THE winning run of the Perth Redbacks came to an end on Sunday afternoon but it took a big second half from the third placed Geraldton Buccaneers for the visitors to come away with the five-point victory to close Week 10 SBL action.

The final match of Week 10 took place on Sunday afternoon at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre and it saw the S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers end up prevailing over the Textile WA Perth Redbacks 110-105 in a tremendous contest between two in-form teams.

The Redbacks came into the game with some terrific form having recorded victories over the Rockingham Flames, Stirling Senators, Mandurah Magic and Perry Lakes Hawks the last two weeks coinciding with the arrival of Michael Vigor.

That saw Perth come into Sunday's clash with the Buccs on a four-game winning streak and a 6-6 record trying to break into the top eight, but the visitors were determined to rebound from a loss on the road to the Flames on Saturday night.

Both teams were coming off playing on Saturday night, and it was the Redbacks who started strongly racing to a 10-point lead by quarter-time.

The Buccs steadied in the second quarter but only cut the lead of Perth to nine points by half-time.

Geraldton then took over the third period piling on 35 points to 17 and that set up the eventual five-point victory as they held on despite 26 final quarter points by Perth as they staged a spirited fightback.

The Buccaneers had a tremendous shooting afternoon going 41-of-76 from the field at 53 per cent along with 13-of-26 at 50 per cent from three-point territory.

The Redbacks might not have shot quite as well at 39-of-94 at 41 per cent and 14-of-43 per cent from three-point range at 32 per cent, but the sheer volume of shots allowed them to stay in the contest.

Maurice Barrow ended up top-scoring for the Buccs with 32 points, 10 rebounds and four assists on shooting 14-of-19 from the field.

Matthew Adekponya continued his strong form also with 27 points and 10 rebounds shooting 9-of-14 from the floor, and a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Carter Cook contributed 23 points, six assists and three rebounds as well for Geraldton with Beau Samuelson adding 16 points and Aaron Ralph 10 to go with four rebounds and three blocked shots.

Jourdan DeMuynck did all he could to try and lift the Redbacks across the line finishing with 37 points, nine rebounds and three assists while shooting 14-of-26 from the floor and a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line.

Ben Smith contributed 26 points, five rebounds and two assists off the bench for Perth shooting 7-of-11 from three-point territory.

Lewis Thomas also added 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Joel Wagner 12 points, eight assists and five steals, and Michael Vigor nine points, 13 boards and five assists.

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Textile WA Perth Redbacks 105 lost to S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 110

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Kez Creations