The Bruins men’s team continued their strong recent form with back-to-back wins, dismantling the Hills Hornets, 94-74, at Bankstown Basketball Stadium. The Hornets won the jump ball, however, the Bruins opened the scoring off the back of Dominique Keyes, scoring both free throws. The first quarter began ugly for the Hornets with Meekness Payne turning the ball over early in the first quarter, leading to Jason Cadee stealing the ball and slamming a two-point layup shot.
The Bruins dominance was on full show in the first quarter with the team blocking shots and taking a 28-10 lead into quarter time. A foul in the first quarter led to the Hornets getting their first score on the scoreboard with Payne slotting both free throws. Cadee provided the team with many assists in the opening term and was effective in his passing. The Hornets gave themselves a boost of confidence to take into the second half with Marvin Fidel scoring a three-pointer on the edge of quarter time.
The second quarter started well for the Bruins with Kaylan Bayer scoring a two-point layup shot. The Hornets narrowed the Bruins solid lead with Zachery Hudson shooting a two-point hook shot, but undisciplined play by the Hornets brought them more stress with a personal foul by Jacob Foy gifting the Bruins a two for two free throw by Kaylen Bayer bringing the score to 32-12.
After disappointing his team with a personal foul, Foy shot a two-point layup, narrowing the Bruins’ lead. The second quarter became more competitive with the Hornets snapping their defence and physicality in the contest. A late surge by the Hornets saw them score shots by Pafe Momoisea, scoring a three-point jump shot, followed by Zachery Hudson with a two-point jump shot, and a two-point floating jump shot scored. But it didn’t last long as Hayden Blankley increased the margin with a three-point jump shot.
Late in the second quarter the Hornets had many chances to score but blew them with Mitchel Smith, Paul Tako among others who missed shots. Jaylin Galloway made a turnover leading to Joe Patmore stealing the ball but Momoisea missed a two-point layup shot. The Bruins took a comfortable 46-29 lead into halftime.
The Hornets began the third quarter with an impressive two-point turnaround jump shot by Zachery Hudson, with players from both teams bringing physicality in the game. Hornets made another turnover but were lucky, it didn’t result in a Bruins score as Cadee missed a three-pointer.
Bruins missed plenty of easy shots and made defensive errors resulting in the Hornets scoring shots. Cadee slotted multiple free-throw shots in the third term and played an important role. Hudson was strong in the third term for the Hornets, slotting multiple shots, including a three-pointer.
The last quarter started well for the Hornets with Jacob Foy scoring a three-point jump shot, but Kaylan Bayer scored a two-point layup for the Bruins to advance their lead. The Hornets stepped up their defence, blocking multiple shots by the Bruins. The Hornets missed opportunities to score, costing them a chance to potentially snatch the lead from the Bruins.
The Bruins also missed many shots. Strong pressure from the Bruins made the Hornets beat the shot clock in the last quarter. Momoisea gave the Hornets some slim hope to catch up on the scoreboard, however the Bruins proved too dominant for the Hornets.
Post-game CEO of the Bruins Christian Gobolos was pleased with the win and the form the Bruins have recently shown.
“The guys they’re gelling really, really well. Having Jaylin be an addition onto the team has been fantastic, and I think it’s heightened the other guys. So I think they’re all playing to their potential. I think coach Kurtis is doing a fantastic job in terms of like really building on the momentum from that,” Gobolos emphasized. With Jaylin Galloway and Jason Cadee, new additions to the Bruins team, Gobolos said that with Cadee being a point guard, both players complement and look for each other, which heightens their levels of games.
