FOR the second time in the opening six weeks of the Men's SBL season the Stirling Senators have beaten the Perry Lakes Hawks delivering a gutsy display to win 80-69 at Warwick Stadium on Monday night.

The two teams did battle on ANZAC Day eve in what will now become an annual event for the Overwatch Australia Courage Cup.

The Stirling Senators beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 80-69 in the Men's contest at Warwick Stadium. But with the Lady Hawks earlier defeating the Senators 79-62, it was Perry Lakes who claimed the inaugural Courage Cup on the points differential.

It was a successful night to commemorate ANZAC Day at Warwick Stadium with a jam-packed crowd in attendance for the occasion.

Week 6 of the Men's SBL began back on Friday night with the Joondalup Wolves defeating the Lakeside Lightning 98-78 and the Stirling Senators beating the Willetton Tigers 89-85.

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

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Monday night always shaped as a big game for both the Hawks and Senators. Perry Lakes was coming off a disappointing loss at home to the Buccs on Saturday night while Stirling was understandably on a high after winning on the road to Willetton on Friday.

The Senators also scored a spirited 94-87 victory to open the season over the Hawks at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Coming off the loss to Buccs at home, Perry Lakes coach Matt Parsons sent a message to his team by starting 17-year-old Mitch Clarke ahead of import guard Robert Waters and was forced into another throughout the night with Brian Carlwell playing less than 20 minutes due to Ash Litterick's impact.

In the end, the Senators simply wanted it more and they came up with all the hustle plays and some huge offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.

Stirling finished with 18 offensive boards and had 19 second chances points, but down the stretch was when it mattered most.

Litterick caught an offensive board one-handed and put it back in for two points. And then two flying offensive rebounds by both Jayden Coburn and Corban Wroe also proved crucial in the Senators getting the eventual win.

Perry Lakes still gave themselves a chance and trailed by just three points with four minutes left in the game.

But they gave the Senators too many extra possessions, couldn’t win the hustle plays and just didn’t take good enough care of the ball either.

A technical foul called on the bench also caused a halt in any momentum the Hawks had down the stretch.

However, the Senators simply won on the back of wanting it more than the Hawks and it was Litterick who was the dominant player on the floor finishing with 24 points 12 rebounds on 11-of-13 shooting in the best game of his career.

Cody Ellis celebrated his 27th birthday with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals including a dagger three-pointer down the stretch.

Rhys Vague also had 14 points and 12 boards for Stirling with Wroe finishing with six points, six rebounds and three assists.

Senators coach Mike Ellis was delighted with the win particularly because it was based on wanting it more.

"It was all about sheer guts and effort, that's what won it for us. We got the lead in the first instance by executing and playing well, but then Perry Lakes were always going to make a run at us and they did," Ellis said.

"But down the wire, Ash tonight was just huge for us and then right at the end Jayden and Corban had two of the best offensive rebounds you're ever going to see.

"Jaydos has got a serious mark of the day contender right there. That's just all about effort and that's what it's about. If you outwork people then good things happen and that's happened tonight."

Parsons didn’t necessarily get the response he was hoping for from his imports with Waters finishing with just 11 points, five rebounds, here assists and three steals, and Carlwell five points and four boards, but Matthew Adekponya did all he could.

He finished the night with a hard-earned 21 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Ryan Smith added 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Perry Lakes and Ben Purser 12 points, five boards and two assists.

Parsons was left frustrated with his team being outhustled by Stirling for a second time this season and for the Hawks to not respond to Saturday night's loss to the Buccs how he would have hoped.

"I haven’t had a chance to fully reflect yet, but the reality is they wanted it more. That's twice we've played that team now and they've just been more desperate than us," Parsons said.

"We've got to learn and it's no knock on this team in the past, but there's a challenge out to a couple of the players who need to do a little bit more and take themselves out of their comfort zones a little bit.

"But full credit to Mike and the Stirling boys. They came to play for 40 minutes and if any team on any night can't sustain those levels of intensity you are going to end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard."

Week 6 of the Men's SBL will conclude on ANZAC Day with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns playing the Willetton Tigers and the Cockburn Cougars taking on the Rockingham Flames.

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 RESULTS
Stirling Senators 80 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 69

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 Vikki Hile