Big debut for import

A potent Kalamunda Eastern Suns offence paved the way for a polished 84-66 win over a gallant Printsync South West Slammers on Saturday night at the Eaton Recreation Centre.

The defeat soured a memorable debut for new Slammers import Terrell Carter (27 points, nine rebounds, three steals) who gave the home side an extra layer of hardness at both ends of the glass.

Lingering outside of the top eight on percentage prior to tip off, the visitors began slowly as the Slammers displayed excellent hustle in general play.

Despite missing indispensable skipper Michael Lay due to work commitments, the winless home side looked dangerous during the opening exchanges.

With coach John Triscari warmly encouraging his men, the hosts raced out to an early 6-2 lead before the Eastern Suns found their mojo offensively.

Once they did, three point shots rained down like a cold night in July, with the visitors sinking three consecutive three-point shots in the space of 50 seconds to break the game open.

Doing the damage during this purple patch was Joshua Braun (23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals) and Javion Blake.

Blake, an impressive American who played his college ball with Washburn University in Kansas, may have only arrived at the Eastern Suns last month – but his fearless running of lanes, flicks and kick out passes opened a versatile nature to his side’s offence.

From here, long-range threat Louis Timms (23 points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal) Logan Viskovich (10 points, three rebounds, one steal) and Ryan Blanchett (4/4 from inside) proceeded to punish the home side with their efficient shooting.

Despite trailing by double digits for the majority of the final three quarters, the Slammers were far from disgraced – and with a full roster, a seemingly elusive victory could be on the horizon.