Bankstown Bruins continued their consistent run with another win, defeating the Penrith Panthers 88-62 at Bankstown Basketball Stadium on Saturday night. The Bruins started strongly, winning the jump ball, and Andre Wolford shot a two-point layup to get the Bruins off to a quick start. Joshua Kawly attempted a layup for the Panthers but missed; however, teammate Jonah Pares slotted a two-point layup for the Panthers within minutes.
Jaylin Galloway stunned the home crowd with a two-point dunk shot, energising his team as well as the crowd. Defensively, the Bruins challenged the Panthers in slotting shots, with the away team making costly turnovers, gifting the Bruins possession. The Panthers had many chances to take the lead in the first quarter, but inconsistent shooting led the Bruins to take charge.
The second quarter began with Panthers player Zeke Evans turning the ball over, with Hayden Blankley stealing the ball and helping Galloway score a three-point jump shot. The Panthers missed a few shots before Evans shot a two-point reverse layup. Wolford had a solid second quarter, shooting two three-pointers in less than a minute.
Turnovers kept piling up for the Panthers, allowing the Bruins to score and extend the margin; however, the Bruins also turned the ball over, gifting the Panthers some chances to score. Penrith was able to stay in the contest off the back of some successful free throw shots, but the Bruins took a comfortable lead at halftime, giving the Panthers some reflection to do.
Charlie McBeath opened the scoring by shooting a three-point jump shot; however, the Bruins made a mistake by Dominique Keyes turning the ball over, leading to Joshua Kawly stealing and Jonah Pares scoring a two-point layup, giving the Panthers a sense of confidence. Both teams made costly errors in the third quarter, turning the ball over multiple times. Cadee shot a three-point jump shot, extending the Bruins’ lead and making a likely comeback more difficult for the Panthers, but they managed to squeeze some free throw shots in before the third quarter ended.
The Penrith Panthers began the last quarter strong with Brodie Schwarzer shooting a three-point jump shot, with the Panthers failing to capitalise on shooting the ball through the basket, missing multiple shots. The quarter turned out more costly as they turned the ball over; however, the Bruins also gave the ball away. At the end, the Bruins proved to be more dominant, winning another game at their home arena.
Bankstown Bruins CEO Christian Gobolos was again pleased with the Bruins’ performance. “The men and women are really sort of hitting their straps right now. So they’re playing really, really well, they’re playing confidently, they’re playing for one another, and I think they’re building towards something going into the semi-finals in a couple of weeks’ time,” Gobolos highlighted.
Gobolos said that they won comfortably last week but also pointed out that they won comfortably this week and haven’t changed too many things up, and it is about building momentum at this point in time. Gobolos also believes the team’s confidence during games has improved with consistency.
“A hundred percent, I think at the end of the day, what they’ve brought together in terms of building that chemistry leads on to the consistency, and I think now with that the consistency that they’re building its only going to go strength to strength and hopefully they carry that into the semifinals. But it’s such a strong league and anything can happen at any given week, so we’re just hoping that the boys continue on their way,” Gobolos emphasised.
The Bruins now face the Canberra Gunners at Bankstown Basketball Stadium on July 12 in another game that will shape how the Bruins’ season will unfold.
