West Spotlight | Wildcats pair lift Eagles over Senators

Featured image: @aussiesinaction

The shorthanded Warwick Senators put up a brave fight but Perth Wildcats NBL pair Lat Mayen and David Okwera combined for 51 points and 24 rebounds as the East Perth Eagles prevailed 94-75 in Friday night NBL1 West.

The Senators have started the season so far without Ben Henshall, Keegan Phillips, Cody Ellis and their import big man who is fresh off winning a national championship with Michigan, and then George Pearl was added to that list of outs through injury.

They were hosting an Eagles team with no shortage of firepower, but still the Senators showed plenty of fight led by Marshawn Blackmon to be up 15 halfway through the second quarter.

>> LISTEN HERE TO NBL1 WEST RADIO SHOW, THE HOOP HOUR ON 91.3 SPORTFM

>> GAME WINNING HERO SEES BIG THINGS FOR LIGHTNING

>> BUCCS READY FOR 2026 AFTER ANOTHER BANNER DELAY

>> WEST WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 2

But from there the Eagles took over and would go on an 18-2 run leading into half-time, and stretching that to 27-5 either side of the break. Then with a 28-13 fourth quarter, ran away with the 94-75 win to improve to 2-1 on the season.

While the Senators were missing a string of important players, the Eagles welcomed back Jonah Antonio having added Lat Mayen last week, and had a full squad available aside from the injured Sharif Watson while captain Lee Roberts wasn't 100 per cent and played under six minutes.

Wildcats pair David Okwera and Mayen were outstanding with the former finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists, and the latter with 25 points, 13 rebounds and two assists.

Max Rice also chimed in with 17 points, five assists and three steals with 4/7 three-point shooting while fresh off playing for the Australian Gangurrus last week, Antonio returned with nine points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.

Once again, Billy McRae and Marshawn Blackmon did all they could for Warwick to keep them competitive combining for 46 of their team's 75 points while shooting 18/35 from the field between them, 4/10 from deep and 6/8 at the free-throw line.

Blackmon finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and three steals while McRae had 20 points and four boards on 8/11 shooting.

Brody England is used to playing a role off the bench behind some gun starters, but he started on Friday night and cramped late but had 15 points and three rebounds.

The Senators might have been missing a whole string of their key players, but that didn’t stop them making a flying start on their home floor including going on an 11-0 run in the first quarter to be leading 32-17 by quarter-time.

That was on the back of a combined 24 points from Billy McRae and Marshawn Blackmon as they shot 67 per cent as a team and limited the Eagles to going 37 per cent including 2/10 from behind the arc.

The Senators were then still leading 38-23 halfway through the second quarter but then the game underwent a dramatic turnaround with the Eagles going on an 18-2 run leading into half-time to suddenly be leading 41-40.

Perth Wildcats pair David Okwera and Lat Mayen had combined for 25 of their team's 41 points while they got to the foul line 12 times to just the three occasions from Warwick.

The run continued for East Perth going into the second half and after two and-a-half minutes, either side of half-time the run was 27-5 as they turned a 15-point deficit into a seven-point lead of their own.

The Senators still remained in touch and 12 more points to Blackmon in the third quarter to give him 26 for the game to that point meant the Eagles were clinging to the four-point lead by three quarter-time.

But it was all East Perth in the fourth quarter as their depth shone through as the longer the game went, the more Warwick were missing their outs more and more.

The Eagles outscored them 28 to 13 in the fourth term as a result on the way including 15 fast break points as they ran them off their feet for the 19-point victory.

It's the lone game of the round for both teams with the Senators next in action on the road to the Perth Redbacks next Friday while the Eagles remain on the road to the Joondalup Wolves that same evening.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 3

WARWICK SENATORS 75 (Blackmon 26, McRae 20, England 15)

EAST PERTH EAGLES 94 (Okwera 26, Mayen 25, Rice 17)