Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers completed an astonishing road trip with a 98-85 win over Southlands Willetton Tigers.

Geraldton jumped to second place with the win which followed an equally impressive 101-82 defeat of East Perth the night before, with even Buccaneers coach Ray Evans admitting to being pleasantly surprised.

“At best I thought we might finish 1-1 (on the road trip) having to play two tough teams so we’re over the moon,” Evans said.

The Tigers had led for most of the match but the Buccaneers took the lead with 38 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Willetton brought the margin back to one with just over four minutes remaining but a 12-1 run to Geraldton following that ensured it picked up its fourth straight win.

Ryan Zamroz was again in phenomenal touch for the Buccaneers with 32 points while Daniel Thomas had seven assists and 18 points.

Daniel Johnson was Willetton’s best performer with 34 points while Ty Shaw had 22 points and 22 rebounds.

Several Tigers players were in foul trouble with Johnson and Alex Prince forced to sit out much of the final quarter as a result while Adam Nener fouled out, which helped Geraldton win the fourth period 29-19.

Former NBL big man Ben Pepper was playing his second game since the Buccaneers announced his recruitment several weeks ago and performed well with 12 points and five rebounds.

Star forward Cameron Tovey was absent for the second straight game for Willetton, which fell to third.

Evans was pleased with the way his side battled but warned against complacency.

“It was a tough game all round so we had to stick with it. They got a lot of rebounds so we had to keep fighting and in the end we got the win,” he said.

“But we still know there is a long way to go, it’s early in the season.”

Article by Jacob Kagi