THE East Perth Eagles scored a crucial come from behind win over the Geraldton Buccaneers on Sunday to stay alive in the playoff hunt while the Kalamunda Eastern Suns made it a double over the South West Slammers.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeated the Print Sync South West Slammers 105-68 at Ray Owen Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon to close Week 14 of the Women's SBL.

In the corresponding Men's clash, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns won their fourth game of the season and second in just over 12 hours defeating the Print Sync South West Slammers 125-113.

The round concluded with the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles defeating the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 115-111 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Women's clash at Kalamunda began the action on Sunday with the Eastern Suns having lost their past two matches including to the Mandurah Magic on Saturday night.

But the Suns rebounded well to win by 37 points to steady at a 7-8 record to remain in seventh position while the Slammers still have the one win for the season at 1-13.

The Eastern Suns dominated from the outset leading by seven points at quarter-time, 22 at the half, 33 at three quarter-time and then 37 by the final buzzer.

Carley Mijovic again top-scored for the Suns with 30 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocked shots while hitting 6-of-11 from downtown.

Mellissa Moyle played just her third game of the season for Kalamunda and delivered 16 points, three rebounds and three assists while Stacey Barr added 16 points, seven assists and six boards, Natalia Soli'ai 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Sabrina Jeridore 11 points and 12 boards.

Courtney Bayliss top-scored for the Slammers with 32 points and nine rebounds shooting 11-of-25 from the field, 5-of-12 from long range and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Then in the Men's clash, the Eastern Suns backed up their win over the Magic on Friday night to win a fourth match of the season beating the Slammers by 12 points in a high-scoring contest.

The two wins for the weekend sees the Suns climb off the bottom of the standings as well at the expense of the Magic. Kalamunda's four wins for the season have come in its last seven games as well with some positive signs without question building towards the future.

The loss significantly dents the Slammers' hopes of staying in the playoff race on the back of also losing to the Geraldton Buccaneers on Saturday night. South West now sits down in 11th spot at 5-12.

It was a tight game for three quarters before Kalamunda found an extra gear on its home floor to score 37 points to 26 to run out 12-point victors.

Courtney Belger top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 24 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals shooting 5-of-10 from the floor, 2-of-5 from deep and 12-of-15 from the stripe.

Tim Squire returned and delivered 20 points for the Suns with Brandon McGill contributing 19 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals, James Pado 13 points and seven boards, and Ryan Blanchett 13 points.

Tre Nichols did all he could to try and lift the Slammers over the line with 35 points, seven rebounds and six assists with Clive Weeden continuing to build back up nicely from his knee injury with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Royal Crouch contributed 18 points and six rebounds for South West and Corey Easley 18 points, eight boards, five blocked shots and two assists.

The Eagles then desperately needed a win at home over the Buccs to stay in touch for a playoff berth.

Geraldton was coming off beating the Slammers on Saturday night but East Perth managed to rebound from a loss to the Perth Redbacks on Saturday to win by four points without Tom Jervis and despite being nine points down heading into the fourth quarter.

East Perth's best hope of making the playoffs now appears to be at the expense of the Perry Lakes Hawks with both teams sitting on 8-11 records in eighth and ninth spots respectively.

The win was crucial to the Eagles' hopes of ending up in the post-season while the Buccs missed the chance of a double win road weekend unable to back up a win over the Slammers on Saturday.

It took a monster performance in the fourth quarter for the Eagles to get the win as well. The Buccs took control in the second and third quarters to end up leading 90-81 heading into the fourth period.

East Perth delivered 34 points to 21 in the final quarter to win by four points on the back of 25 points and our assists from playing-coach Joe-Alan Tupaea.

Nikola Donlagic was another standout for the Eagles with 25 points including nailing 6-of-9 from three-point territory.

Drew Williamson also had 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for East Perth, Rhys Vague 19 points and eight boards, and Amen Osayande seven points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.

Maurice Barrow top-scored for the Buccaneers with 30 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals with Matthew Adekponya contributing 28 points, 11 boards, three assists and two steals.

Jackson Hussey continued to make an immediate impact with another 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists with Aaron Ralph adding 15 points and Mat Wundenberg seven points and 13 boards.

SUNDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 105 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 68

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 125 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 113
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 115 defeated S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 111

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Vikki Hile