THE Mandurah Magic women returned to winning form in the State Basketball League on Saturday night while the men suffered a narrow loss to the East Perth Eagles in a high-scoring affair.
The Saturday night action took place at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre with the Magic women improving to 18-2 record on the season with a 72-48 win over the bottom placed East Perth.
It was Mandurah’s first game since its second loss of 2017 at the hands of the league-leading Perry Lakes Hawks.
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READ NOWThe Magic women delivered a solid performance to win by 24 points with import guard Nici Gilday leading the way with 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
She shot 8-of-13 from the field and 5-of-5 at the foul line.
Carly Boag added 14 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and five steals for Mandurah while Rachel Halleen contributed six points and five boards, and Bree Klasztorny six points and seven rebounds.
It was then time for the men’s clash with the Magic entering the game in some impressive form after wins over the Perry Lakes Hawks and Geraldton Buccaneers for their first winning streak of 2017.
They couldn’t quite get over the line against East Perth on Saturday night but it wasn’t without a good effort in a high-scoring and entertaining affair.
East Perth opened a commanding 24-point advantage by three quarter-time but Mandurah put up 43 points in the fourth quarters to narrowly miss out on coming back to win.
The Eagles held on to win 129-122.
Veteran big man Taylor Mullenax had another tremendous performance for the Magic with 31 points and eight rebounds.
Point guard Will McNeill added 27 points and eight assists with Fletcher Klasztorny contributing 17 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Magic hit the road this Friday night to take on the Perth Redbacks at Belmont Oasis before the men back up at home on Sunday against the Goldfields Giants.
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