THE Geraldton Buccaneers and Goldfields Giants had mixed fortunes on their SBL home openers on Saturday night with the Shawn Redhage, Alex Loughton inspired Perth Redbacks winning again along with the Rockingham Flames and Perry Lakes Hawks.

It was a full night of action in the Men's SBL to finish Week 2 of the 2017 season starting with the home-openers in both Geraldton and Kalgoorlie.

That saw the Geraldton Buccaneers beat the East Perth Eagles 92-69 at Active West Stadium while the Joondalup Wolves won on the road beating the Goldfields Giants 89-76.

The Perth Redbacks made it three from three this season beating the South West Slammers 94-72 at Eaton Recreation Centre with the Rockingham Flames winning a thriller 81-79 over the Stirling Senators at Warwick Stadium and the Perry Lakes Hawks beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 103-69 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Week 2 Friday night Men's SBL results 

Starting in Geraldton, the Buccs were coming off two impressive road wins to start the season against Kalamunda and Lakeside, but East Perth too had started well beating the Suns and Giants.

But it was the Buccaneers who kept their momentum going on their home floor ending up winning by 23 points largely set up with a dominant 33-point to 12 third period.

Reigning Player of the Week Dwayne Benjamin was again tremendous for Geraldton with 32 points, four steals and three assists.

His partner in crime Mo Barrow was also an imposing force with 29 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals on shooting 9-of-13 from the field and 11-of-13 from the stripe.

Jackson Hussey added nine points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Buccs and Aaron Ralph nine points.

East Perth welcomed imports Kevin Davis and Kevin Anthony to make their debuts with the club. Both came off the bench with Davis providing 11 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots, and Anthony nine points.

Dennis Tawhiti top-scored for East Perth with 12 points and nine rebounds with Ngang Lual adding 11 points and four rebounds in eight minutes off the bench.

In Kalgoorlie, Lou Causer's home debut as a young head coach of the Giants didn’t quite go to plan with the depth and experience of the Wolves leading them to the 13-point victory.

The Wolfpack improved to 2-0 to start the season with the road win with veteran Damian Matacz leading the way off the bench with 20 points and four rebounds in just over 12 minutes of court time.

Jordan Wellstead stepped up big for 18 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in likely the best game of his SBL career with Rhys Smyth adding 12 points, five assists, four steals and four boards, and Rob Huntington 10 points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

The Wolves didn’t get a lot out of imports Richard Ross (six points, six rebounds, four steals) and Wade Guerin (four points, four boards) while also without Trian Iliadis.

JB Pillard top-scored for the Giants with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks with Luke Pike contributing 15 points and three assists off the bench.

Jerrell Sanders finished with 14 points and five rebounds while Atem Atem had 10 points and eight boards.

The Redbacks continue to be the story of the league early in the season going down to Eaton and beating the Slammers by 22 points.

There is tremendous excitement over seeing Redhage and Loughton play together in the SBL. Both had a good impact again on Saturday night's win over the Slammers with Redhage finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Loughton 16 points, seven boards, four assists and two blocks.

But there was more to the Redbacks than those two with Joel Wagner adding 13 points, five assists and five rebounds, Kyle Bowen 12 points, nine boards and three blocked shots, Jack Wagner 10 points and five rebounds and Geordie Murray nine points.

The Slammers suffered a second straight home loss to start the season and were still without Brian Voelkel.

Tre Nichols top-scored for South West with 18 points while Michael Lay added 13 points, four rebounds and four assists and Teny Puot 12 points and seven boards.

Experienced big man Clive Weeden also had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The young Rockingham team under new coach Brad Samuelson had to deal with the Redbacks unveiling Redhage and Loughton last Friday night, and now this week had the Senators bring back Cody Ellis.

However, they showed good heart to hold in a frantic finish to win by two points with Donovan Jack the standout with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Justin Beard added 16 points and five rebounds for the Flames with Ryan Godfrey contributing 11 points, nine assists and five rebounds.

Ellis returned for the Senators with 11 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

Rhys Vague top-scored for Stirling with 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists while Ash Litterick contributed 14 points, seven boards and four assists.

Then the Hawks got their first win under new coach Matt Parsons to make up for a surprise home loss to the Senators to open the season.

Perry Lakes proved too strong for Kalamunda winning by 34 points with the Eastern Suns still missing imports Rob Brandenberg and Courtney Belger.

The Hawks came out breathing fire and led by 12 points by quarter-time and 32 by the half-time break before the eventual 34-point margin.

Robert Waters cut down on his three-point attempts and stayed out of foul trouble. As a result he was vastly improved for Perry Lakes finishing with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting.

Brian Carlwell added 17 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks for the Hawks with Ben Purser contributing 12 points, 11 boards and six assists, Ryan Smith 11 points and 10 rebounds, Jackson Simkovic nine points and Ryan O'Sullivan eight along with seven boards.

Brighton Pass tried to keep the Suns in the contest with 23 points and four rebounds including going 5-of-11 from downtown. Nathan Drown added 11 points for Kalamunda and Ryan Blanchett nine.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND 2 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Lakeside Lightning 86 defeated Mandurah Magic 79
Willetton Tigers 81 lost to Cockburn Cougars 89

SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 2 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Geraldton Buccaneers 92 defeated East Perth Eagles 69
Goldfields Giants 76 lost to Joondalup Wolves 89
South West Slammers 72 lost to Perth Redbacks 94
Stirling Senators 79 lost to Rockingham Flames 81
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 69 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 103

Photo by Vikki Hile