THE Geraldton Buccaneers have been knocking on the door of second position and finally got there with two wins in Week 19 men's SBL action with the Wanneroo Wolves also making their charge up into fourth position.

The Week 18 action began on Friday night with four matches that saw the Mandurah Magic beat the BOQ Perth Redbacks 106-84, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers hammer the Rockingham Flames 105-64, the Australian Belt Scrapers Wanneroo Wolves down the Perry Lakes Hawks 89-85 and the Lakeside Lightning prevailing over the Stirling Senators 97-80.

Mandurah had just the one match for the weekend and made it count with a 22-point win over the Perth Redbacks on Friday at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The win improved the Magic to a 14-11 record on the season and has them safely entrenched in a finals spot.

The South West Slammers found some dominant form to ensure it held its place in eighth position as well with a 41-point thumping of the struggling Rockingham Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Wanneroo Wolves got its big weekend off to the perfect start with an upset four-point win over the second-placed Perry Lakes Hawks at the WA Basketball Centre.

It was the Hawks' only game for the weekend and it proved costly with them slipping to a 16-8 record and losing second place to the Buccaneers.

The final game on Friday saw the Lakeside Lightning win its fifth straight match to stay on top of the standings beating the Stirling Senators by 17 points at Warwick Leisure Centre.

Friday's individual performances were highlighted by Rhett Della Maddalena hitting 30 points and pulling in 19 rebounds while dishing out five assists for the Magic.

Bennie Lewis hit 21 points for the Redbacks with Michael Vigor also adding 21 to go with nine rebounds.

Jamahr Warren had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Slammers with Clive Weeden scoring 22 points and Ty Harrelson had 19 points, 11 assists and eight boards. Cooper Land scored 16 points to go with 12 rebounds for the Flames.

Trian Iliadis had 23 points for the Wolves with Rob Huntington adding 22.

Ben Purser scored 20 points for the Hawks with Michael Lay adding 20, Rob Cassir 17 and Corey Easley 15 to go with 13 rebounds.

Ben Beran led the way for the Lightning with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Darrel Morgan added 16 points, Chris Sofoulis 16 and Jarrad Prue 19 rebounds.

Cory Cooperwood had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Senators with Jordan Wild adding 17 points to go with 19 boards.

Then on Saturday night, the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers beat the BOQ Perth Redbacks 115-111, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns thumped the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 109-78, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers downed the People's Choice Eagles 112-89, the Australian Belt Scrapers Wanneroo Wolves won a thriller 102-99 over the Stirling Senators, the Lakeside Lightning won over the Rockingham Flames 119-100 and the Willetton Tigers downed the Cockburn Cougars 106-99.

The Geraldton Buccaneers didn’t play on Friday but took advantage of a Redbacks team that did to win by four points at Belmont Oasis to continue to eye-off Perry Lakes' second spot.

Meanwhile it was the Redbacks' second loss in 24 hours to see them slip to a 14-11 record and to sixth spot in the standings.

The bottom two teams did battle at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns winning their first road game for the season thumping the Giants by 31 points. Goldfields has now lost 12 straight games.

The South West Slammers made it a big 24 hours beating the East Perth Eagles by 23 points at Eaton Recreation Centre to improve to a 14-11 record in eighth spot while the Eagles slipped to 14-11 in fifth.

Wanneroo continued its hot form beating the Senators 102-99 at Joondalup Basketball Centre to win a sixth straight game to be 15-10 in fourth spot.

The Lightning further consolidated top position with a 19-point win over a Flames team that has now lost three straight matches to hold just a 9-16 record.

The Willetton Tigers improved to a 12-13 record in ninth spot with a seven-point win over the defending champion Cockburn Cougars, but both are now all but out of the finals hunt.

Saturday had a host of big-time individual performances including Daniel Thomas being the star of the night for the Buccaneers finishing with a massive 40 points to go with seven rebounds. Carter Cook added 34 points, nine rebounds and four steals.

Bennie Lewis hit 29 points and pulled in nine rebounds for the Redbacks with Jarrad Prior adding 24 points, and Justin Brown 21 and 13 rebounds.

Luke Nevill was massive for the Suns with 34 points, 24 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots with Ben Smith adding 36 points.

Russell Hurst did all he could for the Giants with 37 points and 15 rebounds.

Ty Harrelson had 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Slammers with Jamahr Warren adding 20 points. Sunday Dech had 26 points for the Eagles.

Trian Iliadis led the way for the Wolves with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Damian Matacz added 23 points, Seb Salinas 18 and Rob Huntington 18.

Jordan Wild did all he could for the Senators with 36 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Cory Cooperwood added 28 points and seven boards.

Ben Beran was outstanding for Lakeside with 28 points and 21 rebounds. Jesse Dixon added 26 points, Brad Jackson 16, Justin Cecil 12, Chris Sofoulis 11 and Jarrad Prue had 24 rebounds.

Steve Bennett had 26 points and 10 assists for the Flames with Cooper Land scoring 24 points.

Brandon Adams top-scored for the Tigers with 31 points with Quinn McDowell adding 27 points.

Brian Carlwell finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Cougars with Damien Scott adding 22 points.

The weekend's action concluded on Sunday afternoon, with the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Cockburn Cougars 107-103 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The four-point win moved the Buccaneers above Perry Lakes and up to second position in the standings with a 17-8 record while the defending champion Cougars' title defence is all but over down in 10th position with a 10-15 record after a double-loss weekend.

Artcile by Chris Pike

Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Speed Photography)