialists and showed that once more with 38 points in the last 10 minutes including 12 from Johny Narkle while shooting 14/18 from the field and 5/8 from downtown to come from six points down at three quarter-time to secure the eight-point win.

The Cougars are now on the road next Friday night to the South West Slammers before hosting the Geraldton Buccaneers pitting Johny Narkle up against his former team for the first time.

Mandurah's season is now hanging by a thread as they host the Willetton Tigers next Friday night as well.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | FIRST NATIONS ROUND

COCKBURN COUGARS 117 (Bradshaw 27, Mackenzie 26, Narkle 22)

MANDURAH MAGIC 109 (Christmas 33, Kenyon 29, Bertram 25)