THE Rockingham Flames and Geraldton Buccaneers are now well clear as the top-two men's SBL teams after a weekend that included two 40-plus point performances and another nine players hitting 30 or more points.

The Orange Autos Rockingham Flames won once on the weekend and the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers twice to see both now sit six points clear on the standings of the third-placed Joondalup Wolves.

Friday night saw the Perth Redbacks beat the Cockburn Cougars 95-84, the Lakeside Lightning down the Mandurah Magic 118-100 and the Joondalup Wolves win a thriller over the Perry Lakes Hawks 106-103.

On Saturday night the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Joondalup Wolves 125-101 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeated the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 119-112 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 97-68, the Mandurah Magic downed the Perry Lakes Hawks 98-86, the Stirling Senators got over the Willetton Tigers 111-93 and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Perth Redbacks 117-103.

The round then concluded with the one game on Sunday afternoon with the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 118-97 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

At the end of Week 10, the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames remain atop of the standings with a 12-3 record having won three straight matches while the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers are on a four-game winning run with an 11-3 record.

The Joondalup Wolves (8-5) are back in third followed by the Lakeside Lightning (8-5), Mandurah Magic (7-5), Perth Redbacks (8-6), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (7-6) and the Stirling Senators (5-5).

Outside the top-eight are the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (7-8), Perry Lakes Hawks (5-7), Willetton Tigers (4-8), Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars (4-9), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (3-10) and Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (2-11).

It was a big weekend for some stunning individual showings as well with two players scoring 40 points or more, another nine racking up at least 30 points and 24 players getting over the 20-point barrier.

On Friday, Stan Okoye continued his outstanding form for the Redbacks with 42 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 15-of-25 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Dennis Tawhiti also contributed 16 points and six rebounds for Perth with Jarrad Prior adding 11 points.

Gavin Field top-scored for the Cougars with 20 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-6 from three-point territory.

Brad Tinsley and Brad Jackson were both outstanding for the Lightning with Tinsley finishing with 36 points, six assists and four rebounds on the back of shooting 12-of-17 from the field, and Jackson 31 points while shooting 10-of-19 overall, and 6-of-13 from downtown.

Jarrad Prue again pulled in a remarkable 31 rebounds to go with his eight points, three steals and two blocks. Of his 31 rebounds, 13 were on the offensive end.

Taylor Mullenax top-scored for the Magic with 25 points, five rebounds and two blocks with Ben Smith contributing 21 points and eight rebounds.

Seb Salinas continued his outstanding form for the Wolves with another near triple-double on the back of a massive 39 points to go with nine rebounds and nine assists.

Justin Cecil led the way for the Hawks with 28 points and six rebounds while Corey Easley also had a good game with 25 points, 10 boards and seven assists.

Ben Purser also put in a strong all-round performance finishing with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Then on Saturday night, Odartey Blankson was the star for Geraldton finishing with 31 points and eight rebounds on the back of shooting 12-of-19 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Bennie Lewis finished with 24 points as well for the Buccaneers with Aaron Ralph adding 22 points and six rebounds off the bench. Carter Cook also contributed 18 points and seven rebounds while shooting 8-of-14 from the floor for the Buccs.

Seb Salinas again top-scored for the Wolves with 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds with Rob Huntington contributing 21 points, six boards and three assists.

Luke Nevill led the way for the Eastern Suns with 34 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots while shooting 12-of-16 from the field and 10-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Ben Smith also had a good night for the Suns with the skipper finishing with 30 points while hitting 8-of-14 from downtown.

Louis Timms also added 24 points and 12 rebounds with Adhar Mayen adding 15 points, eight boards and six assists.

Duran Blue did all he could for the Giants finishing with 31 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.

Kyle Armour top-scored for the Eagles with 19 points, eight assists and four rebounds while shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from downtown.

Sunday Dech also contributed 17 points and nine rebounds for East Perth while Nikola Donlagic finished with 14 points and Austin Kisselev 10 points to go with six boards.

Perth Wildcats centre Tom Jervis took just the one field goal attempt, and missed, and had only five points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for the night.

His Wildcats teammate Mathiang Muo made his return from a ruptured Achilles tendon and in 18 minutes of court time, finished with eight points and four rebounds despite shooting just 3-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-9 from downtown.

Playing-coach Ty Harrelson led the way for the Slammers with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists with Jonathan Todd Hendley contributing 17 points and Wade Hitchcock 11.

Taylor Mullenax had a terrific night for Mandurah with 28 points and 16 rebounds with Paul Hafford also contributing 28 points, seven boards and four assists. Ben Smith added 27 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 9-of-16 from the field.

Justin Cecil top-scored for the Hawks with 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals but shot just 10-of-28 from the floor and 1-of-11 from long range.

Corey Easley added 23 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, three assists and two steals also for Perry Lakes with Ben Purser contributing 22 points and nine boards.

Austin Bruton top-scored for Stirling with 24 points and seven assists while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 from downtown.

Josh Throns also added 19 points for the Senators, Cory Cooperwood 19 points and 12 rebounds, Cody Ellis 18 points and seven boards, and Jordan Wild 17 points to go with a massive 22 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.

Willetton's two imports again led the way with Quinn McDowell finishing with 35 points and 11 rebounds with John Dickson adding 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Cooper Land came off the bench for the Flames but still played almost 45 minutes and finished with a massive 46 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 15-of-21 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point territory.

Taylor Land also contributed 24 points, nine assists and six rebounds for Rockingham with Andrew Bowman scoring 14 points, Ryan Godfrey 12 and Tom Remmerswaal 11.

Jarrad Prior led the way for the Redbacks with 26 points while Stan Okoye finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Dennis Tawhiti also added 18 points and nine rebounds.

And on Sunday, Odartey Blankson scored 29 points for the Buccaneers with Carter Cook adding 26 and Bennie Lewis 17. Damien Scott led the way for the Cougars with 36 points.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 95 defeated Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 84
Lakeside Lightning 118 defeated Mandurah Magic 100
Perry Lakes Hawks 103 lost to Joondalup Wolves 106

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Joondalup Wolves 101 lost to Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 125
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 112 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 119
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 68 lost to Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 97
Mandurah Magic 98 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 86
Willetton Tigers 93 lost to Stirling Senators 111
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 117 defeated Perth Redbacks 103

SUNDAY'S MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 97 lost to Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 118

Article by Chris Pike