By Benito Carbone

West Adelaide Bearcats 89 | Sturt Sabres 64

West Adelaide, led by star import Demetrius Perkins, ran out comfortable 25-point winners against the Sturt Sabres at home on Saturday night. Fighting off an ankle injury sustained during the match, Perkins piled on 19 points and 5 rebounds and was ably assisted by his teammates in a spectacular team performance. Sturt on the other hand, struggled after finding themselves level at the half. Tim Klaosen impressed with 16 points and 9 boards but lacked support as his side and crumbled under relentless defensive pressure from the hosts.

The match began at a frantic pace. Truslove, who had 9 first quarter points, combined with Perkins for some early buckets and handed their side an early 11-4 lead. Klaosen showed off some of his ability with a fast drive to help stem the Bearcats’ momentum but it failed to slow the home team, who finished the term 8 points ahead. The satisfied West Adelaide crowd were soon holding their breaths collectively, as Perkins rolled his ankle and looked to be in considerable pain early in the second. Sturt took advantage of the loss, cutting the margin to a point with 7 minutes remaining in the half. The import soon returned though and responded to late consecutive baskets from Hamish Burns (10 pts) with a drive and foul, which he converted to level scores at the break.

The second half began much like the first. Perkins managed to shake off his ankle complaint to take his offensive game to the next level with brilliant passing and shooting a real highlight, including a cross-court pass to Crawford (9 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists). The Sabres were struggling under the intense pressure they faced on both sides of the court, conceding 26 points and scoring just 13 for the quarter to reach the final break 13 down.

Perkins continued to dominate in the last term and put up a brilliant lay-up before breaking back to effect an incredible rejection on Josiah Lee (11 points) who managed 6 turnovers for the game. The showboating was not quite finished yet though as Akol Deng threw down a massive dunk sending the already raucous crowd into elation.

After the match, Demetrius Perkins was pleased with his side’s defensive display and banished any concerns about his ankle.

“I think we played a great game defensively, that was our main focus, because we know the offense will come so we weren’t really worried,” Perkins said.

[When asked about his ankle] “It’s tender, but this is basketball. You’re going to have injuries so I decided to just suck it up and play through it because my team needed me.”

[For next week’s match against Lions] “We’re going to work hard in practice, stay conditioned, and focus on the defensive end because we know we can get our offense going against any team but our defensive end needs work.”

The win is West Adelaide’s second consecutive and they will be hoping to make it three against a winless Central Districts team. On the other hand, after only suffering their first loss, Sturt find themselves in sixth with a negative percentage.

BLOCKBUSTER ROUND: Sunday, 10 April at Pasadena

West Adelaide V Central Districts @ 1.15pm

Sturt Sabres V Forestville Eagles @ 3.00pm