The weekend’s NBL1 games for the Diamond Valley Eagles were both back-to-back thrillers, as they took on the vicious Geelong Supercats and Kilsyth Cobras. The Eagles fought hard in both the Men and Women matches, with a victory in the Men’s first game of the road trip double header against the Cobras 98-90. Unfortunately, in the reminder of the three games, the Eagles saw defeat, but put up a hard fight and didn’t go out with their heads down.

 

Men’s Diamond Valley Eagles vs Kilsyth Cobras

Diamond Valley has stolen a brilliant victory in the last minutes of play from the Cobras, earning a huge upset win 90-98 at the Kilsyth Sports Centre.

In a tough, closely contested game Kilsyth seemed to just have the better of the Eagles, narrowly leading at every change and stretching their lead to seven points with just over six minutes left on the clock.

But Diamond Valley surged to run over the Eagles in the dying minutes of the last, equalising 90-90 with 3:13 remaining and storming past the suddenly lethargic Cobras to secure their victory.

This is Kilsyth’s third loss in a row in what appears to be a troubling slump for the third-placed side.

Logan Hovey was dynamic for the Eagles, finishing with 27 points and eight rebounds at 66%, while Peter Hooley was the Cobras’ best with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists.

 

Men’s Diamond Valley Eagles vs Geelong Supercats

Geelong held off a late Diamond Valley surge to record an 87-81 win.

Anthony Williams and DeMarcus Gatlin combined for 42 points for the Supercats, while Lewis Thomas shot 60% from the field to finish the game with 18 points.

Logan Hovey led the way for the Eagles with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Darcy Harding had 17 points, two rebounds and two assists.

It was Diamond Valley who began the game in better form, outscoring the Supercats 22-16 to lead by six points at quarter time. Geelong stamped their authority on the contest by scoring 29 points to lead by six points at half time.

Lewis Thomas scored 14 of Geelong’s 28 points in the third term as the home side extended their lead to 15 points at three-quarter-time.

Any thoughts of Geelong steaming home to victory were dashed as Diamond Valley made a late push in the last quarter. The Eagles outscored Geelong 23-14 to reduce the margin to six points, before the final buzzer put an end to the Eagles' late surge.

 

Women’s Diamond Valley Eagles vs Geelong Supercats

Geelong put on a show in front of their home fans to defeat Diamond Valley by 34 points.

Zitina Aokuson led the way for the Supercats with 20 at 80% from the field, while Ezi Magbegor had 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the Supercats’ 84-50 win.

The Supercats came out of the blocks firing, shooting 25 points in the first term to lead by 10 points at quarter time. The Supercats were efficient in attack in the second term and extended their lead to 14 points at half time.

Diamond Valley needed to improve their offence if they were to claw their way back into the contest in the second half. However they were held to nine points in the third period as Geelong scored 26 points to extend their lead to 31 points.

Geelong continued their dominance in the fourth term as they extended their lead to 34 points at the final buzzer.

Turnovers proved crucial to the final result as the Supercats scored 31 points from the Eagles’ errors. They also scored 46 points in the paint and 12 second-chance points from nine offensive rebounds.

 

Women’s Diamond Valley Eagles vs Kilsyth Cobras

Kilsyth were impressive in a must-win showdown against the Eagles, recording a commanding 74-49 victory to keep their season alive 5-4.

Diamond Valley managed to keep in touch with the Cobras in the first, trailing Kilsyth 14-12 at the end of the first.

But the Cobras struck early in the second, outscoring the Eagles 27-18 to head into the main break 41-30 with an 11 point berth.

The game was as good as over at half-time, and Diamond Valley only managed to post a total of 19 points in the second-half, their scoring hindered by inaccuracy and a lack of efficient movement down the court. The Eagles finished the game at 29% accuracy, hitting at only 11% for threes.

Kilsyth were led well by the combination of Sarah Boothe (18 points, 16 rebounds) and Kara Tessari (18 points, 3 assists), while Anneli Maley was the best of the scrappy Eagles outfit, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists from 29:26.

 

This week’s game will be on Friday night, where the Eagles look to face a tough Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence side on our home court. Women’s will start it off, playing at 6:00pm, followed by the Men’s game beginning at 8:00pm. We hope to see you there in support of our Eagles.