THE entire race to the playoffs in the men's SBL has now closed up following Week 18 with three teams still in contention for the minor premiership and six more battling over the remaining five finals positions with two rounds of the 2014 season to go.

The Week 18 fixtures saw all three home teams score impressive victories on Friday night as the Lightning and Senators further cemented their positions inside the top eight, and the Wolves kept their playoff hopes alive.

Then on Saturday, the Eagles beat the league-leading Buccaneers, the Redbacks thrashed the Slammers and the Wolves recorded their second win of the weekend to move back into the top eight.

With the Geraldton Buccaneers having lost two straight and the Rockingham Flames losing on the weekend, the defending champion Lakeside Lightning remain a chance for the minor premiership.

Meanwhile, the Perth Redbacks, East Perth Eagles, Stirling Senators, Mandurah Magic, Joondalup Wolves and South West Slammers are all fighting over the remaining five spots.

On Friday night, the Joondalup Wolves hammered the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 124-86 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium while the Lakeside Lightning beat the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 105-98 at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Stirling Senators beat the Willetton Tigers 119-104 at Warwick Leisure Centre.

The men's action on Saturday night then saw the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beat the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 101-96 at Active West Stadium and the Willetton Tigers win a 110-107 thriller over the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Perth Redbacks also beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 111-81 at Belmont Oasis with the Joondalup Wolves downing the Mandurah Magic 120-113 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Perry Lakes Hawks beating the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 103-82 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The round then concluded on Sunday with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns beating the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 98-75 at Ray Owen Sports Centre

The weekend's results leave the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers (17-6) on top of the standings but only narrowly ahead of the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (16-8) and Lakeside Lightning (15-9).

The Perth Redbacks (14-9) then remain fourth ahead of the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (14-10), Stirling Senators (14-10), Mandurah Magic (13-10), Joondalup Wolves (13-11) and Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (13-11).

Then there are the out of contention teams with the Perry Lakes Hawks (10-13), Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars (9-15), Willetton Tigers (8-14), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (6-18) and Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (3-21).

There were again plenty of starring individual performances across the weekend as well.

Seb Salinas top-scored for the Wolves on Friday night with 19 points and 11 rebounds on the back of shooting 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from long range.

Trian Iliadis also scored 18 points to go with five rebounds and four assists for Joondalup with Reece Maxwell adding 15 points, Ephrem Davis 15, Sean Easther 15 and Rob Huntington 12.

Ben Smith top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists with Louis Timms adding 20 points and Adhar Mayen 15.

Brad Tinsley led the way for the Lightning finishing the night with 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals.

Jesse Dixon added 18 points for Lakeside, Steven Butler 17, Caleb Palkert 12, Chris Sofoulis 12 and Jarrad Prue 10 to go with 26 rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals.

Tom Remmerswaal top-scored for the Flames with 20 points while Travis Moore added 16 points (11 rebounds), Ryan Godfrey 15, Andrew Bowman 13 (nine rebounds, nine assists), Taylor Land 13 (13 rebounds, six assists) and Luke Roberts 10.

Cody Ellis again led the way for the Senators with 29 points on the back of shooting 11-of-14 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point territory.

Jordan Wild added 27 points and 20 rebounds also for Stirling while shooting 11-of-14 from the field as well with Cory Cooperwood terrific with 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Josh Throns contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Senators with Austin Bruton scoring 10 points as he celebrated his 250th match in the SBL in style.

Tom Witts also celebrated his 200th SBL appearance with the win and contributing six points and a rebound in 17 minutes of court time.

Quinn McDowell did all he could to try and get Willetton over the line finishing with 31 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on the back of shooting 13-of-19 from the field and 4-of-6 from downtown.

John Dickson contributed 21 points and eight rebounds as well for the Tigers with Jake Burston and Mitch Clarke adding 12 points apiece.

Then on Saturday night, the Eagles scored the win without Tom Jervis as well with Mathiang Muo finishing up with 25 points and Kyle Armour 25 as well to go with eight assists and five rebounds.

Nikola Donlagic also added 17 points, four rebounds and three assists for East Perth while hitting a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point territory. Drew Williamson added 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds as well.

Bennie Lewis did all he could for the Buccaneers with 37 points and five rebounds with Carter Cook contributing 23 points, Shamus Ballantyne 14 and Jerrah Young 10 to go with 11 rebounds, seven blocked shots, two assists and two steals.

John Dickson was the star of the night for Willetton finishing with 33 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and two steals on the back of shooting 15-of-24 from the floor, and 2-of-3 from downtown.

Quinn McDowell also added 25 points and 13 rebounds for Willetton while Jacob Reed contributed 21 points and Hayden Noordhoek 12.

Adrian Majstrovich had his biggest game of the season since joining the Giants with 41 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on the back of shooting 15-of-29 from the floor and 4-of-8 from long range.

Russell Hurst added 22 points and 13 rebounds for Goldfields with Matthew Leske contributing 16 points and Miles Tierney 12.

Stan Okoye top-scored for the Redbacks with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two assists with Joel Wagner contributing 20 points, six boards and five assists, Lee Roberts 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Jarrad Jackson 15 points.

Trent Worthington top-scored for the Slammers with 21 points with Markus Monroe adding 17 points, Ty Harrelson 14 (nine rebounds, six assists) and Clive Weeden 11.

Seb Salinas had yet another massive night for the Wolves with 37 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Trian Iliadis contributed 22 points for the Wolves, Ephrem Davis 20 and Rob Huntington 14 to go with 13 rebounds.

Taylor Mullenax top-scored for the Magic with 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks with Ben Smith adding 26 points and 18 rebounds.

Paul Hafford added 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals with Rhett Della finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Perry Lakes improved to a 10-13 record with the victory but still sit three games out of the eight with three games remaining in the season. Cockburn has now slipped to 9-15 in 11th position.

Justin Cecil led the way for the Hawks with 28 points with Ben Purser adding 25 points, Corey Easley 16 (11 rebounds, eight assists, three blocked shots) and Josh Garlepp 11 (nine boards).

Gavin Field top-scored for the Cougars with 18 points and eight rebounds with Jaarod Holmes adding 13 points, Rhys Vague 11 and Anthony Borden 10. Damien Scott had just three points and four assists.

And on Sunday, Louis Timms had a breakout game for the Eastern Suns with 42 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots on the back of shooting 19-of-28 from the field and 2-of-4 from downtown.

Adhar Mayen added 18 points, 11 boards and seven assists for the Suns with Ben Smith scoring 17 points and Kerrod Horn 11.

Adrian Majstrovich top-scored for the Giants with 28 points and nine rebounds with Matthew Leske adding 18 points.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Joondalup Wolves 124 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 86
Lakeside Lightning 105 defeated Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 98
Stirling Senators 119 defeated Willetton Tigers 104

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 96 lost to Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 101
Willetton Tigers 110 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 107
Perth Redbacks 111 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 81
Mandurah Magic 113 lost to Joondalup Wolves 120
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 82 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 103

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 98 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 75

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography