THERE were 11 men's matches played over the weekend with the Perth Redbacks and Joondalup Wolves losing twice and Stirling Senators winning twice as did the Lakeside Lightning and Geraldton Buccaneers with the Cockburn Cougars continuing its emergence.

Three road teams all won on Friday night with the Stirling Senators downing the Perth Redbacks 101-98 at Belmont Oasis, the Lakeside Lightning beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 112-102 at Ray Owen Sports Centre and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames defeating the Perry Lakes Hawks 121-102 at the WA Basketball Centre.

There were then four men's SBL matches on Saturday night with the Lakeside Lightning overcoming the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 113-106 at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers downing the Mandurah Magic 109-100 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The other two men's matches saw the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars defeat the Joondalup Wolves 108-105 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beat the Willetton Tigers 90-83 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

There were then four massive men's matches on Sunday including the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 95-90 at the WA Basketball Centre and then in the double-header, the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers defeated the Perth Redbacks 100-98 in a thriller.

The other two Sunday matches saw the Mandurah Magic beat the Joondalup Wolves 101-98 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Stirling Senators defeat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 106-84 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The weekend's results leave the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers (14-3) clear on top of the men's SBL standings ahead of the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (13-5).

Two games back are the Lakeside Lightning (11-6) followed by the Mandurah Magic (8-7), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (8-7), Perth Redbacks (9-8), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (9-8) and the Joondalup Wolves (8-8).

Outside the top-eight are the Stirling Senators (7-7), Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars (7-9), Perry Lakes Hawks (6-9), Willetton Tigers (5-9), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (3-12) and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (3-13).

There were again plenty of starring individual performances as well including three players scoring 40-plus points, another 10 getting to the 30-point mark and 20 more scoring at least 20.

On Friday night, Jordan Wild top-scored for Stirling with 24 points and 11 rebounds with Cory Cooperwood also having a good night with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Josh Throns added 20 points also for the Senators with Austin Bruton contributing 17 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Redbacks import Stan Okoye again did the best he could for his team with another 37 points and 11 rebounds on the back of shooting 15-of-27 from the field and 3-of-6 from downtown.

Lee Roberts added 16 points and 13 rebounds on debut for the Redbacks as well with Jarrad Jackson contributing 14 points and six assists.

Caleb Palkert led the way for the Lightning with 30 points and six rebounds with Brad Tinsley adding 28 points and seven assists.

Jesse Dixon also added 17 points for Lakeside with Jarrad Prue finishing with 10 points, 24 rebounds, three assists, two assists and a block.

Louis Timms did all he could for Kalamunda with 32 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two assists while Joel Questel contributed 22 points and Adhar Mayen 16.

Cooper Land was the star for the Flames with 42 points and nine rebounds while shooting 17-of-29 from the floor and 5-of-10 from three-point territory.

Taylor Land also finished with 20 points, nine assists and five rebounds for Rockingham with Ryan Godfrey adding 17 points and six boards.

Ben Dixon top-scored for Hawks with 18 points with Ben Purser adding 17 points, James Elliott 16, Justin Cecil 16, Corey Easley 14 and Josh Garlepp 14.

On Saturday night, Brad Tinsley was the star for the Lightning with 37 points and nine assists on the back of shooting 12-of-13 from the field, a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point territory and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Jesse Dixon also contributed 18 points for the Lightning with Chris Sofoulis returning to the team and adding 16 points with Caleb Palkert also contributing 13 points and seven rebounds.

Duran Blue did all he could for the Giants ending up with 42 points on 16-of-25 shooting from the floor and 5-of-11 from three-point range.

Lordan Franich contributed 22 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists also for Goldfields with Michael Haney scoring 15 points and Matthew Leske 12.

Carter Cook had another night out for the Buccaneers finishing with 35 points on the back of shooting 14-of-23 from the field.

Aaron Ralph also contributed 20 points and seven rebounds for the Buccs while hitting 5-of-7 from downtown.

Shamus Ballantyne added 19 points and eight assists for Geraldton as well with Bennie Lewis scoring 15 points and Luke Wrensted 10 to go with five assists.

Ben Smith top-scored for Mandurah with 34 points and nine rebounds with Taylor Mullenax adding 20 points and 13 rebounds. Paul Hafford also finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Rhett Della Maddalena 15 points, 12 boards, five assists and two blocks.

Gavin Field was the star for the Cougars with 41 points and nine rebounds on the back of shooting 15-of-26 from the floor.

Damien Scott contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists with Anthony Borden scoring 15 points and Steven Van Lit 12.

Seb Salinas again top-scored for the Wolves with 24 points and five assists with Rhys Smyth adding 16 points, Rob Huntington 15, Ephrem Davis 15, Sean Easther 14 and Doug Gates 13.

Six Eagles players scored in double-figures with Kyle Armour hitting 19 points, Sunday Dech 16, Drew Williamson 16, Joe-Alan Tupaea 15, Austin Kisselev 10 and Nikola Donlagic 10.

And that was despite just two points on 1-of-7 shooting from Perth Wildcats guard Mathiang Muo.

John Dickson worked hard for Willetton finishing with 29 points and 10 rebounds on the back of shooting 12-of-19 from the field. Fellow import Quinn McDowell added 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

And finally on Sunday, Duran Blue once again was the star for the Giants finishing with 30 points, five rebounds and four assists with Russell Hurst adding 17 points, Michael Haney 15 and Matthew Leske 13.

Justin Cecil did all he could for the Hawks with 31 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots with Corey Easley adding 16 points, Ben Purser 14 and Josh Garlepp 11.

Bennie Lewis had a big night for the Buccaneers with 34 points on the back of shooting 9-of-18 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Carter Cook also added 26 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for Geraldton with Matt Wundenberg adding 13 points, Shamus Ballantyne 11 and Aaron Ralph 10.

Stan Okoye top-scored for the Redbacks with 26 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists with Lee Roberts adding 24 points, 16 boards, five blocked shots, two steals and two assists.

Dennis Tawhiti also had 17 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists for Perth with Jarrad Prior scoring 14 points.

Ben Smith starred for the Magic with 29 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 11-of-19 from the field.

Captain Taylor Mullenax added another 20 points and six rebounds for Mandurah with Rhett Della Maddalena scoring 20 points and Daniel Florance 12.

Seb Salinas again led the way for the Wolves with 30 points, six assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Rob Huntington also added 23 points and six rebounds on the back of shooting 10-of-14 from the floor with Ephrem Davis adding 15 points and nine rebounds, Rhys Smith 13 points, five boards and four assists, and Sean Easther 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

Austin Bruton top-scored for Stirling with 21 points with Josh Throns contributing 17 points, Ryan Woodbury 14, Jordan Wild 14 (20 rebounds), Thomas Witts 13 and Ashley Litterick 10.

Clive Weeden top-scored for the Slammers with 27 points and 11 rebounds with Trent Worthington adding 16 points and Ty Harrelson 14 points and five rebounds.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 98 lost to Stirling Senators 101
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 102 lost to Lakeside Lightning 112
Perry Lakes Hawks 102 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 121

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 113 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 106
Mandurah Magic 100 lost to Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 109
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 108 defeated Joondalup Wolves 105
Willetton Tigers 83 lost to Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 90

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 90 lost to Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 95
Joondalup Wolves 98 lost to Mandurah Magic 101
Perth Redbacks 98 lost to Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 100
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 84 lost to Stirling Senators 106

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Seb Komatsu