THE Joondalup Wolves look to make a run at top spot in the men's SBL with matches against the Stirling Senators and Lakeside Lightning this weekend while the Geraldton Buccaneers and South West Slammers try to hold off talented opponents.

The Wolfpack have a double weekend that could see them put further pressure on the league-leading Buccaneers and second-place South West Slammers. Geraldton takes on the Perry Lakes Hawks on Saturday night and the Slammers face the Mandurah Magic on Friday.

Those are just some of the matches in a tantalising weekend of men's SBL action that includes four games on Friday night, three on Saturday evening and one more on Sunday afternoon.

The round's action begins on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks hosting the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames at Curtin Stadium and the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers battling the Mandurah Magic at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Lakeside Lightning also face the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Lakeside Recreation Centre, and the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars take on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Then on Saturday night, the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers play the Perry Lakes Hawks at Active West Stadium, the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants battle the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium, and the Bethanie Stirling Senators face the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves at Warwick Leisure Centre.

And finally on Sunday, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves host the Lakeside Lightning at Joondalup Basketball Stadium with tip-off set for 2pm.

Starting on Friday night, the Redbacks host the Flames with one team looking to break into the top eight and the other to remain inside.

Perth broke a four-game losing streak with a strong performance to beat the South West Slammers last Saturday night to improve to a 5-9 record and to remain in contention for a top eight spot.

Meanwhile, Rockingham is also coming off an impressive performance last weekend beating the Willetton Tigers to improve to a 7-6 record and to sit in seventh position on the standings.

The Redbacks and Flames have already met this season with Rockingham recording a 106-86 win back in Week 3 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Slammers dropped top spot on the table last Saturday night with a loss to the Perth Redbacks just seven days after beating the Geraldton Buccaneers, so they will be looking to bounce back from that at home to the Magic on Friday night.

However, Mandurah certainly won't be making that easy with the Magic holding a 9-5 record in fifth position and also looking to bounce back themselves from losing to the Goldfields Giants by 28 points last Saturday night.

South West and Mandurah met earlier this season in Week 4 and on that Easter Thursday battle, it was the Slammers who prevailed 113-94 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Lightning and Eagles have won the past two men's SBL championships but neither is having the 2015 season they are used to so far heading into their meeting on Friday night at Lakeside.

Lakeside won the 2013 title is clinging to eighth position on the table with a 5-7 record following a 16-point loss to the Mandurah Magic last Friday night while the 2014 champion East Perth's horror 2015 is continuing.

The Eagles opened their season with a win over the Perry Lakes Hawks but ever since they have lost 13 straight matches including a double-loss weekend last week against the Joondalup Wolves by 31 points and Geraldton Buccaneers by 15.

The final match on Friday night is then between the Cougars and Suns with Cockburn entering on a three-game winning run to be in sixth position on an 8-6 record while Kalamunda is struggling at 2-11 in 13th spot.

The Cougars and Suns have already played once this year back in Week 5 when it was Cockburn who won a 93-91 thriller over Kalamunda at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Things then get underway on Saturday night with what looms as a terrific battle between the Buccaneers and Hawks.

Geraldton returned to top spot thanks to two wins last weekend over the East Perth Eagles and Stirling Senators on the back of losing to the South West Slammers for a second time this season.

However, the Buccs haven’t had the ideal week being forced to release import Quincy Hankins-Cole and now a Hawks team comes to Geraldton fresh off impressive wins last weekend against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Goldfields Giants, and with import Bryton Hobbs in exciting form.

The Buccaneers and Hawks played one another back in Week 2 with the Buccs scoring a thumping 130-77 win on that occasion at Bendat Basketball Centre.

There is then another terrific match up on Saturday night featuring the Giants and Tigers in Geraldton.

The Giants had won four straight matches before losing to the Perry Lakes Hawks last Sunday but now they will look to get back to winning to remain in touch for a top eight berth.

The Tigers, meanwhile, are also looking to bounce back from a loss to the Rockingham Flames and now having lost three of their last four games. Despite that, Willetton still sits in fourth position with a 9-5 record.

Goldfields and Willetton opened up the 2015 season playing one another at Willetton Basketball Stadium and it was the Tigers on that occasion who scored a thumping 114-76 win over the Giants.

Finally on Saturday night, the Senators host the Wolves at Warwick with Stirling entering the contest on a four-game losing streak and in ninth position with a 5-8 record while Joondalup remains in third spot now on a five-game winning run and an 11-2 record.

Stirling and Joondalup have already played off this season as well with the Wolves scoring a 123-93 win over the Senators at Joondalup Basketball Stadium back in Week 4.

The Wolfpack then back up their clash with the Senators on Saturday night hosting the Lightning on Sunday with Lakeside also coming off taking on the East Perth Eagles on Sunday.

Depending on what happens with the Geraldton Buccaneers and Goldfields Giants, the Wolves could very well end up on top of the table at the end of the round if they are able to pull off the two victories.

WEEK 11 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Perth Redbacks v Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames, Curtin Stadium 8.30pm
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Mandurah Magic, Eaton Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Lakeside Lightning v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Lakeside Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Wally Hagan Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers v Perry Lakes Hawks, Active West Stadium 7.30pm
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
Bethanie Stirling Senators v Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves, Warwick Leisure Centre 8pm

SUNDAY
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves v Lakeside Lightning, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 2pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography