Lakeside take advantage as Wolves fall (Round 3 men's wrap)
Lakeside Lightning took advantage of Wanneroo's shock loss to Willetton to climb to the top of the men's State Basketball League table after round three.
The Wolves had been the early pace-setters but saw their unbeaten streak end with a 103-85 loss to the Tigers, which allowed Lakeside to climb to first after its gutsy 99-92 win at Geraldton.
The Lightning's win, which came on the back of Luke Payne's 30 points, left them as the only team with a perfect record and also saw the Buccaneers drop to seventh spot with their second loss from four games.
But the biggest shock of the round was Willetton's convincing win at Wanneroo, which couldn't even get within 10 points after quarter-time.
Ephrem Davis led the Tigers with 24 points, while Jordan Wild had a game-high 26 but it wasn't enough to cover the absences of coach Ben Ettridge, who was away with his Australian Rollers duties, or starting centre Damian Matacz (at a wedding).
It wasn't all good for Willetton though, with Ben Purser's late jump shot under pressure proving the winner for Perry Lakes in a 98-97 triumph.
The Wildcats development player excelled with 26 points and nine rebounds to help the Hawks improve to 3-1.
Perth Redbacks jumped to second place as they continued their impressive rise with a 114-103 triumph against Mandurah.
Wildcats trainee Michael Vigor led Perth to its fourth win from five games with 33 points and 19 rebounds, while the Magic's loss saw it drop to ninth.
Stirling Senators put an inconsistent start behind them with convincing wins against South West Slammers and East Perth Eagles.
The Eagles remain winless after falling 103-92 while the Senators brought South West back down to earth following its breakthrough victory the week before with a 113-76 annihilation in Bunbury.
Kalamunda broke its duck thanks to a shock 90-86 win at Goldfields, which extended the Giants' losing streak in the absence of import Darnell Dialls to three games.
And Rockingham remains anchored to the bottom of the table after losing 84-70 to Cockburn, which has now won its past two games to move to eighth spot.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots)
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