THE Stirling Senators and Perry Lakes must win their double-header weekends in Week 17 of the men's SBL competition if they want to remain in the playoff race for 2014.

The Senators take on the Cockburn Cougars and Kalamunda Eastern Suns on the weekend needing to win both to break back into the top eight while the Perry Lakes Hawks can't avoid any slip-ups to come from 11th spot to make it and that has to start with wins against the Willetton Tigers and East Perth Eagles this weekend.

The weekend of men's action begins with two matches tipping off at 8.30pm on Friday night with the Mandurah Magic playing the Lakeside Lightning at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre and the Perry Lakes Hawks facing the Willetton Tigers at the WA Basketball Centre.

The Magic can close to within one game of the third-placed Lightning with a win over the defending champions on Friday night.

Mandurah currently sits in fifth position in the standings on a 12-9 record and is on an impressive four-match winning streak while Lakeside sits in third spot at present on 14-8.

The two teams met earlier this season back in Week 10 with the Lightning winning on that occasion comfortably 118-100 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Hawks are only just in the playoff race but they must beat the out of contention Tigers at home on Friday.

Perry Lakes currently sits on an 8-12 record in 11th position while Willetton are unlikely to play finals but remain a dangerous team with a 7-12 record.

Willetton and Perry Lakes played previously this season in Week 4 with the Hawks scoring an impressive and high-scoring 132-112 victory at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

It is then a huge Saturday night of action beginning with the two regional fixtures at 7.30pm with the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants facing the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium and the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers taking on the Perth Redbacks at Active West Stadium.

The remaining three matches all tip-off at 8pm with the Joondalup Wolves facing the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles playing the Perry Lakes Hawks at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and the Stirling Senators battling the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars at Warwick Leisure Centre.

The bottom-placed Giants hosts the second-placed Flames on Saturday night but Goldfields are a much better team than their 3-18 record suggests and despite the fact they are on a five-match losing run.

Rockingham, meanwhile, has now also lost two consecutive matches despite still sitting in second spot on the ladder with a 15-7 record.

Despite the fact that the match is second top against bottom, their earlier meeting this season was a competitive affair with Rockingham only managing to win 95-85 at home over Goldfields.

The league-leading Buccaneers then host a Redbacks team in fourth position and looking to stay there.

Geraldton sits two games clear on top of the standings with a 17-4 record while Perth is fourth on 12-9 but needs to keep winning.

The Redbacks will remain safe in fourth with a win on Saturday night, but could even fall outside of the eight altogether with a loss and depending on other results across the weekend.

The two teams met back In Week 12 at the WA Basketball Centre and it was one of the matches of the season to date with the Buccaneers prevailing in a thriller 100-98 over the Redbacks.

The Wolves and Slammers are both not only locked in a battle to try to stay inside the top eight, but also are well and truly in contention for fourth position as well.

Joondalup enters the weekend on an 11-10 record and South West is on 12-10 so the winner of Saturday night's clash could close in on a top four spot while the loser could find themselves out of the top eight altogether following Week 17 of the 2014 season.

The two teams played earlier this season in Week 11 with the Slammers prevailing 97-88 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Hawks then back up their clash with Willetton on Friday night by facing another must-win clash with the in-form Eagles on Saturday night.

East Perth has now won three of its last four games to improve to a 12-10 record to remain a strong chance of ending up in the top four while Perry Lakes simply needs to win to keep its season alive.

East Perth and Perry Lakes did battle back in Week 6 at the WA Basketball Centre with the Hawks winning that contest 90-80.

The Senators and Cougars come into Week 17 outside top eight and needing to win to keep their playoff hopes in 2014 alive.

Stirling sits in ninth position with an 11-10 record while Cockburn is in 10th on 9-13 meaning that both need to start stringing wins together if they hope to take part in post-season action.

The Senators and Cougars met only recently in Week 15 with Stirling winning that game 121-111 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The round then concludes at 2pm on Sunday afternoon with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns playing the Stirling Senators at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Senators simply must beat the second-bottom Eastern Suns.

The Suns and Senators last met way back in Week 4 and it was Kalamunda who scored the upset 125-116 win over Stirling on that occasion at Warwick Leisure Centre.

WEEK 17 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Mandurah Magic v Lakeside Lightning, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Willetton Tigers, WA Basketball Centre 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers v Perth Redbacks, Active West Stadium 7.30pm
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants v Orange Autos Rockingham Flames, Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
Joondalup Wolves v Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8pm
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles v Perry Lakes Hawks, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 8pm
Stirling Senators v Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars, Warwick Leisure Centre 8pm

SUNDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Stirling Senators, Ray Owen Sports Centre 2pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Deprimo Photography