West Spotlight | Magic on the board over brave Buccs

Featured image: @ArcticMoonPhotography

Liam Hunt and Verle Williams did all they possibly could for the Geraldton Buccaneers but they were overwhelmed with the troops on board for the Mandurah Magic as they scored first win of the NBL1 West season 97-87.

It was a fascinating match up on a number of fronts at Active West Stadium between the last two championship winning teams.

Geraldton were looking to avoid losing back-to-back home games for the first time since 2021 but that was going to be a tall order with Joshua Keyes and Cooper Creek still yet to arrive for 2026, and with Devondrick Walker and Josh Banks out of the line-up.

It was the opposite story for Mandurah who have been playing shorthanded all season for six losses but Jock Perry, Lachlan Bertram and Ryan Blanchett welcomed in Matt Kenyon last week, and now were joined for the first time by Michael Dupree and Michael Christmas.

That six-man rotation ended up delivering Mandurah their first win of the season but not without Hunt and Williams putting in warrior-like performances for the Buccs as they combined for 62 of their team's 87 points and taking 35 of their 69 shot attempts, and 21 of the 27 free throws.

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Mandurah firstly would have been relieved with Dupree being cleared to play after having to sit out last week's loss to Rockingham with Christmas joining the Magic this week too, and with Kenyon having come on board last week as well.

Big man Perry and little man Bertram had been doing a power of work all season along with Blanchett in his first season with the Magic and after two championships with the Buccaneers.

He made his first return to Geraldton on Saturday night and the Magic opened up a 10-point lead by quarter-time with Dupree and Christmas struggling for five points on 1/9 shooting, but Bertram scoring 10 points.

That lead was back out to 13 in the second quarter for Mandurah but Geraldton hit back before half-time with Williams going into the break on 24 points while Hunt already had 11 and 14 rebounds.

Mandurah were still leading 53-48 by half-time before the Magic pushed out to 13 again by three quarter-time and then 17 early in the fourth, but the Buccs have such belief no matter the situation and they fired back.

With Hunt and Williams showing the way, Geraldton got back within five points a couple of times late including after a pair of free throws from Hunt with 45 seconds left, but they couldn’t quite get closer.

The Magic held on to win by 10 and improve to 1-6 and they will now try to build some momentum from here with as impressive of a starting five group as there is across the competition – at least on paper.

Bertram finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Mandurah with 4/6 three-point shooting with Perry delivering 24 points and seven rebounds also going 4/9 from downtown.

Dupree delivered 18 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds first up while Christmas contributed 15 points, six boards, two assists and two steals, and Kenyon seven points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

Geraldton are now 3-2 on the season after losing consecutive home games for the first time since they had a rough year in 2021.

Hunt finished the game with 31 points, 19 rebounds, five assists and two blocks on 10/16 shooting from the field, 3/6 from downtown and 8/10 at the foul line.

Williams then also delivered 31 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals with 8/19 shooting from the floor, 5/12 from beyond the arc and 10/11 at the stripe.

New import Matthew Norman had 11 points and three assists despite 1/10 three-point shooting with Mat Wundenberg playing 34 minutes and producing nine points, 10 rebounds and three assists in the 548th game of his career.

The Buccs now have a challenging road double next weekend against the Willetton Tigers and East Perth Eagles while Mandurah will try to make it consecutive wins when they host the Cockburn Cougars on Friday night.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 7

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 87 (Williams 31, Hunt 31, Norman 11)

MANDURAH MAGIC 97 (Bertram 24, Perry 24, Dupree 18)