THE Cockburn Cougars continue to be the men's SBL great surprise packets in 2015 having now won seven straight matches to be clear in fourth spot after upsetting the Geraldton Buccaneers to back up a win over the Lakeside Lightning in Week 13 action.

The Cougars beat both the Lightning and Buccs on the weekend to record a seventh straight victory to improve to a 12-6 record while their win over Geraldton also helped the Joondalup City Wolves to move a game clear on top of the standings.

In the four men's SBL matches on Friday night the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 99-93 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves had a big 105-77 win over the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Perth Redbacks also had a thumping 108-60 victory over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Curtin Stadium and the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars beat the Lakeside Lightning 98-87 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

There were four men's matches on Saturday night with the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers downing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 109-94 at Ray Owen Sports Centre and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants defeating the Mandurah Magic 121-92 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

Then the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 106-97 at Bendat Basketball Centre and the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles downed the Bethanie Stirling Senators 119-96 at Warwick Leisure Centre.

Finally on Sunday, the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars also beat the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 105-98 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The Week 13 men's action ended with the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (16-2) out on top of the standings ahead of the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers (15-3), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (13-4) and Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (12-6).

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (10-7) sit in fifth position ahead of the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames (10-7), Mandurah Magic (10-7) and Lakeside Lightning (6-10).

Outside the top eight are the Perth Redbacks (6-11), Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (6-11), Bethanie Stirling Senators (5-11), Perry Lakes Hawks (4-12), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (4-13) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-15).

Across the three days of action and nine matches, there were some outstanding individual performances as well starting on Friday night with Ryan Godfrey having a terrific game for the Flames with 29 points and five rebounds while hitting 6-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc.

Cooper Land contributed 23 points and 14 boards for Rockingham with Taylor Land adding 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Travis Moore also finished with seven points and six rebounds for the Flames, and Andrew Bowman six points, five boards and five assists.

Brian Voelkel again worked hard all night for the Slammers with a triple-double made up of 22 points, 23 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals.

Clive Weeden added 17 points and seven rebounds for South West with Ty Harrelson contributing 14 points, eight boards and four assists, and Trent Worthington 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Again it was an even contribution spread across the board that was the key to the strong performance from the Wolves with Trian Iliadis leading the way with 23 points, eight assists and five rebounds while hitting 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Kevin Davis also added 21 points, 14 rebounds, four steals, three blocked shots and two assists for the Wolfpack with captain Seb Salinas contributing 20 points and five boards.

Louis Timms made another solid contribution with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists with Rob Huntington adding 10 points, six boards and three assists, and Joel Questel eight points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 20 points while Kyle Armour added 13 points and seven rebounds, Ephrem Davis 12 points and six boards, and Andrew Black 11 points.

Marshall Brown came up big for Redbacks finishing the night with 30 points and nine rebounds while shooting 13-of-21 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point territory.

Fellow import Ray Turner added 24 points and 12 boards for Perth with Ashley Stephens adding 10 points and six rebounds, Dennis Tawhiti nine points, Ezra Nikora eight points and Joel Wagner seven to go with 10 assists.

Seva Chan top-scored for the Suns with 21 points while Kevin Anthony added 12 points and five rebounds, and Lien Phillip nine points and eight boards.

Eric Millam was again the star of the night for the Cougars finishing up with 32 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 12-of-19 from the floor.

Gavin Field also made a strong contribution for Cockburn with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists with Najee Lane adding 16 points, 15 boards, six assists and three steals, and Julian Pesava 13 points.

Jordan Swing top-scored for the Lightning with 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists with Tom Parkinson adding 17 points and five boards, Luke Thomas 14 points and nine boards, and Jarrad Prue five points and 14 rebounds.

Then on Saturday night, Bennie Lewis led the way for the Buccaneers with 30 points and 11 rebounds while Aaron Ralph also had a big night scoring 30 points to go with eight boards.

Carter Cook also made sure Geraldton came away with the victory finishing with 26 points, 14 rebounds and four assists while shooting 9-of-14 from the field.

Daniel Thomas added seven points and nine assists for the Buccs and Mat Wundenberg six points and 15 rebounds.

Lien Phillip top-scored for the Suns with 24 points, 19 rebounds and six assists while Seva Chan finished with 19 points and eight assists, and Kevin Anthony 18 points and five boards. Geordie Murray added 18 points as well for Kalamunda.

Jay Bowie led the way for the Giants with 29 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists on the back of shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point territory.

Mathiang Muo contributed 20 points and six boards as well for Goldfields while Jacob Holmen finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Russell Hurst 16 points and four boards, Edin Zunic 10 points and five rebounds, and Brandon Hewitt-Holloway seven points and eight assists.

Paul Hafford top-scored for the Magic with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists with Ben Smith contributing 17 points and 12 boards, Rhett Della 11 points and Trent Gerovich 10.

Cooper Land led the way for the Flames finishing the night with 29 points and eight rebounds on the back of shooting 10-of-18 from the floor.

Ryan Godfrey contributed 20 points as well for Rockingham with Taylor Land adding 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals on the back of shooting 8-of-13 from the field.

Travis Moore added 16 points and six rebounds for the Flames and Jarryd Griffin 11 points and 12 boards.

Ben Dixon did all he could for the Hawks in the continued absence of the injured Bryton Hobbs with Dixon finishing the night with 25 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Ben Purser added 23 points and seven boards for Perry Lakes with Ryan Smith contributing 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, and Mike Krumel eight points, seven boards and four assists.

A host of Eagles players had massive nights as well in the win led by 32 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots from Rhys Vague who shot 13-of-21 from the field, and 3-of-6 from three-point territory.

Sunday Dech also added 28 points and 10 rebounds for East Perth with captain Drew Williamson contributing 25 points and eight assists, and playing-coach Joe-Alan Tupaea 14 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Kyle Lindbergh top-scored for the Senators with 21 points and 15 rebounds while Austin Bruton contributed 15 points, Cody Ellis 14 points (eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks), Ashley Litterick 13 points (seven rebounds, four assists) and Nikolas Iliadis 13 points.

And finally on Sunday, Gavin Field ended up being the star of the victory for the Cougars finishing the afternoon with 32 points, 10 rebounds and four assists on the back of shooting 9-of-21 from the field, 6-of-12 from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Najee Lane also put in a strong performance for Cockburn with 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals while Eric Milam contributed 19 points and four boards hitting 8-of-14 from the field.

Steven Van Lit also added 11 points for the Cougars with Sheldon McIntyre finishing with seven points, 12 boards, five assists and three steals.

Bennie Lewis again did all he could for the Buccaneers top-scoring with 32 points to go with three rebounds and two assists with him shooting 10-of-22 from the floor, and 5-of-9 from three-point territory.

Carter Cook contributed 31 points and 10 boards as well for the Buccs while hitting 12-of-21 from the field with Aaron Ralph adding 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals, Daniel Thomas 12 points and Mat Wundenberg seven points to go with 12 rebounds, three rebounds.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 99 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 93
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 77 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 105
Perth Redbacks 108 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 60
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 98 defeated Lakeside Lightning 87

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 94 lost to S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 109
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 121 defeated Mandurah Magic 92
Perry Lakes Hawks 97 lost to Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 106
Bethanie Stirling Senators 96 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 119

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 105 defeated S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 98

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin