West Spotlight | Suns take charge late over Eagles

Featured image: Mark Filpo, @codexdesignstudio

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns came from 11 points down to lead by 19 themselves and end up beating the East Perth Eagles 96-83 in Friday night NBL1 West with Joe Cook-Green, Marley Sam and Terrandus Smith combining for 72 points.

Both teams have shown their best is capable of beating anyone this season and they came into Friday night's match up at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre trying to put pressure back on for a top four position.

East Perth did start well with their athletic, big and versatile front court of Lat Mayen, David Okwera and De'Sean Parsons helping them built an 11-point lead in the second quarter.

But the dynamic Kalamunda back court of Cook-Green and Sam along with the all-round talents of Smith helping the Eastern Suns take charge in the second half to build a 19-point lead and score the 13-point victory.

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The win improves the Eastern Suns to a 9-3 record to enhance their top four prospects ahead of a clash with a Wolves team they are battling over for one of those positions.

There was plenty to like in the performance from the Suns even without Travis Fee, Jordan Simpson and Reece Maxwell with Cook-Green starring with 30 points and nine assists with 12/20 field goal shooting.

Smith added 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals with 4/9 three-point shooting while Sam had another 20 points, six assists, four boards and three steals, and Lewis Thomas nine points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.

It's a tough loss for East Perth who have now lost five of their past six to be 6-7 and to be just clinging to a top eight spot ahead of a road trip to Rockingham.

Lat Mayen ended up top scoring for East Perth with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists on 8/11 field goal shooting with Nick Filpo adding 13 points and five rebounds, and De'Sean Parsons 12 points, six boards, six assists and two steals.

Mitch Benger had a breakout performance late with a couple of three-pointers for eight points and two steals while Sharif Watson returned for his first game of the season after injury for seven points, six rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes.

The two teams came into the match up coming off wins and are trying to break back into the top four in what shaped as a fascinating contest, and it was the Eagles leading narrowly 21-19 by quarter-time.

East Perth took that lead thanks to a three on the buzzer from Ioannis Dimakopoulos while Lat Mayen had seven points with Terrandus Smith starting on fire for the Eastern Suns with 10 points on 3/3 three-point shooting.

The Eagles then pushed out to an 11-point lead in the second frame and they were still on top 43-37 by half-time thanks to Mayen scoring 14 points while they were shooting 17/31 from the field to 13/31 from Kalamunda along with 6/16 from downtown to 3/9.

But the Suns stayed in touch with 17 free-throw attempts to six along with forcing East Perth into 13 turnovers.

The Eastern Suns then took control in the third quarter with 28 points to 17 on 11/22 shooting to jut 6/17 from East Perth while Cook-Green was up to 21 points by three quarter-time including his first triple of the game right on the buzzer.

That saw Kalamunda leading 65-60 by three quarter-time and then the Suns went on with that from there with another 31 points to 23 in the fourth term on the way to leading by as much as 19 and going on to score the impressive 13-point road win.

Both teams back up on Saturday with East Perth trying to avoid a 20th straight defeat against the Flames when they face them in Rockingham while the Eastern Suns will be back at home to the Joondalup Wolves in a tantalising match up.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 11

EAST PERTH EAGLES 83 (Mayen 19, Filpo 13, Parsons 12)

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 96 (Cook-Green 30, Smith 22, Sam 20)