WILL MAYFIELD was the star of the show as the Canberra Gunners produced an 18-point win over the Norths Bears in Round 3 of the NBL1 East Men’s fixture at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.

The Gunners came into the match in ripping form, undefeated from two games over the first fortnight and looking a championship contender in the early stages of the season. On the other hand, the Bears were looking for their first win of the 2024/25 fixture, and although they held home court advantage, would need to bring an improved performance if they were to upset Canberra.

The first half went exactly as expected, with the Gunners building a solid lead on the back of defensive pressure and offensive consistency. The visitors went into the break with an 11-point buffer, and looked in complete control of the match. Norths did a great job of lifting its production in the third quarter, and restricted to the Gunners to just 14 points to cut the deficit to just five points at the final change, but Canberra stormed home in the final term, outscoring the hosts 26-13 in the term to claim a big win.

Mayfield was the standout performer for the Gunners, with the 24-year-old doing a bit of everything in an effortless performance against the Bears in enemy territory.

Norths Bears (63) def. by Canberra Gunners (81)

Will Mayfield – 21 points, five rebounds, seven assists, two steals

It was another impressive showing from Mayfield, who is putting together a nice tenure with the Gunners at NBL1 level, and added to his resume with another eye-catching performance.

Able to take his opponent off the handle, he maintained an impressive amount of composure with ball in hand, perfectly demonstrated by nailing a an early three-pointer in the first term despite initially losing the handle.

When he had the ball, Mayfield was able to orchestrate the offence perfectly, waving instructions and using the screens to perfection. He was extremely dangerous in pick and rolls, given his ability to nail a pinpoint pass to a teammate or score the ball himself.

The guard showed masterful hang time when driving at the rim, able to stay in control in the air until the defence eased up, which allowed him to wait for the easiest possible shot, although he was undeterred by good defensive coverage most of the time anyway.

He had a huge moment in the fourth quarter when the Bears were truly making their charge, conjuring a four-point play by nailing the triple despite the defender overcommitting on the closeout, and converting truly at the charity stripe.

Mayfield capped off a productive night by finishing a tough drive inside despite being surrounded by three defenders, using his impressive strength to get separation from the defence and banking in the floater to put his side up by double-digits and seal the game.

He finished the contest with 21 points on 8/15 shooting to go with his five rebounds and seven assists in yet another eye-catching showing from the 2022 NBL1 Champion.