IT IS a full weekend of men's SBL action heading into the All-Star game on Monday headlined by the Cockburn Cougars and Mandurah Magic battling over fourth spot on Friday night, and the Joondalup Wolves looking to hold on to top position against the Perth Redbacks and Goldfields Giants.

The weekend's action begins with two matches on Friday night with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns taking on the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Ray Owen Sports Centre and the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars playing the Mandurah Magic at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Both Friday night men's SBL matches tip-off at 8.30pm.

Then on Saturday night there are four men's SBL matches starting with two at 7.30pm with the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers playing the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames at Active West Stadium, and the Lakeside Lightning facing the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers then face the Perry Lakes Hawks at Willetton Basketball Stadium at 8pm, and the Perth Redbacks battle the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves at Curtin Stadium at 8.30pm.

And finally on Sunday prior to the All-Star game on Monday at Bendat Basketball Stadium there are two matches, with the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves playing the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Joondalup Basketball Stadium at midday, and the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers host the Stirling Senators at Eaton Recreation Centre at 8pm.

The Week 12 action begins on Friday night with the Suns and Eagles meeting in a clash that could end up going a long way to deciding which teams ends up finishing on the bottom come the end of the 2015 season, but neither side will be thinking that way coming into the contest.

The defending champion Eagles ended their 13-game losing streak to record their second win of the season last Friday night beating the Lakeside Lightning while the Eastern Suns also sit on a 2-12 record and have lost their last three matches.

Seva Chan and Lien Phillip from the Eastern Suns, and Sunday Dech from the Eagles will all then team up on Monday in the All-Star game at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The Cougars and Magic are among two of the most in-form teams in the SBL at the moment and meet in what should be a crucial, and tantalising contest on Friday night as well.

Cockburn has been the great surprise packet of the 2015 season to date and the Cougars are now on a four-game winning streak to have improved to a 9-6 record while the Magic have won three of their last four games to currently be sitting in fourth spot at 10-5.

Both teams are coming into the contest off impressive wins as well with Cockburn having comfortably beaten the Eastern Suns 124-105 last Friday night while the Magic beat the Slammers 109-106 in a thriller also on Friday.

The two teams met earlier this season back in Week 6 and it was a tight affair with the Magic ending up prevailing 114-109 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre so everything points to a similarly close battle this Friday night.

Gavin Field and Najee Lane from the Cougars, and Taylor Mullenax will then all be teaming up come Monday as part of the South Team in the All-Star game. Ben Smith is unavailable to play despite being selected due to being in the United States.

Then on Saturday night, the Buccaneers host the Flames in what looms as another terrific contest between two teams inside the top eight.

Despite beating the Hawks last Saturday night by 17 points, the Buccs still dropped top spot in the standings to the Wolves but they remain on a three-game winning run and an impressive 13-2 record coming into the clash at home against the Flames.

Rockingham has now found some good form again of late having won three of its last four matches including a nail-biting two-point victory over the Redbacks on the road last Friday.

The Buccaneers and Flames did play already earlier this season with the Buccs scoring a 99-88 victory at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Bennie Lewis, Carter Cook and Mat Wundenberg will then all back up on Monday playing in the All-Star game for the North Team while Taylor Land will play for the South Team from the Flames.

The Lightning and Giants are currently locked in a battle over eighth position on the standings and they meet at Lakeside on Saturday night.

Lakeside and Goldfields come into the clash both holding a 5-9 record so it's a crucial match up with the Lightning entering on a three-game losing run including two last weekend at the hands of Eagles and Wolves.

The Giants, meanwhile, have now won five of their last six matches to be building some impressive form and now they can enter the top eight for the first time not only this season, but in several years with a win over the Lightning on Saturday night.

Jordan Swing deserves to be considered a genuine MVP candidate so far this season for his performances with the Lightning and he deservedly will then take place in the All-Star game for the South Team on Monday along with Jarrad Prue.

The Tigers and Hawks then also play one another on Saturday night with each of them coming off losses and looking to return to the winner's list heading into the All-Star game.

Willetton has now lost four of its last five games following an outstanding start to the season under new coach Alan Black, but the Tigers have now slipped to a 9-6 record to have fallen to sixth position in the standings and now looking to start getting things back on track.

Perry Lakes, meanwhile, saw a two-game winning run come to an in Geraldton last Saturday night and now the Hawks will look to improve on their 4-10 record against the Tigers to remain in touch for a top eight berth.

Willetton and Perry Lakes met back in Week 8 with the Tigers scoring a narrow 96-90 victory at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Kyle Armour and Nic Cody will both then line-up on Monday in the All-Star game for the South Team while Perry Lakes won't have a representative after Bryton Hobbs became unavailable due to an ankle injury.

The final match on Saturday night then pits the Redbacks up against the Wolves with Perth looking to stay in touch for eighth spot and Joondalup out to consolidate top position.

The Redbacks lost narrowly by two points to the Flames last Friday night to see them fall to a 5-10 record to remain out of a playoff berth while the Wolves beat the Senators by eight points and Lightning by 14 last weekend to replace the Buccaneers on top of the standings.

The Redbacks and Wolves met earlier this season with Joondalup scoring a 14-point victory over Perth at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

And on Sunday, the Wolves back up their clash with the Redbacks from Saturday night against a Giants team who would have also played the Lightning the previous night.

The two teams met back in Week 3 with the Wolfpack winning 111-101 in Kalgoorlie but the Giants are a vastly improved team since then.

Giants stars Mathiang Muo and Jay Bowie might not have been selected as part of the South Team in Monday's All-Star game, but Jacob Holmen has been and he will be representing Goldfields for the occasion with Rob Huntington, Kevin Davis, Seb Salinas and Trian Iliadis to be part of the North Team.

The final match of the weekend then takes place on Sunday evening with the Slammers hosting the Senators with both teams making their only appearances of the weekend.

The Slammers come into the match having now lost two straight matches to the Redbacks and Magic to see them fall from first to third position with a 12-3 record while the Senators have lost five straight to be 5-9 and in ninth spot coming into the weekend.

The Slammers and Senators met back in Week 3 this season with South West recording a 130-116 win over Stirling at Warwick Leisure Centre.

Tre Nichols and Brian Voelkel from the Slammers, and Kyle Lindbergh and Austin Bruton from the Senators will then all have a short turnaround to take part in Monday's All-Star game on opposing sides again.

WEEK 12 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars v Mandurah Magic, Wally Hagan Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers v Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames, Active West Stadium 7.30pm
Lakeside Lightning v Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, Lakeside Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers v Perry Lakes Hawks, Willetton Basketball Stadium 8pm
Perth Redbacks v Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves, Curtin Stadium 8.30pm

SUNDAY
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves v Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 12pm
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Bethanie Stirling Senators, Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin