Buccs go flawless on the road to set up five-game home run

The Geraldton Buccaneers have continued their winning start to the 2022 NBL1 West season, following victories over the Willetton Tigers and Lakeside Lightning on the weekend.

The Buccs are one of four undefeated teams in the competition and sit at the top of the NBL1 West ladder with a 135.70 percentage.

They faced the winless Willetton Tigers on Saturday, coming out 97-64 victors at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Buccs then switched their attention to Sunday’s game against Lakeside Lightning, maintaining their undefeated start to the season with 90-64 win at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Buccs coach Dayle Joseph said: “I think the best thing is just our all-round performance. I guess if you look at the stat sheet, the first thing you look at is, Shaun Stewart scoring 20, Cameron Coleman scoring 20 and Mathiang Muo as well.”

Joseph highlighted the performances of his role players in the two wins.

“What some of the other guys are doing coming in, Malik (Meunier), Fletcher (Klasztorny), Mat (Wundenberg) and Liam (Hunt) is really important to us,” he said.

“It was great to see that, obviously, we need scorers to put points on the board. But we can’t do it with one or two players and what the other guys are doing playing their roles is perfect.”

While it would be easy to get excited, Joseph said there was still room for improvement.

“I think it’s a bit of a trust thing among the group and understanding, what we’re trying to do in our offensive structures and defensive structures,” he said.

“I think that that’s starting to come together a little bit and some of the things over the weekend help with that.”

The Buccs have opened the season with four games on the road and will now head back to Geraldton for a run of five home games, with the first against fellow undefeated side Cockburn Cougars on Saturday, April 30.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in our home games moving forward,” Joseph said.