GERALDTON, Rockingham and Perth look secure in the top three men's positions following Week 19 of the 2014 SBL campaign but the battle between fourth and ninth is now fascinating heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

The Buccaneers are a game clear on top of the standings with the Flames then a game clear in second and the Redbacks another game clear in third.

That's where it gets interesting, though, with the Lightning and Senators on 15 wins, and the Wolves, Eagles and Slammers on 14 to make up the top eight while the Magic sits just outside with 13 but with the chance to end up on 15 as the only team of the top nine with two games next weekend.

Friday night's results saw the Stirling Senators beat the Lakeside Lightning 114-105 at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 105-98 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Perth Redbacks down the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 107-102 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Then on Saturday night, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers beat the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 104-102 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants upset the Mandurah Magic 116-111 at Kambalda Recreation Centre.

The Perth Redbacks also defeated the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 91-79 at Belmont Oasis and the Joondalup Wolves downed the Willetton Tigers 121-111 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

There were then the two men's matches on Sunday afternoon with the league-leading Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers thumping the Willetton Tigers 139-92 at Willetton Basketball Stadium and the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 92-78 at the WA Basketball Centre.

The weekend's results leave the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers (18-7) a game clear on top of the men's standings with one match to go ahead of the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (17-8).

The Perth Redbacks (16-9) are then one game further back following a two-win weekend stretching their winning run to five.

The defending champion Lakeside Lightning (15-10) are then in fourth position just ahead of the Stirling Senators (15-10), Joondalup Wolves (14-11), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (14-11) and Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (14-11).

The Mandurah Magic (13-11) now sit outside the top eight after two straight losses but two games next weekend at home to the Tigers and away to the Slammers mean they aren’t yet out of playoff contention.

Then there are the out of playoff contention teams with the Perry Lakes Hawks (11-14) in 10th position followed by the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars (9-16), Willetton Tigers (8-16), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (6-19) and Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (4-21).

It was also a weekend for massive individual performances with four players hitting 40 or more points, another six scoring 30 or more and then 25 more players again scoring at least 20 points.

On Friday night, Jordan Wild led the way for the Senators with 28 points and 12 rebounds with Cody Ellis adding 23 points (nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks), Cory Cooperwood 22 (11 boards, seven assists) and Josh Throns 15.

Brad Tinsley had a massive night for the Lightning with 44 points, six assists and four rebounds while shooting 17-of-30 from the floor and 4-of-8 from downtown.

Caleb Palkert added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Lightning and Jarrad Prue 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Cooper Land finished with 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Flames with Jarryd Griffin contributing 23 points, seven boards and three assists while shooting 9-of-13 from the field, and 5-of-6 from three-point territory.

Travis Moore added 14 points and seven rebounds as well for Rockingham with Tom Remmerswaal contributing 10 points and six boards.

Corey Easley top-scored for the Hawks with 25 points with Justin Cecil adding 23 points, Ben Purser 15, Josh Garlepp 15 and Ryan O'Sullivan 10.

Stan Okoye had a huge night for the Redbacks with 42 points and 12 rebounds on the back of shooting 13-of-21 from the floor, 2-of-3 from downtown and 14-of-14 from the foul line.

Fellow import Lee Roberts also contributed 27 points and nine rebounds with Dennis Tawhiti contributing 19 points and eight boards.

Gavin Field did all he could for the Cougars with 41 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and two steals on the back of shooting 15-of-24 from the floor and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Seva Chan added 16 points for Cockburn, Damien Scott 14 and Anthony Borden 11.

Then on Saturday night, playing-coach Ty Harrelson led the way for the Slammers with 26 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds with Clive Weeden contributing 23 points and 11 boards, and Markus Monroe 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Bennie Lewis did all he could in a losing effort for the Buccaneers with 44 points while shooting 15-of-24 from the floor, 3-of-7 from three-point territory and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Carter Cook added 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Buccs and Matt Wundenberg 14 points and 20 rebounds.

Adrian Majstrovich came up huge for the Giants finishing with 37 points, 14 rebounds and three assists while shooting 14-of-25 from the field, 2-of-5 from three-point territory and 8-of-10 from long range.

Duran Blue was equally as influential for Goldfields with 37 points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals with Miles Tierney adding 17 points and Matthew Leske 13.

Paul Hafford top-scored for the Magic with 30 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and three steals with Rhett Della adding 26 points, 10 boards, seven assists and three steals.

Lee Roberts led the way for the Redbacks with 29 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks, three steals and three assists with Jarrad Prior contributing 14 points, Stan Okoye 12 and Marshall Nelson 11. Joel Wagner also finished with seven points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Kyle Armour tried hard for the Eagles with 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals with Jamie Barnett contributing 12 points and Drew Williamson 10.

Four players all had at least 19 points for the Wolves with Trian Iliadis leading the way with 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Ephrem Davis added 24 points and seven boards for Joondalup with Seb Salinas finishing with 23 points and 13 boards, Rob Huntington 19 points and 13 rebounds, and the star of The Recruit on Foxtel, Reece Maxwell 11 points.

John Dickson did all he could for the Tigers with 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots with Quinn McDowell adding 26 points, Jacob Reed 16 and Jake Burston 15.

And finally on Sunday, the Buccaneers came out on fire with 44 first quarter points, 85 first half points and then ending up with 139 for the match to beat the Tigers by 47 points.

Aaron Ralph starred for the Buccaneers with 36 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 13-of-23 from the field and 6-of-10 from three-point territory.

Bennie Lewis backed up his 44-point effort on Saturday night with another strong showing on Sunday with 29 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Carter Cook also contributed 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists for Geraldton with Jerrah Young adding 15 points, 11 boards and four steals.

Quinn McDowell top-scored for Willetton with 29 points, seven rebounds and four assists with John Dickson finishing with 18 points and 10 boards.

Justin Cecil led the way for Perry Lakes with 28 points and eight rebounds with Ben Purser scoring 20 points and Corey Easley contributing 19 points, 18 rebounds, eight assists and two blocked shots.

Ben Smith top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 32 points, six rebounds and three assists with Adhar Mayen adding 25 points, nine boards and four steals. Louis Timms also finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 105 lost to Stirling Senators 114
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 105 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 98
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 102 lost to Perth Redbacks 107

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 104 defeated Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 102
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 116 defeated Mandurah Magic 111
Perth Redbacks 91 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 79
Joondalup Wolves 121 defeated Willetton Tigers 111

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Willetton Tigers 92 lost to Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 139
Perry Lakes Hawks 92 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 78

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Vision Inspired Photography