WILLETTON'S women bounced back from its first loss of the season with a strong win on Monday while the Tigers men prevailed in a double overtime classic despite a stunning performance by Perth Redbacks import Ray Turner.

The Anzac Round of SBL action concluded on Monday afternoon at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers women beating the Perth Redbacks 81-44.

And then in the men's contest, the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers ended up beating the Perth Redbacks 123-120 after two overtime periods at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Willetton women rebounded from losing its first game of the season to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns by improving to a 6-1 record with the 37-point win over the now 2-6 Perth.

Louella Tomlinson had a terrific afternoon for the Tigers finishing the game with 25 points, 17 rebounds, four blocked shots, four assists and two steals while shooting 8-of-15 from the field.

Zoe Harper also added 11 points and 10 boards for Willetton with Kate Malpass contributing 10 points and Melissa Marsh seven to go with five rebounds in only 13 minutes of court time off the bench.

Gaby Clayton top-scored for the Redbacks with 12 points and seven rebounds while Jess Jakens added nine points and five boards, Alix Hayward six points and five rebounds, and Meike Elkington five points and seven boards.

Then in the men's action, the Tigers and Redbacks could very well have played out the game of the season with Willetton eventually prevailing by three points following two overtime periods.

Little separated the two teams all afternoon but it was the Tigers who had the first chance at victory at the end of regulation.

After Jarrad Prior nailed a jumper with just under a minute left for the Redbacks to tie up the scores, Corey Easley had the chance to hit the game-winning buzzer beater but his three-pointer didn’t quite fall forcing the first overtime.

The Tigers scored the first four points overtime thanks to Nic Cody and Damien Scott, and their lead got out to as much as five points but with 19 seconds remaining Turner had put the Redbacks on top after a dunk.

However, one free-throw made from Cody tied scores up and then it was Wagner who missed the attempt of a match-winner again at the buzzer seeing the game go into a second overtime.

This time, it was three Kyle Armour free-throws that gave Willetton the three-point advantage and then Turner missed on his buzzer beating attempt from downtown and the Tigers held on for the stunning win.

The result means that the Tigers have now improved to a 7-2 record to sit in fourth position in the standings while the Redbacks slip to 4-6 to be in ninth spot.

Nic Cody ended up top-scoring for the Tigers with 26 points and eight rebounds while shooting 8-of-13 from the field and 10-of-16 from the foul line.

Damien Scott added 25 points, seven rebounds, six steals and two blocked shots for Willetton as well with Kyle Armour finishing with 18 points and 13 assists, Ephrem Davis 17 points and eight boards and Mitch Clarke 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Corey Easley contributed 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots off the bench also for the Tigers.

Ray Turner had a remarkable performance for the Redbacks finishing with 58 points, 26 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots on the back of shooting 21-of-34 from the field and 16-of-18 from the free-throw line.

Ben Smith added 24 points and eight boards for Perth while Jarrad Prior contributed 15 points and five rebounds, and Joel Wagner nine points, 11 assists and five boards.

MONDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 81 defeated Perth Redbacks 44

MONDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 123 defeated Perth Redbacks 120

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Clare Chappell