The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles gave the Bankstown Bruins a second consecutive defeat at Bankstown Basketball Stadium on Saturday night, winning 107-98.
The Sea Eagles began the game by winning the jump ball and opening the scoring with a step-back jump shot by Quinn Slazinski, but on the other end, Anthony Mundine slotted a three-point jump shot. The Sea Eagles brought solid intensity and pressure throughout the game, forcing the Bruins to fumble and make costly mistakes such as turnovers. Both teams missed opportunities to score on the edge at quarter time.
Bruin player Elijah Kamu turned the ball over early in the second quarter, leading to Eagles star Stefan Valkovic scoring a three-point shot. The second quarter showcased free-flowing basketball but was also a tight tussle between both teams.
Despite Jason Cadee having a quiet game, he managed to slot a few free throw shots. Valkovic displayed a solid second-half performance, shooting hoops and scoring on multiple occasions. The Sea Eagles solid defence challenged the Bruins’ offence in scoring and forced them to miss shots.
The Bruins missed opportunities to score early in the third quarter, with Tederick Wolfe missing a two-point shot and Elijah Kamu failing to slot a three-point shot. Jack Giddens helped his side with a two-point shot. Sea Eagles’ defensive pressure continued to challenge and frustrate the Bruins. However, Alexander Higgins- Titsha slammed a two-point dunk, giving the crowd something to cheer when the Bruins were behind in the game.
Valkovic extended the Sea Eagles’ lead with a three-point shot, with Wolfe missing to slot one through on the other end seconds later, but a mistake by Eagles player Oliver Hammond led to the Bruins scoring. The pressure from the visitors was too good, forcing the Bruins to commit consecutive turnovers in the last quarter.
At times, the home team also showed poor ball control. The Bruins showed fight to reduce the Sea Eagles’ lead, slamming another dunk by Desonte Williams with seconds left, but in the end, the Sea Eagles showcased dominance throughout the game.
With two straight defeats, the Bruins’ CEO, Christian Gobolos, provided some insights into why the Bruins lost. “First credit to Manly, they shot extremely well tonight. So it always very difficult when you give a team like that a lead and the fact that you’re going to try and claw that back the whole time. So that’s what made that tricky, I think in terms of our rebounding it’d be one of those things that we probably need to work on a little bit more, especially on the defensive end,” Gobolos pointed out.
“But look, it was a tough loss, but again, you know, we almost scored 100 points, so offensively we were there. It’s just we need to be a little bit tighter on defence.”
Gobolos said that he thinks their offence is there, but they need to tweak areas defensively. For a second week in a row, the Bruins need to lick their wounds and bounce back for their next game at Bankstown Basketball Stadium.
