THERE was just the one game in the Men's SBL on Sunday and the Rockingham Flames battled hard, but the Geraldton Buccaneers made it a second road win for the weekend winning 85-79 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Week 6 began on Friday night with the Joondalup Wolves defeating the Lakeside Lightning 98-78 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Stirling Senators downing the Willetton Tigers 89-85 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Then on Saturday night, the Buccaneers started their weekend defeating the Perry Lakes Hawks 88-70 while the South West Slammers beat the Mandurah Magic 87-71, the Cockburn Cougars downed the Lakeside Lightning 91-78, the Perth Redbacks won over the Goldfields Giants 91-83 and the East Perth Eagles downed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 107-90.

Week 6 Saturday night Men's SBL results 
Week 6 Friday night Men's SBL results 
Week 6 Men's SBL Preview 

The lone Sunday game saw the Flames host the Buccs with Rockingham attempting to start its weekend off on a winning note and bounce back from a loss to the South West Slammers last Thursday, while Geraldton was trying to back up its win over the Hawks the previous night.

The Buccaneers made a fast start racing to a 7-2 lead but the Flames steadied well going on a 22-9 run in impressive fashion to lead 24-18, and still be up by three points by quarter-time.

But with Aaron Ralph knocking down some big threes to lead the way, the Buccs took over in the second quarter with 27 points to 12 to take a 48-36 lead into half-time.

Rockingham continued to fight hard in the second half and Geraldton never really got going, but the Flames couldn’t quite get close enough to force the issue and the Buccaneers held on for the six-point win.

Ralph top-scored for the Buccs off the bench with 20 points to go with four rebounds and two steals on the back of hitting 5-of-10 from three-point range.

Dwayne Benjamin added 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Geraldton and Jackson Hussey 15 points, nine assists, six steals and three boards.

Matthew Hancock added 12 points for the Buccaneers, Mo Barrow 11 points and 12 rebounds, and James Paringatai eight points.

The victory improves the Buccs to a 6-1 record on the season ahead of three straight home matches against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Lakeside Lightning and Perth Redbacks.

Coach Ray Evans knows his team can still get better, but is happy the Buccs withstood the Flames to come away with the double for the road weekend.

"The Sunday games are always going to be a bit of a grind and I thought we did a pretty good job of hanging in when the Flames made a bit of a run there," Evans said.

"To hang on and get two wins out of the weekend is all that matters. We know there's still a lot of work to do but we're happy with the two wins.

"We know Rockingham is a good team and they were always going to keep coming. We knew it would be a grind and we didn’t play our best, but a lot of credit for that goes to the way Rockingham played against us."

Vinnie Zollo struggled for three quarters but had a big final period for the Flames to end up top-scoring with 17 points and three rebounds.

Donovan Jack added 13 points and nine rebounds for Rockingham, Jarryd Griffin 12 points and 10 boards, Ryan Godfrey 12 points and seven assists, Beau Samuelson 10 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Justin Beard eight points and seven boards.

The Flames slip to 2-4 on the season ahead of an ANZAC Day clash with the Cockburn Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Coach Brad Samuelson can't fault his team's effort for the most part, but he knows they must start playing for a full 40 minutes to beat teams such as the Buccaneers.

"We are always proud of the boys with the effort that they continually put in, but unfortunately basketball is played over a 40-minute period. We managed to play around 32 minutes of basketball," Samuelson said.

"We've had the same problems over the last few years where 48 minutes of basketball was a little bit difficult to complete and now we're down to 40 and we're still not completing. It's a big issue we need to address."

Samuelson is now looking for a spirited showing from the Flames against the Cougars on ANZAC Day.

"It's a bit of a do-or-die game for us and we need to go 3-4, not 2-5 so it's very important," Samuelson said.

"It's also obviously a very important day for everyone here in Australia and we'll be out there fighting hard for the ANZAC spirit for our own badge, our club in general and for each other.

"Hopefully the ANZAC spirit might give us a little bit more lift to try and get out there to get the bacon and take it home on the day."

Week 6 of the Men's SBL continues on Monday night with the Stirling Senators taking on the Perry Lakes Hawks at Warwick Stadium.

Then on ANZAC Day, not only do the Cougars host the Flames but the Kalamunda Eastern Suns also play the Willetton Tigers at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND 6 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Joondalup Wolves 98 defeated Lakeside Lightning 78
Willetton Tigers 85 lost to Stirling Senators 89

SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 6 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Perry Lakes Hawks 70 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 88
South West Slammers 87 defeated Mandurah Magic 71
Lakeside Lightning 78 lost to Cockburn Cougars 91
Goldfields Giants 83 lost to Perth Redbacks 91
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 90 lost to East Perth Eagles 107

SUNDAY ROUND 6 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Rockingham Flames 79 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 85

MONDAY ROUND 6 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
Stirling Senators v Perry Lakes Hawks – Warwick Stadium 8.30pm

TUESDAY ROUND 6 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Willetton Tigers – Ray Owen Sports Centre 3pm
Cockburn Cougars v Rockingham Flames – Wally Hagan Stadium 3pm

Photo by Belinda Pike (Croc Photography)