THE East Perth Eagles, Rockingham Flames, Stirling Senators and Perth Redbacks all recorded impressive Game 1 quarter final men's SBL victories across the opening weekend of the 2014 playoffs.

The men's quarter finals began on Friday night with the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beating the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 102-91 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

Then on Saturday night, the Stirling Senators defeated the defending champion Lakeside Lightning 105-94 at Warwick Leisure Centre while the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 99-88 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Perth Redbacks defeated the Mandurah Magic 114-91 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Eagles finished the regular season in seventh position in the standings to mean they hosted Game 1 of the quarter-final series with the second-placed Flames.

And it was the Eagles who took a one-nil advantage following Friday night's 11-point victory.

Even though the Eagles led the contest 54-46 at half-time thanks to a 29 to 16 second quarter, the Flames took control after the main break with a dominant third period where they scored 32 points to just 16 from East Perth.

That saw Rockingham take a 78-70 lead into the final period, but the Eagles then dominated with 32 points to 13 to run out 11-point winners and now just need to win one of two matches at Rockingham's Mike Barnett Sports Complex next weekend to advance to the semi finals.

The defending men's champion Lakeside now has to win both its home matches next weekend against Stirling to remain alive in 2014 after the Senators recorded an 11-point victory on Saturday night.

After a tight first half with the Lightning going into the main break leading 59-54, the Senators put on a terrific third period with 31 points to 16 before then going on to win by 11 points.

The Buccaneers finished on top of the standings at the end of the regular season and travelled to Eaton on Saturday night, and put in a strong first three quarters to set up the eventual 11-point victory over the eighth-ranked Slammers.

The Redbacks recorded the most emphatic result of the weekend beating the Magic in Mandurah by 23 points on the back of a dominant second half where they outscored their opponent 53 points to 35.

There were again some tremendous individual performances as well highlighted by the efforts of Tom Jervis, Cory Cooperwood, Cody Ellis, Brad Tinsley, Carter Cook, Bennie Lewis, Ty Harrelson and Stan Okoye.

Kyle Armour led the way for East Perth finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists with Sunday Dech top-scoring with 20 points, seven boards, three assists and two blocked shots.

Tom Jervis was a dominant force for the Eagles with the Perth Wildcats championship-winning centre and reigning NBL Rookie of the Year returning to the line-up with an impressive 20 points, 23 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.

Another former Perth Wildcats championship winner Drew Williamson also contributed 19 points, five assists and four rebounds for East Perth.

Cooper Land top-scored for Rockingham with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three assists.

Ryan Godfrey added 18 points, five boards and five assists as well for the Flames while Taylor Land added 13 points and 10 rebounds, Andrew Bowman 13 points and Tom Remmerswaal 13.

Cory Cooperwood was terrific for the Senators with 26 points, eight rebounds and three assists while shooting 10-of-17 from the field.

Cody Ellis also had a terrific night with 26 points and six rebounds while shooting 9-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three-point territory.

Jordan Wild added 14 points and 13 rebounds for Stirling while Josh Throns had 12 points and six boards.

Brad Tinsley did all he could for the Lightning with 31 points on the back of shooting 11-of-24 from the field, and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Chris Sofoulis also scored 12 points for Lakeside, Jesse Dixon 12, Caleb Palkert 11 and Jarrad Prue 11 to go with 22 rebounds.

Carter Cook top-scored for Geraldton in impressive fashion with 32 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Bennie Lewis continued his strong form for the Buccaneers with 27 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

Aaron Ralph also added 17 points and six rebounds for Geraldton while Luke Wrensted finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Markus Monroe led the way for the Slammers with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals with Clive Weeden having a big night with 19 points and 19 boards.

Playing coach Ty Harrelson also put in a strong showing with a triple-double made up of 16 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds in 45 minutes of court time.

Wade Hitchcock also had 13 points and four rebounds for the Slammers with Trent Worthington contributing 13 points.

Stan Okoye was again the star of the night for the Redbacks with 29 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

Lee Roberts contributed 21 points, 16 rebounds and four assists with Jarrad Prior adding 16 points, Dennis Tawhiti 13 and Joel Wagner 13.

Magic captain Taylor Mullenax did all he could with 27 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals with Ben Smith finishing with 16 points and 12 boards.

Rhett Della contributed 14 points and seven rebounds while Daniel Florance also had 12 points, five assists and three boards.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 102 defeated Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 91

SATURDAY MEN'S QUARTER FINAL SBL MATCHES
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 88 lost to Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 99
Stirling Senators 105 defeated Lakeside Lightning 94
Mandurah Magic 91 lost to Perth Redbacks 114

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Elise Photography