Magic rally to defeat Redbacks

Mandurah Magic have moved into third position on the men’s SBL ladder with a come from behind 98-94 victory over the Perth Redbacks in Mandurah on Saturday night.

The Magic backed up their victory on Friday night against the Slammers to leapfrog both Perth and Cockburn on the standings. Perth slips back to fifth on the table after a double loss in Round 13.

Mandurah trailed for most of the contest as Michael Vigor and Blake Bender dominated the offensive rebounding count and prevented Mandurah from running their transition game.

Perth also caused problems for the Magic in the foul count as they managed to get to the free throw line 13 times in the first quarter, as opposed to Mandurah’s five.

The Redbacks took a three point lead into the main change and extended that lead out to six at three quarter time as both teams shot poorly in the third and struggled to maintain any offensive rhythm.

Despite their shooting woes, the Magic pulled things together and outscored the Redbacks in a 35 point fourth quarter. The frontcourt of Mandurah proved especially effective as Taylor Mullenax and Tom Remmerswaal thwarted the offensive efforts of Bender and Vigor with some clutch defensive efforts down the stretch.

Perth also recorded eight turnovers in the final quarter to hand the Magic win number twelve for the season and a step further to a top four position come finals time.

“We did really well to fight out two wins and the team is really starting to come together with the guys doing the unnoticed little things that gets us over the line,” Magic import Taylor Mullenax said.

“We still have a lot of work to do though. Chalky is doing a great job with the group and personally I think we are on the right track.”

Mullenax led all scorers with 32 points and 12 rebounds while Tom Remmerswaal bounced back to form with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Michael Vigor was the best for Perth with 30 points and 13 rebounds while Blake Bender added 19 points and 15 rebounds.

In earlier WSBL action, the Perth Redbacks continued their strong form with a 72-54 victory over the Magic and their second win over the weekend.

The win sees the Redbacks move into third on the table while the Magic remain at the bottom of the table with one win.

The Redbacks jumped out to an early lead on the back of a 25-12 first quarter. The Magic rallied late in the game and cut the margin to ten, but Perth was never troubled despite losing Marita Payne to what could be a concussion after a heavy fall in the third quarter.

Rachel Watman continued her impressive form after returning from almost a year out of action scoring 22 points, while Payne added 12. Jess Jakens and Gabby O’Sullivan were also solid contributors each adding ten points.

The Magic were led by Shelly Boston who scored 24 and Gemma Thomas who had 11 points.

Round 14 action sees the Magic head to Cockburn for a top four clash in the MSBL and a bottom three clash in the WSBL. Mandurah’s only win of the season has come against Cockburn. The previous matchup on the men’s side saw the Cougars embarrass the Magic by 40 points in Mandurah. The Redbacks also face Cockburn in Belmont on Saturday night in another potential top four matchup for the men.

Article by Nathan Winch
Photo by Ashley Pearce (Reg Media)




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