Tough doubles for Eagles and Hawks who need a win (Week 10 Men's SBL Preview)

A BIG ask awaits both the Perry Lakes Hawks and East Perth Eagles if they are to stop their losing runs in Week 10 of the men's SBL while the Joondalup City Wolves and Geraldton Buccaneers will be determined to not allow the South West Slammers to get out too far on top.

The defending champion Eagles have now won 11 straight since winning their first match 2015, and things don't get any easier this weekend with the defending champions taking on the Wolves on Saturday night and then the Buccaneers on Sunday.

The Hawks have now lost six straight matches as well and face a challenging weekend up against the Eastern Suns on Friday night and then the in-form Goldfields Giants on Sunday.

The massive weekend of men's SBL action begins with four matches on Friday night all with an 8.30pm tip-off that sees the Lakeside Lightning face the Mandurah Magic at Lakeside Recreation Centre, and the Perry Lakes Hawks play the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars will also play the Perth Redbacks at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers take on the Bethanie Stirling Senators at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

There are then five matches on Saturday night across Perth starting at 7.30pm with the Mandurah Magic hosting the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Bethanie Stirling Senators facing the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers at Warwick Leisure Centre.

Then at 8pm, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves tackle the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

And at 8.30pm on Saturday night, the Perth Redbacks host the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Curtin Stadium, and the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames face off with the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The round will then conclude on Sunday with two matches tipping off at midday with the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles taking on the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, and the Perry Lakes Hawks playing the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Bendat Basketball Centre.

On Friday night, the eighth place Lightning host the fifth place Magic in what should be a tremendous contest.

Lakeside enters the weekend having won four of its last five matches to improve to a 5-6 record and sit in eighth position while Mandurah has also won four of the last five to be 8-4 in fifth spot.

The Lightning and Magic have already played out one thriller so far in 2015 with Mandurah prevailing 117-116 back on April 10, and now there is every reason to suggest Friday night's clash could be something similar.

Jesse Dixon will also be celebrating SBL game No. 200 for the Lightning as well, while the battle between veterans Jarrad Prue and Taylor Mullenax might be worth the price of admission alone.

The Hawks then begin their busy weekend up against the Eastern Suns at home on Friday night with Perry Lakes having its first chance to end its six-game losing streak up against a fellow Suns team that also has just two wins on the board so far in 2015.

The Cougars will play their only match of the weekend on Friday night at home to the Redbacks with Cockburn coming into the contest having won its last two matches to improve to a 7-6 record and sit in sixth position.

Perth, meanwhile, has now lost three matches on the trot to slip back to a 4-8 record and be in 10th position.

The Tigers host the Senators in another big match on Friday night with Willetton needing to bounce back from successive losses to the South West Slammers and Mandurah Magic that has seen them slip back to 8-4 and be two games off the second and third placed teams.

However, Stirling is also looking to win its first game since captain Cody Ellis took a break and those two losses has seen the Senators slip out of the top eight at the moment with a 5-6 record.

Then on Saturday night, the Magic back up their match with the Lightning on Friday night by hosting the Giants.

Mandurah will need to try and win to maintain touch with the top four teams but Goldfields is now playing good basketball having won its last three matches after starting the season with eight successive defeats.

However, with Jay Bowie, Jacob Holmen and Mathiang Muo forming a potent trio to lead the way, the Giants are now looking to make a real push to try and get in touch for a playoff position and knocking off the Magic in Mandurah would certainly make a statement.

The Senators then have less than 24 hours to back up their clash with the Tigers on Friday before backing up against another top team, the Buccaneers on Saturday at Warwick.

The Buccs suffered their second loss of the season last Saturday night at the hands of the Slammers to slip to a 10-2 and now they won't want to drop a second straight match with the risk of the Slammers going further out in front on top of the standings.

The Wolves and Eagles then make their first appearances of the weekend with Joondalup entering the contest on a four-game winning streak and in second position with a 10-2 record while the defending champion East Perth has now lost 12 straight games to remain anchored in bottom position.

Then also on Saturday night, the Redbacks back up playing against the Cougars on Friday and face a daunting task up against the table-topping Slammers on Saturday.

South West will be playing its only game of the weekend as well and enters on a five-game winning streak and a 12-1 record having beaten the Buccaneers for a second time this season last Saturday night.

The final match of Saturday night should be a terrific contest as well with the Flames hosting the Tigers in Rockingham.

The Flames come into the match ready to improve on a 6-6 record in what is their only appearance of the weekend while the Tigers will be coming off a contest with the Senators on Friday night.

The Eagles and Buccaneers meet in the second grand final rematch of 2015 this time on Saturday night at Morley with East Perth having come off playing the Wolves on Saturday night with Geraldton having taken on Senators at Warwick as well.

The two teams have already met in one grand final rematch this season and that took place just two weeks ago and on that occasion at Active West Stadium the Buccaneers prevailed over the Eagles 106-89.

The Hawks and Giants conclude the round on Sunday as well with Perry Lakes having previously played Kalamunda on Friday night, and Goldfields having also faced Mandurah on Saturday.

WEEK 10 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Mandurah Magic, Lakeside Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Bendat Basketball Centre 8.30pm
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars v Perth Redbacks, Wally Hagan Stadium 8.30pm
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers v Bethanie Stirling Senators, Willetton Basketball Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Mandurah Magic v Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Bethanie Stirling Senators v S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers, Warwick Leisure Centre 7.30pm
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8pm
Perth Redbacks v Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers, Curtin Stadium 8.30pm
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 8.30pm

SUNDAY
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles v S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 12pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, Bendat Basketball Centre 12pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography




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