THE South West Slammers made it a double-win weekend to open the 2015 SBL season led by playing-coach Ty Harrelson while new Joondalup import Kevin Davis recorded a stunning triple-double as the Wolves beat the Willetton Tigers on Sunday.

At the end of the opening weekend for the 2015 season, the Slammers are the only team with two wins from their two matches while the Wolves, Stirling Senators and Rockingham Flames are unbeaten after one match.

Willetton, the East Perth Eagles, Mandurah Magic, Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Geraldton Buccaneers and Lakeside Lightning all have a win and a loss, while the Cockburn Cougars, Perth Redbacks and Perry Lakes Hawks have suffered one defeat, and the Goldfields Giants two.

There were a lot of stunning individual showings as well led by 33 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals from Sunday Dech for the Eagles, 32 points and 20 rebounds for Ben Smith with the Magic, 34 points for Gavin Field with the Cougars and 32 points and 30 rebounds for Ray Turner with the Redbacks.

Cody Ellis also had 34 points and 17 rebounds for the Senators, Jordan Swing 35 points and 10 rebounds for Lakeside and Bennie Lewis 43 points for the Buccs.

However, the effort of Kevin Davis with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots was remarkable for the Wolves, while Ty Harrelson delivered two strong showings in wins for the Slammers.

On Friday night, the East Perth Eagles beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 103-85 and the Mandurah Magic ended up prevailing over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 106-98 in overtime.

On Saturday night, the Willetton Tigers thrashed the Goldfields Giants 114-76 at Willetton Basketball Stadium, the South West Slammers downed the Geraldton Buccaneers 118-12 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Lakeside Lightning defeated the Cockburn Cougars 100-91 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Rockingham Flames beat the defending champion East Perth Eagles in a thriller 85-81 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, and the Stirling Senators won a tough battle with the Perth Redbacks 84-72 at Curtin University Stadium.

There were then four men's matches on Sunday with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Mandurah Magic 105-103 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre while the Kalamunda Eastern Suns beat the Goldfields Giants 92-87 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Joondalup Wolves recorded an impressive 102-79 win over the Willetton Tigers at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the South West Slammers downed the Lakeside Lightning 115-95 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The weekend's 11 matches saw one player score 40 or more points, 7 players post 30 or more points and another 25 players scoring 20-plus with two triple-doubles and 26 double-doubles recorded.

Leading the way in terms of individual performances on Friday night saw Sunday Dech show that he could be ready to go to the next level with his game in 2015 fresh off another year with the Perth Wildcats as a development player.

He led the way for the Eagles with 33 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals while shooting 12-of-22 from the floor while Rhys Vague added 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while going 9-of-17 from the floor, and 6-of-10 from deep.

Ben Purser started off the new season with another strong showing leading the way for Perry Lakes with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Bryton Hobbs also added 19 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Ben Smith dominated for the Magic in the post with 32 points and 20 rebounds on the back of shooting 14-of-20 from the field.

Captain Taylor Mullenax showed that he's ready for another big season with the Magic with 25 points and six rebounds while Rhett Della had a big game off the bench with 19 points and 15 rebounds.

It was a strong showing from Kalamunda in defeat with Lien Phillip finishing with 23 points and 17 rebounds while Jaarod Holmes added 19 points and eight boards.

Then on Saturday night, Jarrad Prue might have come off the bench for Lakeside, but delivered eight points, 26 rebounds, three steals and two assists in 37 minutes of court time.

Brad Jackson also provided 12 points and seven assists off the bench but as for Lakeside's starters, there was plenty of production there too with Luke Thomas contributing 23 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Jordan Swing added 23 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Gavin Field will have to carry a large burden with the Cougars following a host of departures in the off-season, and he didn’t fail to deliver his best on Saturday night with 34 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Playing-coach Ty Harrelson led the way for the Slammers with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his first SBL match since receiving his Australian citizenship.

Clive Weeden is also now a local player as well and he finished with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists while new imports Brian Voelkel (14 points, 21 rebounds, 11 assists) and Tre Nichols (21 points, five assists, three boards) also provide plenty of punch.

Bennie Lewis had a huge game for the Buccaneers with 43 points and five rebounds while shooting 15-of-26 from the floor.

Quincy Hankins-Cole added 20 points and six rebounds with Carter Cook contributing 19 points and seven boards, and the returning Daniel Thomas 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

It was the new signings that coach Alan Black has made that made all the impact for the Tigers as well with Kyle Armour leading the way with 22 points, eight assists, four steals and four rebounds while shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point territory.

Damien Scott had a good debut with Willetton scoring 21 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals while Corey Easley contributed 18 points off the bench.

Ephrem Davis also had 15 points, 15 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.

It was a tough season-opener for the Giants despite22 points and six rebounds from Jacob Holmen, and 18 points from Jay Bowie.

Cody Ellis showed that he is ready to take the SBL by storm this season fresh off his first full year in the NBL with the Sydney Kings, and he had 34 points, 17 rebounds, three steals and two assists in the win for Stirling.

New import Ray Turner did all he could for the Redbacks in a simply remarkable performance to finish with 32 points and 30 rebounds.

And on Sunday afternoon, Ty Harrelson again led the way for South West with 30 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while Tre Nichols added 26 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Clive Weeden also had 17 points for South West with import Brian Voelkel impressing with 19 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists.

Jordan Swing did all he could for the Lightning with 35 points and 10 rebounds while Tom Parkinson finished with 18 points and seven boards.

The Wolves' new import Kevin Davis had a remarkable triple-double in his SBL debut with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocked shots to go along with five assists and shooting 8-of-12 from the field.

Seb Salinas top-scored for Joondalup with 24 points and five rebounds while Rob Huntington contributed 14 points and nine rebounds, and Ben Ironmonger 16 points, five boards and three assists.

Corey Easley had 15 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Tigers while Damien Scott added 15 points and seven boards.

Kevin Anthony had a terrific game for the Eastern Suns with 28 points and five rebounds while playing all 48 minutes.

Lien Phillip also contributed 26 points in a 17 rebounds in a strong showing while Seva Chan had 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Jaarod Holmes 10 points and 11 boards.

Goldfields' imports again did their best with Jay Bowie finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Jacob Holmen 21 points and 11 boards.

Carter Cook top-scored for the Buccs with 25 points with Quincy Hankins-Cole adding 21 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, Aaron Ralph 21 points, Bennie Lewis 18 and 11 boards, and captain Matt Wundenberg 13 points and nine rebounds.

Ben Smith led the way for the Magic as he did on Friday against Kalamunda with another 25 points and nine rebounds while Rhett Della finished with 15 points, 11 boards and six assists.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 85 lost to East Perth Eagles 103
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 98 lost to Mandurah Magic 106

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Willetton Tigers 114 defeated Goldfields Giants 76
South West Slammers 118 defeated Geraldton Buccaneers 112
Lakeside Lightning 100 defeated Cockburn Cougars 91
East Perth Eagles 81 lost to Rockingham Flames 85
Perth Redbacks 72 lost to Stirling Senators 84

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 103 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 105
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 92 defeated Goldfields Giants 87
Joondalup Wolves 102 defeated Willetton Tigers 79
South West Slammers 115 defeated Lakeside Lightning 95

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Grant Lauterbach