The Stirling Senators stormed home to win a thriller over the Perth Redbacks and sour the SBL debut of Bennie Lewis to highlight the action on Friday night.

Lewis was playing his first game in the SBL for the Redbacks on Friday night with the Melbourne Tigers NBL swingman and reigning Slam Dunk champion from the All-Star weekend in Adelaide earlier this year having just arrived for his stint in WA.

He did all he could, though, scoring 26 points to go with six assists and two steals while shooting 9-of-19 from the field and 4-of-12 from three-point range, but it wasn’t quite enough to get his team over the line at Belmont Oasis.

The Redbacks led 75-64 at three quarter-time following dominant second and third periods, but the Senators weren’t going to lie down and outscored the home team 29-16 in the final quarter to end up prevailing 93-91 in a thriller.

Jordan Wild hit 26 points of his own for the Senators on the back of 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Josh Throns and Nik Iliadis both added 19 points as well for Stirling with Iliadis dishing out 10 assists to go with five boards.

Along with Lewis' 26 points, the Redbacks had good service from four players with Perth Wildcats experience behind them – Jarrad Prior (17 points, four rebounds), Michael Vigor (14, seven), Joel Wagner (12, 14 assists, six boards) and Justin Brown (12, eight rebounds).

The other men's fixture on Friday night saw the Perry Lakes Hawks cruise to a 101-82 win over the Cockburn Cougars at the WA Basketball Centre.

The Hawks led 32-23 at quarter-time and had another dominant third period to set up the comfortable 19-point victory.

Tevin Jackson top-scored for the Hawks with 22 points with Wildcat Ben Purser adding 20 points and nine boards, Corey Easley 19 and 10, Michael Lay 12, six, four assists and three steals, and Adrian Majstrovich 11 and 14.

Another Wildcat Gavin Field scored 20 points to go with 15 rebounds, three blocks and two steals for Cockburn. David Reichel added 18 points, Damien Scott 15 and Ben Stanley 10.

Women's SBL action on Friday night saw the Perth Redbacks start the night at Belmont Oasis off on a winning note, with a 76-73 victory over the Stirling Senators.

Marita Payne top-scored for the Redbacks with 18 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and two assists in an outstanding all-round performance. She had good support from Rachel Lisch (13 points, seven assists, seven steals and six rebounds) and Tarsha Fletcher (13 points, three assists).

Taylor Lilley hit 17 points for the Senators with Tegan Walker adding 13, Amber Land 12 (11 rebounds) and Lyndal Gardner 11.

At the WA Basketball Centre, the Perry Lakes Hawks also beat the Cockburn Cougars 67-57.

Natalie Burton scored 18 points for the Hawks to go with six rebounds. Belinda Mayger added 17 points and six assists with Gabriella Clayton scoring nine points and Rosie Tobin eight.

Emma Pass had a big night for the Cougars finishing with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Stephanie Jones also had 14 points and 10 boards, and Kate Fielding 14 points, four boards, three assists and two steals.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Clare Chappell