TUESDAY night in the NBL1 West Men’s saw one of the best individual performances of 2025, with Lachlan Bertram dropping a 51-point outing as his Mandurah Magic fell to the Rockingham Flames as he tried to drag his side to victory.

The Magic are currently fighting to lock in a postseason spot in Western Australia, coming into the clash with a record of 10 wins and nine losses. However, they faced the toughest task in the competition, taking on the Flames in Rockingham, who currently occupy top spot in the standings having lost just three games throughout the season, so it was going to take Mandurah’s best.

The Flames were simply too good over the first three quarters, building a strong lead to hold a 26-point buffer heading into the final frame. Although the Magic fought tooth and nail to cut the margin down in the fourth quarter, it was not enough as they fell by 15 points.

Despite the disappointing result, there can be no knocking the performance of Bertram, who put Mandurah on his back offensively to produce one of the best scoring showings of the season in any NBL1 competition.

Rockingham Flames (110) def. Mandurah Magic (95)

Lachlan Bertram – 51 points, six rebounds, eight assists, three steals

The 23-year-old was at his high-scoring best against the Flames, exploding for a career-best performance and doing as much as he could to get the Magic to an unlikely win over the championship favourites.

Remarkably, Bertram got his game underway with a pair of assists, getting his teammates open for good looks with their jumpshots to kickstart Mandurah’s scoring going. He then nailed his first field goal of the match with a nice pullup jumper from midrange, although his next few attempts were wayward. The Magic star then exploded with back to back triples shortly after, before capping off the quarter with a pair of free throws to finish the opening frame with 10 points.

Much like the first quarter, Bertram started the second period with a trio of dimes, finding Sammie Freeman near the hoop twice as the Magic kept their offence rolling. Bertram got involved himself with a third triple, before backing it up a couple of minutes later with a pair of stepback jumpers to showcase his isolation scoring. He rounded out his contributions for the half with a well-timed steal, dishing the ball to Nick Woodall in transition, who finished the layup accordingly.

Bertram did not get going until four minutes into the third quarter, overcoming some tough defensive attention to get free for a fourth bomb from behind the arc, which was swiftly followed by a steal and layup in transition. He continued to attack the rim, nailing another tough finish at the cup, although the Flames were running away with it. The 23-year-old spent a short time on the bench, and finished the third quarter with another nice layup when scoring was tough to find for the Magic.

The fourth quarter was where he truly began to take control of Mandurah’s offence, and it is no coincidence that this was the best period the Magic produced for the entire match. He showed no fear when firing off shots from deep, and was aggressive on the drive, which resulted in several trips to the free throw line, where he typically showed composure. He was the number one scoring option for the visitors, and erupted with back to back triples to close the match, capping off a dominant period where he dropped 25 points over the span of just 10 minutes.

Bertram finished the match with a stunning 51 points on 19/36 shooting from the field, 8/15 shooting from behind the arc and 5/8 shooting from the charity stripe to go with his six rebounds and eight assists in one of the best performances of 2025.