Buccaneers shoot to the top after two big wins (Week 5 Men's SBL Wrap)

THE Geraldton Buccaneers rocketed to the top of the men's SBL standings after handing the Joondalup Wolves their first loss of the 2015 season on Sunday just hours after the South West Slammers tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of the Wolfpack.

It was a fascinating weekend of men's action starting with the Magic beating the Lightning in a thriller on Friday before the Wolves beat the Slammers in the battle of the unbeaten teams on Saturday night, and then the Buccaneers won their seventh straight and handed Joondalup its first defeat of the year.

In the two men's contests on Friday night, the Mandurah Magic beat the Lakeside Lightning in a 117-116 thriller at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Stirling Senators defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 98-88 at Warwick Leisure Centre.

It was a jam packed night of men's action on Saturday starting with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Rockingham Flames 99-88 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Perth Redbacks defeating the Goldfields Giants 122-108 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Willetton Tigers also beat the East Perth Eagles 99-90 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre while the Joondalup Wolves downed the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Cockburn Cougars won a tight one 93-91 over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

There were then two men's matches to conclude the round on Sunday with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Joondalup Wolves 133-115 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Lakeside Lightning defeating the Rockingham Flames 107-100 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

As a result of the weekend's action, the Geraldton Buccaneers (7-1) are now on top of the men's SBL standings ahead of the South West Slammers (7-1), Willetton Tigers (5-1) and Joondalup Wolves (5-1).

Rounding out the top eight positions are the Cockburn Cougars (4-3), Mandurah Magic (4-3), Rockingham Flames (4-3) and Perth Redbacks (3-4).

Just outside the top eight are the Stirling Senators (2-4), Perry Lakes Hawks (2-4) and Lakeside Lightning (2-5) followed by the Kalamunda Eastern Suns (1-5) and East Perth Eagles (1-6). The Goldfields Giants (0-6) remain the only team without a win so far in 2015.

There were a host of outstanding individual performances across the weekend including three players 40 points or more and a triple-double.

On Friday night, Rhett Della ended up leading the way for the Magic off the bench finishing with 30 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 9-of-12 from the field and 12-of-17 from the foul line.

Paul Hafford also had 25 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for Mandurah while Ben Smith contributed 13 points and eight boards.

Jordan Swing put in an incredible performance for the Lightning and did everything he could to get his team over the line with 48 points, six assists and four rebounds while shooting 18-of-29 from the floor, 5-of-8 from long range and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Luke Thomas also finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Lakeside with Jesse Dixon adding 18 points, Brad Jackson 15 and Jarrad Prue eight to go with 17 rebounds.

Kyle Lindbergh led the way for the Senators on the night finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals while shooting 14-of-22 from the floor and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Cody Ellis added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists with Austin Bruton finishing with 15 points, Ryan Woodbury 11 and Ashley Litterick 10.

Bryton Hobbs top-scored for the Hawks with 29 points, six rebounds and four assists with Ben Purser finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Ryan Smith also had 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Perry Lakes while Josh Garlepp contributed 14 points and eight boards.

Then on Saturday night, Carter Cook led the way for the Buccaneers with 21 points and six rebounds with captain Mat Wundenberg outstanding again with 19 points and 17 boards.

Bennie Lewis also contributed 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Buccs with Quincy Hankins-Cole also adding 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Daniel Thomas added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds as well.

Tom Remmerswaal did all he could for the Flames finishing with 30 points and eight rebounds with Cooper Land contributing 24 points and seven boards, and Ryan Godfrey 12 points and six assists. Jarryd Griffin also pulled in 12 rebounds for Rockingham.

Ray Turner had a remarkable performance for the Redbacks with 45 points and 20 rebounds on the back of shooting 16-of-22 from the field and 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.

Fellow import Marshall Brown also had 30 points and six boards for Perth with Ben Smith contributing 12 points, Joel Wagner 10 (10 assists) and Dennis Tawhiti eight points and eight rebounds.

Jay Bowie did all he could for the Giants finishing with 40 points, six assists and five rebounds trying to match what Tucker was doing for the Redbacks.

Jacob Holmen added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Giants with Russell Hurst finishing with 12 points and nine boards, Mathiang Muo 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Edin Zunic 11 points and six boards.

Corey Easley led the way off the bench for the Tigers with 32 points while Kyle Armour added 20 points and five assists, Ephrem Davis 10 points and Damien Scott 10. Andrew Black had 11 points and five assists also off the bench for Willetton.

Rhys Vague led the way for the Eagles with 26 points and 16 rebounds with Drew Williamson adding 18 points, eight assists and four boards.

Sunday Dech also contributed 17 points and nine rebounds for East Perth and Joe-Alan Tupaea 12 points and seven boards.

Trian Iliadis top-scored for the Wolves with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists but it was the number of strong contributors that Joondalup had was the reason for victory in the finish.

Ben Ironmonger added 17 points for the Wolfpack, Damian Matacz 14 (eight rebounds), Joel Questel 13 (six assists), Kevin Davis 13 (eight boards), Rob Huntington 12 and Sean Easther 11 (four assists).

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 26 points while Clive Weeden added 17 points and seven rebounds, Brian Voelkel 15 points, 11 boards and seven assists, and Trent Worthington 20 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Eric Millam led the way for the Cougars with 23 points and 16 rebounds while Najee Lane also finished with 23 points and seven boards. Gavin Field contributed 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Cockburn but he wasn’t asked to play a lone hand.

Seva Chan did all he could for the Suns finishing with 31 points for the night with Kevin Anthony contributing 21 points and Lien Phillip contributing 14 points and 11 boards.

And then in men's action on Sunday afternoon, Carter Cook was again terrific for the Buccaneers with 27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals while shooting 10-of-13 from the field.

Bennie Lewis top-scored for Geraldton with 30 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists with Quincy Hankins-Cole adding 20 points and nine boards, Aaron Ralph 19 points and seven rebounds, Daniel Thomas 10 points and five assists, and Mat Wundenberg nine points, four boards and three assists.

Rob Huntington top-scored for the Wolves with 27 points to go with eight rebounds as they tasted defeat for the first time this year.

Damian Matacz also added 22 points and six boards for Joondalup, Trian Iliadis 19 points, Ben Ironmonger 17 (seven rebounds) and Sean Easther 13 (six boards).

Jordan Swing again was the star of the afternoon for the Lightning finishing with 33 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Luke Thomas added 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Lakeside with Jesse Dixon contributing 18 points, Corey Martin 14, Brad Jackson 10 and Jarrad Prue eight to go with 23 rebounds and two steals.

Cooper Land did all he could for the Flames ending the afternoon with 31 points and 10 rebounds with Taylor Land adding 18 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in a triple-double performance.

Ryan Godfrey also contributed 14 points and seven assists for Rockingham, Jarryd Griffin 12 points and nine rebounds, and Tom Remmerswaal eight points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 117 defeated Lakeside Lightning 116
Stirling Senators 98 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 88

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Rockingham Flames 88 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 99
Goldfields Giants 108 lost to Perth Redbacks 122
East Perth Eagles 90 lost to Willetton Tigers 99
South West Slammers 93 lost to Joondalup Wolves 109
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 91 lost to Cockburn Cougars 93

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Joondalup Wolves 115 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 133
Lakeside Lightning 107 defeated Rockingham Flames 100

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Clare Chappell




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