THE Geraldton Buccaneers and Joondalup Wolves face potentially season-defining double-headers as part of Week 5 men's SBL action with both needing to back up on Sunday afternoon against one another after big matches on Saturday night.

The Buccaneers have now won their last five matches since losing in the opening round to the unbeaten South West Slammers and now this weekend take on the Rockingham Flames on Saturday night before backing up on Sunday against the Wolves.

The Wolfpack, meanwhile, are yet to taste defeat in four matches this season and now play the also unbeaten Slammers on Saturday night before hosting the Buccs on Sunday.

The men's Week 5 action gets underway with two matches on Friday night with both tipping off at 8.30pm with the Mandurah Magic hosting the Lakeside Lightning at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre and the Stirling Senators hosting the Perry Lakes Hawks at Warwick Leisure Centre.

It's then another jam packed schedule on Saturday night with five matches fixtured beginning at 7.30pm with the Rockingham Flames playing the Geraldton Buccaneers at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Goldfields Giants hosting the Perth Redbacks at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

Then at 8pm on Saturday night, the South West Slammers take on the Joondalup Wolves at Eaton Recreation Centre and the East Perth Eagles host the Willetton Tigers at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Saturday night's action then wraps up at 8.30pm at Ray Owen Sports Centre with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns playing the Cockburn Cougars.

And finally there are two matches on Sunday afternoon beginning at midday with the Joondalup Wolves hosting the Geraldton Buccaneers at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Lakeside Lightning playing the Rockingham Flames at Lakeside Recreation Centre at 4pm.

On Friday night, the Magic host the Lightning with Mandurah looking to improve on its 3-3 record from the first six matches of the season while Lakeside is looking to return to the winner's list after losing its last four matches since beating the Cougars to open the 2015 season.

The second match on Friday night then sees the Senators host the Hawks with Stirling looking to snap a four-game losing streak as well since opening the season with a win over the Redbacks.

Perry Lakes, meanwhile, lost its opening three games of the season but have won the last two over the Magic and Flames in impressive style to enter the clash with the Senators full of confidence.

Then on Saturday night, the Giants host the Redbacks in Kalgoorlie with Goldfields still hunting for its first win of the season following five losses while Perth is looking to build on its momentum following a strong win over the defending champion Eagles last weekend.

The Flames also host the Buccaneers on Saturday night in Rockingham. The Flames started their season with four straight victories before a loss to the Hawks last weekend while the Buccs have now won five straight games since losing to the Slammers to open the new year.

It is then on to the battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the men's SBL competition for 2015 when the Slammers host the Wolves in Eaton.

South West has opened the season in impressive fashion winning its opening seven matches over the Buccaneers, Lightning, Eagles, Senators, Eastern Suns, Magic and Giants by an average of almost 20 points.

Joondalup has won its opening four matches of the season as well beating the Tigers by 23 points, the Eastern Suns by 15 points, the Giants by 10 points and the Senators by 30 points.

With the Slammers team consisting of the likes of Tre Nichols, Ty Harrelson, Clive Weeden, Brian Voelkel and Trent Worthington, and the Wolves possessing Trian Iliadis, Seb Salinas, Rob Huntington, Kevin Davis, Ben Ironmonger and Damian Matacz it is sure to be a classic encounter.

The defending champion Eagles then host the Tigers and face another big task to try and stop a five-game losing streak.

East Perth opened the season in its championship defence with a win over the Hawks but the Eagles have since lost to the Flames, Slammers, Tigers, Cougars and Redbacks.

And their job doesn’t get any easier this Saturday up against a Willetton team who has won four of its five matches this season since Alan Black has taken over as coach.

The final match on Saturday night then pits the Eastern Suns up against the Cougars with Kalamunda searching for its second win for the season to improve on its 1-4 record while Cockburn has so far won three from six, and is attempting to improve to 4-3.

Then on Sunday afternoon, the action begins with the cracking contest between the Wolves and Buccaneers at Joondalup with both teams coming into the contest having played in pivotal matches on Saturday night as well.

And finally at 4pm on Sunday afternoon, the Lightning host the Flames at Lakeside with the Lightning having played the Magic on Friday night while the Flames will be coming off playing the Buccaneers at home on Saturday.

WEEK 5 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Mandurah Magic v Lakeside Lightning, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Stirling Senators v Perry Lakes Hawks, Warwick Leisure Centre 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Rockingham Flames v Geraldton Buccaneers, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 7.30pm
Goldfields Giants v Perth Redbacks, Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
South West Slammers v Joondalup Wolves, Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm
East Perth Eagles v Willetton Tigers, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 8pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Cockburn Cougars, Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm

SUNDAY
Joondalup Wolves v Geraldton Buccaneers, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 12pm
Lakeside Lightning v Rockingham Flames, Lakeside Recreation Centre 4pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Seb Komatsu