The Maitland Mustangs smashed the Penrith Panthers 110-73 to restore order at the top of the table after last weekend's upset loss to Hills Hornets in the NBL 1 East Men's.
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However, the job is only half done with the Mustangs to face second-placed Inner West Bulls on the road from 5pm on Sunday.
The Mustangs starting five all scored in double points led by Will Cranston-Lown with 24 and Matthew Gray with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a dominant display at the Maitland Federation Centre on Saturday night.
Billy Parsons scored 16 and pulled in 10 rebounds and had seven assists to join Gray with a double-double performance, while James Hunter scored 15 and Christian Little scored 17 points to go along with his six assists and seven steals.
Fast asserting himself as one of the league's best lock down defenders, Little's scoring and offensive numbers have been an added bonus for the Mustangs.
There were strong contributions from all five players on the bench.
It was powerful performance from the start with Maitland leading 34-21 at the first break and winning the next three quarters 19-16, 26-15 and 31-21.
Maitland lose thriller to Penrith in women's game
Maitland paid for a slow start losing a 69-68 thriller to Penrith on Saturday.
Trailing 44-29 at half-time, the Mustangs won the third term 23-8 to tie up the scores 52-all at the last break.
The Panthers prevailed winning the final quarter 17-16 in an absolute thriller.
Sydney Hunter was outstanding for Maitland with 18 points and nine rebounds before she was fouled out. Shakera Reilly scored 13 and had seven rebounds, while Rachel Williams and Shannon Burton both shot eight points.
Michael Hartshorn
Since starting in 1985 at the then Melbourne Herald, journalism has taken me around Australia from Victoria, to the Northern Territory, Cairns in Queensland and now Port Stephens. After all those years there is still something special about informing and connecting with readers.
Since starting in 1985 at the then Melbourne Herald, journalism has taken me around Australia from Victoria, to the Northern Territory, Cairns in Queensland and now Port Stephens. After all those years there is still something special about informing and connecting with readers.
