Cougars roar past Magic for fifth straight win
League leaders Cockburn Cougars maintained their perfect start to the men’s State Basketball League season with a 98-93 win at Mandurah Magic.
The Cougars trailed at half-time but took control of the match in the third quarter to claim their fifth straight victory to start the season, just three shy of their win total from all of last season, while condemning Mandurah to their fourth loss from five games.
Cockburn built a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, only for the Magic to cut the margin to four with one minute left, but the visitors held on.
Imports Ty Harrelson (33 points) and Stanley Ocitti (18 points and 11 rebounds) continued their impressive form to lead Cockburn to a victory which ensured they were one game clear on top of the ladder at the end of round three.
Casey Crevelone had 25 points for the Magic, while big man Tom Remmerswaal had 22 points, although it wasn’t enough to prevent the home side from dropping to 13th spot.
Cockburn coach Stephen Charlton said he was frustrated with aspects of his side’s performance despite the victory.
“It wasn’t the prettiest thing we’ve ever done and we kind of switched off there at times, but we held them to 36 points in the second half, which we were really happy with,” he said.
“It was a good hard win. We’re playing hard, but we’ve got a lot of improvement left in us.”
The Cougars host Kalamunda next Saturday, while Mandurah import Taylor Mullenax has arrived in WA and should be cleared to play in next Saturday’s match at Goldfields.
Earlier, Mandurah’s women staged an impressive comeback to claim their second win of the weekend, a 67-63 victory over the Metropolis Fremantle Cockburn Cougars.
The Magic trailed by 10 late in the second quarter and by six points with three minutes left, but tied the scores when Tracey Richter hit a field goal with one minute left before Tarsha Fletcher gave them the lead from the free-throw line with 28 seconds remaining.
Casey Mihovilovich scored 22 points and Shelley Boston added 17 to help Mandurah remain in the top four.
Courtney Hargreaves top-scored with 15 points for the Cougars, who fell to 2-2 with the loss.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photos by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)
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