A STUNNING double overtime win over the South West Slammers has kept the East Perth Eagles' women's SBL season alive with the Goldfields Giants also further consolidating their place in the men's top eight with a win on Saturday night.

The four women's matches on Saturday night saw the Mandurah Magic defeat the Perth Redbacks 73-63 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers beat the Stirling Senators 80-56 at Warwick Leisure Centre and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves down the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 103-50 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

And in an incredible double overtime thriller, the Schweigen East Perth Eagles kept their season alive beating the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 88-87 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

It was a massive night of men's action as well with six matches starting with the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants beating the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 99-87 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, and the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers defeating the Lakeside Lightning 110-84 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Perth Redbacks defeated the Mandurah Magic 123-96 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre as well while the Bethanie Stirling Senators downed the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 108-90 at Warwick Leisure Centre, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers defeated the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 108-87 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves beat the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 116-82 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

Starting with the women's action on Saturday night, the Eagles scored a remarkable double overtime win over the Slammers and it's a result that keeps their season alive.

The win means that the Eagles improve to a 7-13 record and remain in touch of the Slammers who slip to 8-11 as a result of the narrow defeat.

It was a thrilling finish to regulation with free-throws from Bianca Donovan breaking the deadlock to give the Slammers a 70-68 lead with just under a minute to go, but Nicole Jorre St Jorre nailed a basket to tie things up and force overtime.

South West did open a 76-72 advantage in the first overtime, but East Perth was able to again tie things up on another shot from Jorre St Jorre with just under a minute remaining.

This time it was Patricia Bright for the Slammers who levelled scores to force a second overtime after Denielle Lipscombe made a pair of free-throws for the Eagles.

The game then had a remarkable finish with the Slammers leading 87-85 after two free-throws by Kate Fielding, but Kelsey Maffin saw the Eagles home on the back of a three-pointer as time expired to keep their season alive.

Lipscombe ended up top-scoring for the Eagles with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Jorre St Jorre contributed 17 points, 10 boards and seven assists, Maffin 14 points and five rebounds, and Haylee DeSousa 12 points off the bench.

Patricia Bright had a massive night for the Slammers with 36 points, 13 rebounds and three steals with Fielding adding 20 points, eight boards and eight assists, and Donovan 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

The Magic consolidated fourth position with their win over the Redbacks improving to a 14-5 record to be two games clear now of the fifth placed Eastern Suns.

Ashlee Sidebottom top-scored for the Magic with 19 points while shooting 8-of-13 from the field.

Casey Mihovilovich added 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Mandurah while Peyton Davis added 12 points and eight boards.

Gabby O'Sullivan top-scored for the Redbacks with 17 points while Meike Elkington contributed 13 points and seven boards, and Gaby Clayton 11 points and six rebounds.

The Lady Wolfpack then hammered the Cougars by 53 points to have now won three straight matches to improve to a 16-4 record in third position while Cockburn slips to 9-12 in sixth.

The Wolves dominated the first half leading 60-37 at half-time but then rammed home their advantage in the second half restricting the Cougars to just 13 points to end up winning by a massive 53.

Rebecca Mercer had a big night for the Wolves with 31 points on the back of shooting 12-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 from three-point territory.

Casey Lockwood contributed 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench for the Lady Wolfpack with Shani Amos adding 12 points, five boards and three assists, Nikita-Lee Martin 12 points and five rebounds, and Chelsea Burns 11 points, six boards, six assists and three steals.

Ellyce Ironmonger also added seven points and 14 rebounds in the big win for Joondalup.

Playing-coach Deanna Smith top-scored for the Cougars with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals while Katie Loberg added 12 points, Kirsty Pitcher nine and Taryn Priestly eight.

The Tigers maintained touch with the league-leading Flames with a 24-point win over the Senators to see them improve to 18-2 to remain just a loss behind the 18-1 Flames.

Louella Tomlinson had another monster game for the Tigers finishing with 29 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, six blocked shots and three steals on the back of shooting 10-of-19 from the field, and 3-of-5 from three-point territory.

Lisa Wallbutton contributed 10 points and five rebounds off the bench while Kate Malpass added 10 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals.

Kate Malpass also finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Tigers while Ebony Antonio had seven points, six boards and two assists.

Lyndal Gardner led the way for the Senators with 20 points and four rebounds with Amber Land working hard for 14 points and 21 boards. Cassie Bates added 12 points, and Sally Heitman five points, six rebounds and three assists.

And then in the massive night of the men's competition, the Giants took another major step towards making the playoffs in 2015 beating the Flames by 12 points on the road.

Goldfields has now won six of its last seven matches to have improved to an 11-12 record to remain two games clear of the chasing Perry Lakes, and to now join the Magic on the same record.

The Flames, meanwhile, remain in fifth spot at 13-10 having beaten the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Friday night.

Once more it was the Giants' three stars who led them to the victory with Jacob Holmen this time the top-scorer with 30 points, 17 rebounds and three assists.

Mathiang Muo added 21 points, 11 rebounds and four steals with Jay Bowie contributing 17 points, seven boards and three assists.

Russell Hurst scored 12 points and had five rebounds off the bench for Goldfields.

Cooper Land top-scored for the Flames with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists with Tom Remmerswaal adding 20 points, Ryan Godfrey 18 and Taylor Land 14 to go with eight rebounds and five assists.

The Lightning's playoffs hopes took another significant hit losing to the Buccaneers at home by 26 points with Lakeside now slipping to 9-15 having lost five straight games while the Buccs stopped a two-game losing slide to consolidate second spot at 18-5.

Bennie Lewis top-scored for the Buccaneers with 32 points and eight assists with Carter Cook contributing 28 points, nine steals, eight rebounds and six assists, Aaron Ralph 21 points and nine boards, and Mat Wundenberg 14 points, 22 rebounds and five assists.

Jordan Swing worked hard for the Lightning with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists with Brad Jackson contributing 16 points, Jesse Dixon 12 and Luke Thomas 11 to go with six boards. Jarrad Prue also pulled in 22 rebounds.

The Magic again missed a chance to secure their place in the top eight suffering a fifth straight defeat with the Redbacks winning by 27 points in Mandurah. The win also keeps the Redbacks' hopes alive improving them to 9-14 while the Magic slip to 11-12.

Ben Smith had a massive night for the Redbacks in the win finishing with 37 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals on the back of shooting 13-of-24 from the floor, 6-of-16 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the foul line.

Marshall Nelson had a big impact off the bench as well with 26 points and nine rebounds shooting 8-of-16 from the floor and 4-of-9 from deep.

Ray Turner also contributed 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Perth shooting 12-of-17 with Raphiael Putney adding 17 points, nine boards and four assists.

Ben Smith top-scored for the Magic with 19 points and 14 rebounds with Jarrad Jackson adding 17 points, Paul Hafford 15, Taylor Mullenax 14 and Beau Samuelson 12.

The Senators have played three thrillers over the last week and only come away with the one win, but they put together a strong performance at home to Willetton on Saturday night beating the Tigers by 18 points.

Captain Cody Ellis again led the way for the Senators with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots while nailing 5-of-10 from downtown.

Austin Bruton added 22 points, four boards and four assists for Stirling while Josh Throns contributed 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, and Kyle Lindbergh 11 points and 16 boards.

Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 17 points and five rebounds with Kyle Armour adding 16 points, Nic Cody 15 and Mitch Clarke 12.

The Slammers then consolidated third position with a 21-point win over the defending champion Eagles who were undermanned but have been in good form. As a result of the win, South West improves to a 16-7 record to move a game clear of the fourth placed Cougars.

The Slammers got the important win and had some tremendous performances along the way with Tre Nichols finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Clive Weeden 25 points and six boards.

Trent Worthington also had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the absence of Ty Harrelson with Brian Voelkel adding 15 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists in yet another triple-double. Jordan Hickert also contributed 11 points off the bench for South West.

Jamie Barnett top-scored for the Eagles with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists with Rhys Vague adding 19 points and 10 rebounds, Drew Williamson 12 points, six assists and five boards, and Brighton Pass 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves again further cemented their place on top of the men's SBL standings with a 34-point thumping of the Cougars who do remain two games clear in fourth despite the heavy defeat.

Rob Huntington top-scored for the Wolves with 27 points and nine rebounds while Trian Iliadis added 21 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals.

Kevin Davis also had 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Wolfpack with Seb Salinas contributing 18 points, six assists, four boards and two steals.

Najee Lane finished with 22 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars while Gavin Field added 21 points, seven boards, three assists and three blocked shots, Eric Milam 20 points and seven rebounds, and Steven Van Lit 10 points.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 73 defeated Perth Redbacks 63
Stirling Senators 56 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 80
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 87 lost to Schweigen East Perth Eagles 88
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 103 defeated Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 50

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 87 lost to Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 99
Lakeside Lightning 84 lost to S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 110
Mandurah Magic 96 lost to Perth Redbacks 123
Bethanie Stirling Senators 108 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 90
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 108 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 87
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 116 defeated Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 82

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin