THERE are 10 men's SBL matches to be played across Week 7 of the competition with two of them pitting the top-three teams against one another with Lakeside playing Geraldton on Saturday night, and then Rockingham hosting the Lightning on Sunday.

It is a massive Anzac Weekend of men's SBL fixtures with two matches on Thursday night to open the round followed by one on Anzac Day itself, four on Saturday night and then another three on Sunday afternoon.

The round begins on Thursday night with two fixtures both tipping off at 8.30pm featuring the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers hosting the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames at Eaton Recreation Centre, and the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles taking on the Cockburn Cougars at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Slammers started off their 2014 season impressively with two straight wins but have now lost four in-a-row heading into Thursday night's encounter with the top-of-the-table Flames.

Rockingham lost its first game of the season to the Perth Redbacks, but has since gone on an eight-game winning streak against Geraldton, Willetton, Mandurah, Joondalup, Goldfields, South West, Cockburn and Kalamunda.

That included the thrilling 93-91 win over the Slammers just two weeks ago so expect another terrific contest this time around.

Thursday's other clash pits the Eagles against the Cougars with East Perth needing to stop a three-game losing slide and Cockburn a six-game losing run. It will be the first meeting between the two teams in 2014.

The only match on Friday for Anzac Day will take place at Willetton Basketball Stadium tipping off at 2pm featuring the Willetton Tigers hosting the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

Willetton scored the upset of the season so far last Saturday night beating Lakeside with imports John Dickson and Quinn McDowell outstanding.

However, the Tigers do only sit on a 2-5 record on the season heading into the Anzac Day clash with the 2-6 Kalamunda who has now lost three straight matches.

Focus then turns to Saturday night with the Lakeside Lightning taking on the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers at Lakeside Recreation Centre, and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants doing battle with the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium. Both matches start at 7.30pm.

The Perry Lakes Hawks host the Perth Redbacks at WA Basketball Centre at 8pm, and then at 8.30pm the Kalamunda Eastern Suns do battle with the Mandurah Magic at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Lightning suffered a shock loss to the Tigers last Saturday night and now hosts the Buccaneers this Saturday night.

Lakeside has now in fact lost two of its last three games to see the defending champions slip to a 5-2 record with Geraldton coming into the clash in hot form having won five straight to be on 6-2 and sitting in second position on the ladder.

Both the Lightning and Buccaneers will be desperate to win to maintain touch with the league-leading Rockingham Flames.

Two regional powers then do battle when the Giants host the Slammers with Goldfields looking to improve on a 2-6 record while South West will be hoping to come into the game without injuries, and with some momentum following Thursday's clash with Rockingham.

Two more in-form teams then meet on Saturday night when the Hawks host the Redbacks.

Perry Lakes has now won four straight matches after opening the season losing three straight while Perth has won three of its last four to now be sitting on a strong 5-3 record on the season.

Saturday night's final match then sees the Eastern Suns host the Magic with Kalamunda looking to stop a three-game losing slide and Mandurah looking for a third straight win to improve on its 5-2 record.

The round is then far from over then, though, with three huge match-ups on Sunday pitting the Stirling Senators up against the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers at Warwick Leisure Centre at 12pm.

The other two matches both start at 2pm with the Joondalup Wolves hosting the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and then the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames taking on the Lakeside Lightning at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Senators' only appearance of the weekend doesn’t come up until their clash with the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Stirling is coming off a win last weekend to improve to a 3-3 record and will like its chances of adding another against Kalamunda.

The Wolves are also appearing for the first time over the weekend on Sunday to take on an Eagles team having already played on Thursday against Cockburn.

Joondalup comes into the clash having lost two straight matches, though, to be only sitting on a 4-3 record.

The round then finishes with the top-of-the-table Flames hosting the defending champions, and third-placed Lightning.

Rockingham will be coming off a clash with South West on Thursday while Lakeside will have hosted Geraldton on Saturday night.

WEEK 7 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
THURSDAY
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Orange Autos Rockingham Flames, Eaton Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles v Cockburn Cougars, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 8.30pm

FRIDAY
Willetton Tigers v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Willetton Basketball Stadium 2pm

SATURDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers, Lakeside Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants v Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers, Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Perth Redbacks, WA Basketball Centre 8pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Mandurah Magic, Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm

SUNDAY
Stirling Senators v Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers, Warwick Leisure Centre 12pm
Joondalup Wolves v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 2pm
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames v Lakeside Lightning, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 2pm

Article by Chris Pike