Cougars keep winning; Wolves, Buccs shoot clear (Week 14 Men's SBL Wrap)

THE Cockburn Cougars kept winning to consolidate fourth position, the Willetton Tigers lost two more matches to just clinging to a spot in the top eight while the Joondalup Wolves and Geraldton Buccaneers have shot clear on top of the men's SBL after Week 14 of the 2015 season.

Despite the Wolves suffering a surprise loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday, they remain on top of the men's SBL just ahead of the Buccaneers with both teams now with a three-game gap on the reset of the competition.

Meanwhile, the South West Slammers have now lost four of their last five matches and the Willetton Tigers four of their last five but the Cockburn Cougars are in remarkable form with eight straight wins while the Goldfields Giants have put themselves right in the playoff hunt with good recent form.

In the three men's matches on Friday, the Lakeside Lightning beat the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 110-89 at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Perry Lakes Hawks defeated the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 97-71 at Bendat Basketball Centre and the Mandurah Magic downed the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 91-86 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Then there were five men's matches on Saturday night with the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Perth Redbacks 112-105 at Active West Stadium and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants defeating the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 118-113 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars scored a big 106-80 win over the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Bethanie Stirling Senators beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 90-88 at Warwick Leisure Centre and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeating the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 111-78 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

And the Week 14 men's action finished on Sunday afternoon with the Lakeside Lightning defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 105-93 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Week 14 results leave the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (17-3) sitting on top of the standings ahead of the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers (16-3), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (13-5) and Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (13-6).

The Mandurah Magic (11-7) now sit in fifth position followed by the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames (10-8), Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (10-9) and Lakeside Lightning (8-10).

The Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (7-11) are now closing in on a playoff berth in ninth position followed by the Bethanie Stirling Senators (6-11), Perth Redbacks (6-12), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (4-14) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-17).

There were again some superb individual performances starting on Friday night with Jordan Swing continuing his outstanding season for the Lightning with 27 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, two steals and two blocked shots on the back of shooting 11-of-20 from the floor.

Luke Thomas also contributed 20 points for Lakeside while Tom Parkinson finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, Brad Jackson 14 points, Jarrad Prue 14 points and 22 rebounds, and Jesse Dixon 10 points.

Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 29 points with Kyle Armour contributing 24 points and 10 assists, and Corey Easley 15 points. Ephrem Davis also had eight points and 12 rebounds for Willetton.

Bryton Hobbs returned from injury for the Hawks and led the way on the night with 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals while hitting 5-of-10 from three-point territory.

Ben Purser also had a good game for Perry Lakes finishing with 25 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and two steals while shooting well with 12-of-19 for the game.

Josh Garlepp contributed 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, Ryan Smith 11 points, four boards and three assists, and Mike Krumel 10 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

Trian Iliadis top-scored for the Wolves with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds while shooting well with 9-of-14 from the floor, and 4-of-7 from downtown.

Kevin Davis contributed 16 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots with Louis Timms adding seven points and 10 boards.

Ben Smith had a terrific night for the Magic with 29 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks on the back of nailing 12-of-24 from the field.

Paul Hafford also added 18 points, 10 boards and three assists for Mandurah while Taylor Mullenax contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals, Brendan Della 10 points and four assists, and Rhett Della six points, nine boards and four assists.

Playing-coach Joe-Alan Tupaea led the way for the Eagles finishing with 19 points and five rebounds on the back of shooting 9-of-12 from the floor.

Sunday Dech added 19 points, five assists and four boards as well for East Perth with Drew Williamson contributing 18 points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. Rhys Vague added eight points and 16 rebounds also for the Eagles.

On Saturday night, Bennie Lewis ended up top-scoring for the Buccaneers with 30 points, four rebounds and four assists while being on fire from beyond the three-point line hitting seven of his 11 attempts.

Carter Cook added 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks as well for the Buccs with Aaron Ralph contributing 22 points and nine boards.

Mat Wundenberg finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for Geraldton and Cory Cooperwood came back into the line-up and contributed 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks off the bench.

Ray Turner had a strong game for the Redbacks with 31 points and 12 rebounds with Joel Wagner adding 24 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, Marshall Nelson 15 points, Ben Smith 14 points and Raphiael Putney 10 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.

It was the Giants' three stars who all had massive nights to set up their victory with Jay Bowie leading the way with 36 points and five rebounds on the back of drilling 13-of-20 from the field.

Mathiang Muo added 28 points and nine boards as well for Goldfields while Jacob Holmen contributed 25 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Russell Hurst added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Giants as well.

Tre Nichols returned for the Slammers and top-scored for his team with 34 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals with Ty Harrelson contributing 22 points, eight assists and four boards.

Trent Worthington also had 10 points and five rebounds for South West while Brian Voelkel recorded yet another triple-double this time off the bench with 14 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists.

Eric Milam was outstanding for the Cougars with 28 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots while nailing 11-of-22 from the field.

Najee Lane also finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, five steals and three assists for Cockburn with Sheldon McIntyre contributing 15 points, nine boards, five assists and two steals, Gavin Field 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Julian Pesava nine points and six boards.

Ephrem Davis top-scored for the Tigers with 25 points and nine rebounds while shooting a supremely efficient 11-of-15 from the field.

Kyle Armour had 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals for Willetton while Damien Scott contributed 13 points, Andrew Black 10 and Corey Easley six to go with nine boards, four assists and three blocked shots.

The Senators had to come from behind to beat the Suns and were led by captain Cody Ellis who finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Kyle Lindbergh added 19 points, seven boards, five assists and four steals as well for Stirling with Nikolas Iliadis contributing 13 points, nine assists and four rebounds.

Jayden Coburn also provided some terrific scoring punch off the bench for the Senators with 19 points on the back of hitting 7-of-14 from the floor, and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Lien Phillip led the way for the Suns with 26 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and two steals with Kevin Anthony adding 23 points, nine boards, four blocked shots, two steals and two assists.

Jaarod Holmes contributed 15 points and five rebounds for the Eastern Suns and Seva Chan 12 points, nine assists and four boards.

Trian Iliadis had a terrific game for the Wolves finishing the night with 29 points and five assists on the back of shooting 11-of-21 from the field.

Kevin Davis added 21 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots as well for the Wolfpack while Louis Timms contributed 12 points, five boards, four blocks and three steals, and Damian Matacz 11 points.

Rob Huntington also had seven points, 12 rebounds and three assists for Joondalup with Seb Salinas adding six points and nine boards, and Sean Easther six points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Cooper Land did all he could on the night for the Flames finishing with 37 points and nine rebounds while shooting 13-of-24 from the field, and 6-of-9 from three-point territory.

Taylor Land also had 14 points for Rockingham but no other player reached double-figures.

Finally on Sunday, Jarrad Prue top-scored off the bench for the Lightning and had a terrific afternoon with 22 points, 19 rebounds, five steals and two assists on the back of shooting 11-of-13 from the field.

Jordan Swing added 20 points, seven boards, seven assists and two steals for Lakeside with Jesse Dixon contributing 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, Luke Thomas 15 points, nine boards and three assists, and Brad Jackson 11 points.

Kevin Anthony did all he could for the Suns finishing with 28 points, three rebounds and two assists on the back of shooting 10-of-17 from the floor.

Lien Phillip also contributed 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Eastern Suns with Seva Chan adding 20 points, seven assists, three boards and two steals.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 110 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 89
Perry Lakes Hawks 97 defeated Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 71
Mandurah Magic 91 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 86

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 112 defeated Perth Redbacks 105
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 118 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 113
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 106 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 80
Bethanie Stirling Senators 90 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 88
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 111 defeated Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 78

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 93 lost to Lakeside Lightning 105

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography




Comments

Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.

Refreshing your Website?

Mobile responsive websites made easy using the new Stack Commerce Website Theme. Subscribe and enhance your site using our range of Add On Features including an integrated Shop.

Laptops showing the Stack Commerce Website Theme.