The South West Slammers have cemented top spot after their five-point victory against the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers.

The Slammers shot a phenomenal 38 points in the second quarter, to give them a nine-point lead at the main break, which set up their win.

The Buccs fought back in the second half, but not enough, with the Slammers going one-game clear on top spot, winning 122-117.

The Slammers’ Tre Nichols had a birthday finishing with 40 points, while Bennie Lewis, who played all 48 minutes, finished with 36.

Coach Mark Heron said he thought they were in control of the first quarter, and the second quarter was where they lost the game.

“The second quarter, when they played the way they did, we really struggled, ” he said.

“To allow them to score 38 points was extremely disappointing.

“I think we probably relaxed a bit in certain areas.”

Although the Slammers were missing key players, the Buccs were without three of their key eight, with Aaron Ralph, Luke Wrensted and Ike Smith all missing the match.

Heron said they weren’t complacent coming off the back of four individual games in a row. Rather it was a measure of just how good the Slammers were.

“There was definitely no complacency, ” he said.

“Full credit to them. They’re a very good side.

“To hang around against the top side is credit to our system.

“It wasn’t complacency.”

Heron said they would take a bit out of Saturday night’s loss, with some player performances.

He said the Buccs had an off-night in offence.

“We feel we shot the ball quite poorly at times, ” he said.

“Some of their players had great games, Wade Hitchcock had a blinder.

“Nichols had a helluva game.

“He made some amazing shots.

“If we had finished off a bit better, then we would’ve put ourselves in a better position to have won the game.”

The Buccs will welcome back Aaron Ralph this weekend, and will have a lighter week on the track with their first double-header in five weeks.

They take on Stirling on Saturday night and East Perth on Sunday.

Article by Ryan Hadji (Geraldton Guardian)

Photo by Vic Wong