Lakeside and Perry Lakes jumped clear of their rivals at the top of the Men’s State Basketball League ladder following strong performances in round two of the 2013 season.

Perennial title contenders Lakeside registered a pair of wins over the weekend, starting with a dominant 118-83 win over Kalamunda on the road on Friday night.

Lightning star Ben Beran poured in 30 points and Justin Cecil added 27, while sharpshooter Jarrad Prue scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Lakeside ruled the boards, grabbing 66 rebounds to Kalamunda’s 39.

It was a similar story on Saturday, with Andy Stewart’s men thumping Mandurah 114-77 at home.

A more even scoring performance saw no less than eight Lightning players reach double figures, with Wildcats academy member Darrel Morgan scoring 20 points.

Taylor Mullenax played a lone hand for the Magic with a game-high 30 points.

Perry Lakes capitalised on their solid opening-week form with a third straight victory on Saturday, comfortably accounting for South West Slammers 106-88 at the WA Basketball Centre.

New recruit Michael Lay nailed 36 points for the Hawks, who are flying high under the tutelage of new coach and Wildcats assistant Shawn Dennis.

Last season’s beaten grand finalists East Perth also remain unbeaten following their 111-80 home win over Wanneroo, as do Perth, who accounted for Willetton 97-87.

Geraldton bounced back from a pair of defeats in round one with a 96-83 win over reigning champions Cockburn.

Goldfields impressive on the road in round two, beating Rockingham 131-121 in an overtime thriller on Saturday before backing up less than 24 hours later with a 110-105 win over Wanneroo.

The Wolves’ pair of defeats saw them slip out of the top eight.

Stirling registered their first win of the season on Saturday with a 99-70 win over Kalamunda.

Article by Shayne Hope
Photo by Mick Cronin