THE Geraldton Buccaneers, Perth Redbacks, Lakeside Lightning and East Perth Eagles are all into the SBL men's semi finals for 2014 after securing their quarter final series' on the weekend highlighted by an epic triple-overtime contest between the Lightning and Senators.

The Perth Redbacks wrapped up their quarter final series two-nil with a win over Mandurah Magic on Friday night while the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beat the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames in three games and the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers overcame the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers in two.

However, it was Game 3 between the Lakeside Lightning and Stirling Senators on Saturday night that stole the show with three overtime periods needed before eventually the defending champion Lightning prevailed to advance to the semi finals.

There were three men's Game 2 quarter final matches on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks wrapping up their series with the Mandurah Magic with a 116-94 victory at Belmont Oasis.

The other two games saw the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 81-78 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex to force a Game 3 and the Lakeside Lightning defeating the Stirling Senators 112-99 at Lakeside Recreation Centre to also force a decider.

There was just the one men's Game 2 quarter final match up on Saturday night and that saw the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers win their way straight into the semi finals with a thrilling 93-92 win over the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Active West Stadium.

The other two Saturday night's men's fixtures were deciding Game 3 matches with the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beating the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 92-81 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Lakeside Lightning prevailing over the Stirling Senators 150-144 in an amazing triple-overtime epic at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Those results mean that the semi finals for 2014 pits the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers up against the Lakeside Lightning while the Perth Redbacks face the East Perth Eagles.

Friday night saw the Redbacks move straight into the semi finals by winning their Game 2 over a Magic team coming off a drama-filled week that included the parting of ways with coach Jason Chalk.

Perth opened up an 11-point lead by quarter-time and then led 59-47 at half-time before cruising to the eventual 22-point victory.

Despite finishing in seventh position at the end of the regular season, the Eagles won Game 1 against the Flames last week meaning the second-seeded Rockingham had to win on Friday night and did so in a low-scoring thriller by three points.

The Lightning needed to beat the Senators at home on Friday night to force a deciding Game 3 and that's exactly what the defending men's champions did coming away with a 13-point victory.

And on Saturday night, after the Buccaneers finished the regular season as the minor premiers in the men's SBL and took on the No. 8 seed Slammers in the quarter finals, they secured a 2-0 series win with a thrilling one-point win at home on Saturday night.

While the series was a lot tougher than the sweep suggests, it means that the Buccaneers now advance to take on the Lakeside Lightning in the semi finals.

Rockingham might have been vying for the minor premiership throughout most of 2014 and finished the regular season in second position in the standings, but the season for the Flames is now over after the No. 7 seed East Perth won Game 3 on Saturday night in Rockingham by 11 points.

The Lightning and Senators played out a Game 3 quarter final for the ages on Saturday night with three overtime periods needed before eventually it was the defending champion Lakeside who prevailed by six points in a match featuring 294 points between the two teams.

The result means that the Lightning win the series over the Senators 2-1 to now book in a semi final match up with the Geraldton Buccaneers.

There were again some stunning individual performances across Friday and Saturday night especially in the triple overtime classic, but not limited to that.

On Friday night, Lee Roberts was the star for the Redbacks with 34 points, 16 rebounds and four assists with Stan Okoye contributing 28 points and nine rebounds.

Taylor Mullenax did all he could again for the Magic with 19 points and 11 rebounds with Rhett Della adding 15 points, Ben Smith 14, Brendan Della 14 and Daniel Florance 14.

Cooper Land top-scored for the Flames with 25 points and 11 rebounds with Ryan Godfrey contributing 17 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Tom Jervis had another good night for the Eagles after dominating last week's Game 1 finishing with 23 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Brad Tinsley was the star of the show for Lakeside with 34 points and 10 assists on the back of shooting 4-of-8 from three-point territory.

Caleb Palkert also contributed 28 points and nine rebounds for the Lightning while Steve Butler finished with 16 disposals and Jesse Dixon 13.

Jarrad Prue also finished with another six points, 24 rebounds and four assists on the night his 300th SBL appearance was celebrated.

Jordan Wild did all he could for the Senators with 31 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while shooting 9-of-17 from the field.

Cory Cooperwood added 25 points and nine boards for Stirling while Cody Ellis had a good night with 23 points and eight boards. Josh Throns also had 12 points, six assists and four rebounds.

Then on Saturday night, Aaron Ralph led the way for the Buccaneers with 29 points and 16 rebounds while Bennie Lewis contributed 25 points and Carter Cook 14.

Markus Monroe top-scored for the Slammers with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Clive Weeden scored 17 points (eight rebounds), Trent Worthington 14, Wade Hitchcock 13, Jason Smith 12 and Ty Harrelson finished with another triple-double as playing coach with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.

Perth Wildcats championship-winning centre and reigning NBL Rookie of the Year Tom Jervis again led the way for the Eagles with 22 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots while hitting 8-of-13 from the field.

Kyle Armour also finished with 20 points and six assists for East Perth, Drew Williamson 16 points, Austin Kisselev 16 points and eight rebounds, and Joe-Alan Tupaea 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Cooper Land top-scored for the Flames with 22 points and eight rebounds with Ryan Godfrey adding 14 points. Taylor Land added eight points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Brad Tinsley became the only player of the 2014 SBL season to break the 50-point barrier in the triple-overtime contest finishing with 56 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Lightning on the back of shooting 17-of-33 from the field, 4-of-8 from downtown and 18-of-21 from the charity stripe in 52 minutes of court time.

Chris Sofoulis spent 55 minutes on the floor and finished with 28 points, nine assists and eight rebounds with Caleb Palkert contributing 14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in 58 minutes.

Brad Jackson and Jesse Dixon also scored 20 points each for Lakeside while Jarrad Prue had 10 points, 26 rebounds and three blocks.

Cody Ellis played a game-high 59 minutes and finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for the Senators while Josh Throns top-scored with 42 points, seven rebounds and five assists on the back of shooting 15-of-29 from the field and 8-of-15 from three-point range.

Jordan Wild added 20 points and 11 rebounds for Stirling, Tom Witts 15 points, Austin Bruton 15 points, Ryan Woodbury 13 and Cory Cooperwood 11 to go with eight rebounds and seven assists.

The defending champion Lightning will host Game 1 against the minor premiers Buccaneers at Lakeside Recreation Centre this Saturday night at 7.30pm.

The seventh-seeded Eagles will also host Game 1 on Saturday against the on-fire third-seeded Redbacks at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

FRIDAY MEN'S QUARTER FINAL GAME 2 SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 81 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 78
Lakeside Lightning 112 defeated Stirling Senators 99
Perth Redbacks 116 defeated Mandurah Magic 94

SATURDAY MEN'S QUARTER FINAL GAME 2 SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 93 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 92

SATURDAY MEN'S QUARTER FINAL GAME 3 SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 150 defeated Stirling Senators 144
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 81 lost to Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 92

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin