Mandurah's Magic too much for Perth
Mandurah Magic celebrated the 250 game milestone of Joshua Lee in style with a hard fought six-point win over the Perth Redbacks.
The Magic won 101-95 to move within one game of the top eight, while the seventh-placed Redbacks slumped to their fifth loss from six games.
Jumping out to a quick 9-0 lead in the first quarter, Mandurah looked inside early to their post players, with Taylor Mullenax dominating early. Perth relied on their outside game and although the shots weren’t falling early on, star Adrian Majstrovich soon gathered their offense together as Perth finished the first quarter with a one point lead.
The second quarter began in similar fashion for Perth with Majstrovich again dominating. His outside jumper started to click, and his penetration into the lane provided numerous open shots for Perth’s jumpshooters.
Mandurah took a one point lead going into half time, and from there they never looked back. Solid defense on Majstrovich limited his offensive output to eight second half points, and sapped Perth of their energy as Andrew Bowman took control of the offense as he dished out a game high 10 assists.
Mullenax finished with 36 points and 15 rebounds as Mandurah outscored the Redbacks 60 to 38 inside the paint. Majstrovich finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Jarrad Jackson was Perth’s next best with 22 points.
“It was a must win game for us. We had to lay it all on the line. The boys have been training hard for games like this.” Mullenax said after the game. “We may not be the biggest, the quickest or the most athletic team, but our general team effort and teamwork is where it counts for us.”
Magic coach Jason Chalk was particularly pleased with the efforts of Bowman.
“Andrew did a great job getting the ball to guys on offense. I believe he is the best in the league at finding guys on the court, he averages 10 assists a game, he has the passion," Chalk said.
“It wasn't a pretty win but to keep Perth under 100 points and win the rebounding by 17, it was a great win to grind out.”
Earlier in the night, a fast paced Mandurah women’s team defeated Perth 82 – 70, on the back of 20 points and eight assists from Tarsha Fletcher. Shelly Boston and Hailey Dunham both contributed double doubles, and Casey Mihovilovich dished out nine assists.
Although Marita Payne dominated early for Perth, finishing with 21 points, Mandurah controlled the paint outscoring Perth 48 – 30. Solid defense by Boston on Payne helped Mandurah to a 10 – 0 run to begin the 4th quarter, and a comfortable victory in the end.
Article by Nathan Winch at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.