WINS for Willetton and Perry Lakes, and two losses for Mandurah has guaranteed positions for the Tigers and Hawks in the men's SBL playoffs for 2015 while the defeats for the Magic mean they will miss out.

The top eight teams in the men's competition are now set with the Tigers beating the South West Slammers, and the Hawks downing the Magic to both guarantee positions while Mandurah's losses to both Perry Lakes and Rockingham ended their season with one round to go.

The men's Friday night action saw the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames put another dent in the Mandurah Magic's playoff hopes, beating them 106-91 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves also defeated the Lakeside Lightning 114-95 at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers downed the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 99-65 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

It was a big night of men's action on Saturday starting with the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars beating the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 112-87 at Active West Stadium and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants downing the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 128-94 at Kambalda Recreation Centre.

The Perry Lakes Hawks then continued their winning ways beating the Mandurah Magic 119-87 at Bendat Basketball Centre while the Bethanie Stirling Senators downed the Perth Redbacks 119-116 at Warwick Leisure Centre and the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 148-107 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Following Round 19, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (22-3) remain guaranteed of the minor premiership followed by the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers (19-6), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (17-8) and Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (16-9).

The Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames (15-10) sit in fifth position followed by the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (13-12), Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (13-12) and Perry Lakes Hawks (12-13).

The Mandurah Magic (11-14) sit outside the top eight and will remain there followed by the Bethanie Stirling Senators (10-15), Perth Redbacks (9-16), Lakeside Lightning (9-16), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (7-18) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-23).

There were again some massive individual performances across the weekend including one game alone featuring efforts of 51 points, 42 points and a massive triple-double.

Starting on Friday night, the Wolves' win was again set up by having so many different players stepping up with Kevin Davis leading the way with 24 points and nine rebounds while shooting 10-of-14 from the field.

Trian Iliadis also added 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Wolfpack on the back of shooting 9-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point territory.

Rob Huntington contributed 19 points off the bench for Joondalup while Seb Salinas finished with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists, Damian Matacz 11 points and four assists, and Joel Questel six points and eight assists.

Jordan Swing had a tremendous night for the Lightning despite the loss to the Wolves finishing with 38 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 15-of-23 from the floor and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Tom Parkinson added 20 points and eight rebounds for Lakeside while Luke Thomas contributed 15 points and 13 boards while Jarrad Prue finished with eight points and 13 rebounds.

Cooper Land had a monster night leading the Flames to the win over the Magic finishing with 31 points, 15 rebounds and three assists while shooting 13-of-25 from the field.

Taylor Land also added 17 points, nine boards and three assists for Rockingham while Tom Remmerswaal contributed 13 points and six rebounds, Jarryd Griffin 11 points and seven boards, Ryan Godfrey 11 points and five assists, and Justin Beard 11 points and six rebounds.

Ben Smith did all he could to try and get the Magic over the line with 18 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks and two steals while Taylor Mullenax contributed 18 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals.

Paul Hafford also finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for Mandurah with Beau Samuelson scoring 16 points off the bench, and Jarrad Jackson adding nine points and six assists, and Rhett Della seven points and nine boards.

Damien Scott ended up top-scoring for the Tigers with 21 points while Nic Cody contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Kyle Armour added 14 points, seven assists, five steals and four rebounds as well for Willetton with Ephrem Davis also finishing with 13 points, 14 boards and two assists.

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 13 points and five rebounds with Aaron Edwards adding 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists with the Slammers missing the presence of playing-coach Ty Harrelson on the floor.

Then on Saturday night, Najee Lane ended up top-scoring for the Cougars with 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots with Gavin Field adding 23 points, six boards and two assists, Eric Milam 22 points and six rebounds, and Julian Pesava 17 points and seven boards.

Bennie Lewis led the way for the Buccs once again finishing with 32 points, five rebounds and two assists with Carter Cook contributing 13 points, four assists, three boards, two steals and two blocked shots, and Aaron Ralph nine points and eight rebounds.

Again it was Goldfields' three stars who were outstanding with Jay Bowie leading the way with 34 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals on the back of shooting 14-of-20 from the field, and 3-of-5 from deep.

Mathiang Muo also contributed 30 points, five steals and four rebounds for the Giants while Jacob Holmen added 24 points and nine boards, and Brandon Hewitt-Holloway 14 points and nine assists.

Rhys Vague top-scored for the undermanned Eagles with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Brendan Dinardo added 17 points and seven assists, Brighton Pass 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Jamie Barnett 1 5 points, six boards and four assists.

Cody Ellis again led the way for the Senators with 27 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while Nikolas Iliadis contributed 20 points, six assists and three boards, Austin Bruton 22 points and five assists, Kyle Lindbergh 15 points and nine rebounds.

Caleb Davis also finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Stirling with Ashley Litterick contributing 11 points and six boards.

Raphiael Putney had a big performance for the Redbacks finishing with 33 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 13-of-25 from the field with Ray Turner adding 26 points, 12 boards and three blocked shots shooting 9-of-14 from the floor.

Ben Smith added 17 points for Perth with Marshall Nelson contributing 12 points and nine rebounds.

Josh Garlepp ended up top-scoring for the Hawks with 21 points and six rebounds with Bryton Hobbs adding 16 points, 12 boards and three assists.

Mike Krumel added 16 points and five rebounds for Perry Lakes while Rob Cassir contributed 14 points, six assists and five boards, Cory Richardson 11 points and four assists, Ben Dixon 11 points and six assists, and Ben Purser nine points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Ben Smith top-scored for the Magic with 24 points and nine rebounds with Paul Hafford adding 12 points and Taylor Mullenax 12 points and 10 boards.

There were some enormous individual performances coming from the Slammers in their big win led by MVP candidate Tre Nichols who finished with a remarkable 51 points, five rebounds and four assists on the back of 18-of-31 from the field, 5-of-9 from three-point range and 10-of-11 from the foul line.

Brian Voelkel also delivered a massive triple-double with 29 points, 23 rebounds and 14 assists while shooting 9-of-14 from the floor.

Jordan Hickert also added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Slammers, Wade Hitchcock 15 points and Patrick Phillips 15 points and three assists.

Kevin Anthony had a big night for the Eastern Suns with 42 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots with Jaarod Holmes adding 20 points, five boards and three assists, and Seva Chan 17 points and three assists.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 95 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 114
Mandurah Magic 91 lost to Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 106
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 65 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 99

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 87 lost to Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 112
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 128 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 94
Perry Lakes Hawks 119 defeated Mandurah Magic 87
Bethanie Stirling Senators 119 defeated Perth Redbacks 116
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 107 lost to Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 148

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography