A MASSIVE night from Luke Nevill handed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns back-to-back wins this weekend in the SBL while the Suns' women also recorded a second crucial win this time over the Cockburn Cougars on Saturday night.

There were three women's matches on Saturday night with the Joondalup Wolves beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 77-64 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers beating the Schweigen East Perth Eagles 64-56 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns downing the Soprano Lady Cougars 95-55 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Wolves scored an important 13-point victory over the Hawks at home with the defending women's champions improving to an 11-4 record on the season in third position. It was another tough loss for the Hawks who now slip to 5-11 in 10th spot.

Alex Kerr had a huge night for the Wolves with 28 points and eight rebounds on the back of shooting 12-of-21 from the field.

Shani Amos also had 14 points and seven assists with Amy Kidner and Nikita-Lee Martin scoring 10 points apiece for Joondalup.

Sarah Donovan tried hard for the Hawks with 20 points while Lucy Stewart scored 13 points and Rosie Tobin contributed eight points, 11 boards, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

The Slammers then also recorded an important and hard fought eight-point over the Eagles with the result improving South West to 7-10 on the season in eighth position.

It was East Perth's second loss of the weekend having also lost to Mandurah on Friday night with the Eagles now falling to a 2-16 record having lost 12 matches on the trot after an encouraging start to the season.

Amy Patton led the way for the Slammers with 18 points, nine rebounds and four steals with Catherine Waycott adding 16 points, four boards and three steals. Brittany Gliddon and Lauren Jeffers both scored 13 points each for South West as well.

Stephanie Jones top-scored for the Eagles with 19 points and 10 rebounds with Jodee Sontay scoring 10 points and Dannielle Devenny collecting 10 rebounds.

The Eastern Suns and Cougars are two women's teams who had hopes of contending for a championship in 2014 but it was the runner's-up from last year who made a statement on Saturday night.

Backing up handing the Rockingham Flames their first loss of the season on Friday night, the Suns handed the Cougars a 40-point hammering at home on Saturday.

That result sees Kalamunda improve to 11-7 on the season in sixth position but equal on wins with the third-placed Joondalup Wolves.

Meanwhile it was Cockburn's second loss of the weekend having also gone down to the Stirling Senators on Friday with the Cougars now slipping to an 8-9 record in seventh position to be three games behind the sixth-placed Suns.

Alison Schwagmeyer once again led the way for the Eastern Suns with 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Jessie Edwards added 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Suns with Sarah-Jane Knox scoring 11 points and Chelsea Armstrong 11.

Emma Pass top-scored for the Cougars with 17 points and nine rebounds with Marita Payne working hard for another 16 points, 10 boards and four blocked shots.

It was a huge night of men's action with five matches spread across the state starting with the Willetton Tigers upsetting the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers at Active West Stadium 115-106.

The Stirling Senators also beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 98-93 at Warwick Leisure Centre and the Joondalup Wolves scored a crucial 111-107 win over the Perry Lakes Hawks at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles also won an important game beating the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 104-83 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns downed the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 118-103 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Tigers might be out of the playoff race but scored a big upset in Geraldton on Saturday night to beat the Buccaneers by nine points.

The result snapped the Buccaneers' nine-match winning run but with the Rockingham Flames losing to the Suns on Friday night, the Buccs do remain a game clear on top of the men's standings with a 16-4 record.

It was an impressive win for the Tigers but it only improves them to a 7-11 record down in 12th position.

Quinn McDowell was the star of the night for the Tigers with 46 points, 11 rebounds and five assists on the back of shooting 14-of-18 from the field, 5-of-6 from three-point range and 13-of-15 from the foul line.

Fellow import John Dickson also added 22 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots while Jake Burston scored 15 points and Mitchell Clarke 14.

Bennie Lewis finished with 28 points for the Buccaneers with Carter Cook also contributing 28 points and Matt Wundenberg adding 19 points and 16 rebounds. Aaron Ralph also finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Senators took care of the bottom-placed Giants by five points at home with Stirling improving to 10-9 and up to seventh position as a results while Goldfields remains on the bottom on 3-16.

Josh Throns top-scored for the Senators with 24 points while hitting 4-of-8 from three-point range.

Jordan Wild also added 21 points, 18 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for the Senators while Austin Bruton added 18 points and Cody Ellis 16 to go with 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

Duran Blue tried hard for the Giants finishing with 27 points with Adrian Majstrovich adding 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Lordan Franich also had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Goldfields with Matthew Leske finishing with 10 points, four boards and four assists.

The Wolves won a four-point thriller at home over the Hawks to see last year's runner-up improve to a 10-9 record in fifth position while Perry Lakes falls to 8-11 down in 11th.

Six Joondalup players scored in double-figures led by 22 points from Trian Iliadis who shot 9-of-15 from the field.

Seb Salinas also scored 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals with Ephrem Davis adding 20 points and 16 rebounds.

Rob Huntington also contributed 19 points and seven rebounds, Sean Esther 12 points and Ben Ironmonger 10 points.

Ben Purser had a terrific night for the Hawks with 31 points, eight rebounds and five assists on the back of shooting 12-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line.

Corey Easley also scored 19 points for Perry Lakes with Justin Cecil adding 18 points, Rob Cassir 14 and Josh Garlepp 12.

The Eagles were big winners to the tune of 21 points over the Slammers at home with East Perth's good form continuing that now sees them improve to an 11-10 record while South West has slipped outside of the top eight on 10-10.

Tom Jervis again top-scored for the Eagles with 24 points and eight rebounds while Austin Kisselev contributed 21 points, Sunday Dech 15 and Mathiang Muo 15.

Markus Monroe top-scored for the Slammers with 28 points and 10 rebounds with Clive Weeden contributing 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Jonathan Todd Hendley 14 points and 10 boards.

The Eastern Suns then backed up their impressive and thumping win over the Rockingham Flames on Friday night to also beat the Cougars by 15 points at home on Saturday night.

The weekend improves the Suns to a 5-15 record on the season to now be two games clear of bottom spot. It's also Cockburn's second loss of the weekend having also lost to Stirling on Friday. The Cougars have now slipped to a 9-12 record down in 10th position in the standings.

Luke Nevill had an incredible night for the Eastern Suns with 48 points, 22 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots on the back of shooting 13-of-19 from the field, 5-of-7 from three-point territory and 7-of-11 from the foul line.

He had superb support from Ben Smith as well who finished with 34 points while Adhar Mayen added 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Damien Scott did all he could for the Cougars with 37 points and seven rebounds with Gavin Field adding 24 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two blocks.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Joondalup Wolves 77 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 64
Schweigen East Perth Eagles 56 lost to Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 64
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 95 defeated Soprano Lady Cougars 55

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 106 lost to Willetton Tigers 115
Stirling Senators 98 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 93
Joondalup Wolves 111 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 107
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 104 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 83
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 118 defeated Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 103

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin