THE men's SBL playoff race really heats up with some tantalising Week 17 match ups with the battle for top spot between the Geraldton Buccaneers and Joondalup Wolves in Geraldton on Saturday night the headline act.

The Wolves can all but lock away the minor premiership with a win over the Buccs on Saturday night while a Geraldton win would keep the race for first position well and truly alive.

It's far from the only match with plenty riding on it, though, with the Goldfields Giants-Perry Lakes Hawks, Stirling Senators-Rockingham Flames, Willetton Tigers-Mandurah Magic and Lakeside Lightning-South West Slammers match ups all having significant playoff ramifications.

Meanwhile, the defending champion East Perth Eagles have a double weekend against the Lakeside Lightning and Rockingham Flames where two wins could keep their slim playoff hopes alive, and put a serious dent in the hopes of their opponents.

The weekend's action gets underway on Friday night with two matches that sees the Perth Redbacks host the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars at Curtin Stadium, and the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles take on the Lakeside Lightning at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

There are then four matches on Saturday night starting at 7.30pm with the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers playing the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves at Active West Stadium, and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants facing the Perry Lakes Hawks at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

Then at 8pm on Saturday night, the Bethanie Stirling Senators play the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames at Warwick Leisure Centre and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers battle the Mandurah Magic at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

There are then three matches on Sunday starting with two of them tipping off at 2pm featuring the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames playing the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns hosting the Bethanie Stirling Senators at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The final match of the weekend is at 4pm on Sunday afternoon with the Lakeside Lightning facing the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Starting on Friday night, the Redbacks host the Cougars at Curtin Stadium with Perth needing a win to keep whatever slip playoff hopes it still has alive, while Cockburn is looking to consolidate third position and stay in touch for a top two berth.

The Redbacks come into the clash with a 7-14 record so can't afford any more slip ups this season to stay in the playoff hunt.

Meanwhile the Cougars are in outstanding form having won 10 of their last 11 games to have now improved to a 15-7 record to be two games out of second spot, and a game clear of fourth.

The two teams met in a tremendous contest back in Week 10 at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Cougars just at the beginning of their hot run of form recording a 121-114 victory over the Redbacks.

The Eagles and Lightning meet in a fascinating contest at Morley with East Perth needing to win to remain any chance at all of making the playoffs as defending champions, while Lakeside also needs to bounce back from heavy losses to Perry Lakes and Rockingham.

The Eagles only hold a 6-14 record but have now won four of their last five games to be in their best form of the season while the Lightning's combined 83-point defeats to the Hawks and Flames the last two weeks has seem the drop out of the top eight.

Lakeside has slipped to a 9-12 record as a result and now needs to bounce back to be a chance of returning to the top eight this weekend.

East Perth and Lakeside met back in Week 11 at Lakeside Recreation Centre and on that occasion it was the Eagles who came away with the 100-90 victory.

Then on Saturday night, the much-anticipated top of the table clash between the Buccaneers and Wolves talks place in Geraldton.

The Wolves currently sit two games clear on top of the standings at 19-3 so a win on Saturday night would all but lock away the minor premiership for a team that missed the playoffs altogether in 2014.

However, a win for the Buccs would keep the battle for first position well and truly alive with the Buccaneers a chance to improve on their 17-4 record and to close to within one win of the Wolfpack, and to both be on the same number of losses (four) on the season.

The two teams met back in Week 5 in a remarkably exciting and high-scoring affair that saw the Buccaneers end up winning 133-115 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The Giants and Hawks are two teams locked in a battle over a spot in the top eight coming into their crucial clash on Saturday night in Kalgoorlie.

Goldfields are currently in some outstanding form having won five straight victories to improve to a 10-11 record to move up into eighth position, but they do need to keep winning in order to stay there.

Meanwhile, the Hawks have won four of their last five games as well coinciding with the return of import guard Bryton Hobbs. That has seen Perry Lakes improve to an 8-13 record to remain a chance of still booking in a playoff position if they keep winning.

It was only back in Week 10 when the Giants and Hawks last met and on that occasion it was Perry Lakes who prevailed 99-92 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The Flames are another team needing to win to consolidate their position in the top eight and to improve on their 11-9 record, but the Senators have been playing some good basketball of late led by captain Cody Ellis.

They are still an outside chance of making the playoffs if they win their remaining six matches as well so that will need to start with a win over Rockingham on Saturday night.

It was a tight contest when the two teams met earlier this season in Week 8 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Flames ending up prevailing 101-95 over the Senators.
Willetton and Mandurah are two more teams locked in the logjam of teams looking for a position in the bottom half of the top eight, and with both entering Saturday night's clash with identical 11-10 records, there is plenty at stake.

The winner of the clash between the Tigers and Magic will go a long way to securing a playoff position but the loser will be in real danger of missing out altogether.

And neither are in good form with Willetton having now lost eight of its last 11 matches while Mandurah has lost four of its last five, so something will need to give on Saturday evening.

The Magic scored a 14-point win over the Tigers back in Week 9 of the 2015 season at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Finally on Sunday, there is yet another crucial clash between the Flames and Eagles of which the significance will become clearer depending on what happens on Friday night when East Perth plays Lakeside, and Saturday when Rockingham plays Stirling.

The two teams met on the opening Saturday night of the season at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre with the Flames coming out victorious 85-81 in that contest.

The Eastern Suns are the only team entering Week 17 mathematically out of the playoff race as they sit on a 2-20 record on an 11-game losing streak as they host the Senators on Sunday, with Stirling coming off hosting the Rockingham Flames on Saturday night.

It was less than a month ago when the two teams last played one another and in that contest it was the Senators who won a thriller 90-88 over the Eastern Suns at Warwick Leisure Centre.

The round then concludes with the Lightning taking on the Slammers and with both teams coming into the weekend battling over a playoff spot with Lakeside facing the East Perth on Friday night, and South West making its only appearance of the weekend on a 14-7 record but having lost six of their last eight games.

The teams last played back in the opening weekend of the season with the Slammers in hot form to start off 2015 and beating the Lightning 115-95 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

WEEK 17 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Perth Redbacks v Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars, Curtin Stadium 8.30pm
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles v Lakeside Lightning, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 8.30pm

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

SUNDAY
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 2pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Bethanie Stirling Senators, Ray Owen Sports Centre 2pm
Lakeside Lightning v Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers, Lakeside Recreation Centre 4pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography