TWO exciting import guards led their teams to impressive Men's SBL wins over Easter while Goldfields pair Kenny Manigault and Jacob Holmen led the Giants to two strong road victories in less than 24 hours.

The Easter Round of SBL action began back on Thursday and once again Perry Lakes star Bryton Hobbs led the Hawks to a second straight win to open 2016, this time over the Mandurah Magic at Bendat Basketball Centre 107-88.

Then on Saturday night, the South West Slammers bounced back from a horror start to 2016 last Saturday against the defending champion Joondalup Wolves by inspiring the home team to a 96-93 win over the Lakeside Lightning at Eaton Recreation Centre.

And over the course of Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, the Giants beat the East Perth Eagles 107-101 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and Kalamunda Eastern Suns 121-117 at Ray Owen Sports Centre for their opening two victories of 2016 with Manigault and Holmen both outstanding.

Also on Thursday night to open Week 2 of the 2016 season, the Willetton Tigers beat the Stirling Senators at Willetton Basketball Stadium and the Joondalup Wolves downed the Rockingham Flames 113-106 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

Then also on Saturday night, the Cockburn Cougars defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 153-109 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Perth Redbacks 98-92 at Active West Stadium.

And finally on Easter Monday, the Rockingham Flames beat the East Perth Eagles 93-84 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Following the first two weeks of the season, the Joondalup Wolves (2-0), Cockburn Cougars (2-0) and Perry Lakes Hawks (2-0) remain unbeaten.

The Geraldton Buccaneers, Willetton Tigers, Rockingham Flames and Goldfields Giants all sit on 2-1 records with the Mandurah Magic and South West Slammers both 1-1.

The Perth Redbacks and Lakeside Lightning both currently hold 1-2 records while the East Perth Eagles (0-3), Stirling Senators (0-2) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (0-3) are still winless.

The Week 2 Men's SBL Team of the Week has been named with it made up of Bryton Hobbs, Tre Nichols, Jay Bowie, Kenny Manigault and Jacob Holmen.

Hobbs is the only player to back up from being named in the Team of the Week from the opening round as he delivered another outstanding performance in the win over the Magic.

He finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He shot 10-of-22 from the floor, 3-of-8 from long range and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.

The Slammers bounced back after an opening round 58-point defeat at the hands of the Wolves beating the Lightning by three points on Saturday with Nichols the star.

He finished with a stunning 42 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists shooting 19-of-35 from the floor.

Bowie was one of the big moves in the off-season going from the Giants to Tigers, and he showed how important he will be in Thursday's 14-point win over the Senators.

Bowie had the high of the round with 45 points on the back of 18-of-28 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 from downtown.

The Giants' two imports then had two impressive showings against the Eagles and Suns.

Starting on Saturday night against East Perth, Holmen put in a dominant showing with 37 points and 19 rebounds hitting 16-of-32 from the floor. Manigault added 30 points and six rebounds shooting 12-of-18.

And then on Sunday against Kalamunda, Holmen finished with 38 points, 21 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots shooting 15-of-31 from the floor.

Manigault also had 38 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocks shooting 12-of-24.

They weren’t the only standout performers across the weekend and starting on Thursday, Bowie had plenty of help against the Senators with Kyle Armour scoring 26 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and four steals for Willetton.

Cody Ellis was the standout for Stirling with 26 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks. Kyle Lindbergh contributed 20 points, 12 boards, six assists and three steals while AJ Majstrovich finished with 23 points and six rebounds.

Hobbs wasn’t the only star for the Hawks with Ben Purser contributing 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Trevor Setty had a big night for the Magic with 30 points and 17 rebounds with Ben Smith contributing 25 points and 11 boards.

The Wolves continued their unbeaten start to the season beating the Flames with Kevin Davis outstanding with 26 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks with Trian Iliadis adding 26 points, three boards, three assists and three steals from the bench.

The Flames got 32 points and six assists from Ryan Godfrey while Cooper Land added 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Jarryd Griffin also had 18 points and 10 boards. Chudier Pal had a strong showing as well with 12 points and 20 rebounds.

Rockingham bounced back on Monday beating East Perth by nine points with Land outstanding with 37 points and 12 rebounds. Pal added 19 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots, and Griffin 12 points and 11 boards.

Nichols had good support as the Slammers got their first win of 2016 with Royal Crouch contributing 22 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Wade Hitchcock also had 12 points and six boards, and Trent Worthington grabbed 14 rebounds.

The Lightning were best served by Daniel Alexander who had 27 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots. TJ Hallice contributed 24 points and 11 boards while Corey Martin had a double-double made up of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cougars piled on 153 points to beat the Suns by 44 points on Saturday night with Gavin Field scoring 33 points, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

Marcus Goode also had 20 points and 19 boards for Cockburn, Rhett Della 21 points and eight rebounds, Julian Pesava 20 points, five rebounds and three assists, Najee Lane 17 points and Dan Thomas 16 points and six assists.

Tim Squire top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 17 points while Kerrod Horn had 15 points and seven boards and Anthony Edgar 13 points and nine rebounds.

Then on Sunday, Geordie Murray finished with 23 points for Kalamunda, Horn 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals, Brandon McGill 17 points and nine boards, and Squire 15 points and four rebounds.

The Giants provided good support to Manigault and Holmen as well with Russell Hurst providing 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, and Daniel Goodluck 13 points.

Then on Sunday, Ezra Nikora also had 13 points and six assists for Goldfields and Hurst nine points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Drew Williamson began his good weekend for the Eagles with 30 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals shooting 10-of-17 from the floor, and 4-of-10 from deep.

Rhys Vague added 20 points and 10 rebounds for East Perth, Thomas Korf 18 points, five boards and four assists, and Nikola Donlagic 17 points and eight rebounds.

Williamson then had another 22 points, eight assists and four rebounds in Monday's loss to the Flames shooting 9-of-14 from the floor.

Korf added 16 points and eight boards, Vague 15 points and 12 rebounds, Donlagic 13 points and seven boards, and Brendan Dinardo 11 points.

Maurice Barrow once again led the way for the Buccaneers in their win over the Redbacks with 29 points and rebounds. Carter Cook added 26 points and 10 boards, and Matthew Adekponya 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Redbacks got another big performance out of Jourdan DeMuynck who had 29 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists with Reed McConnell adding 22 points and eight boards, and Ben Smith 20 points, four rebounds and three assists.

WEEK 2 MEN'S TEAM OF THE WEEK
Bryton Hobbs (Perry Lakes Hawks)
Tre Nichols (South West Slammers)
Jay Bowie (Willetton Tigers)
Kenny Manigault (Goldfields Giants)
Jacob Holmen (Goldfields Giants)

THURSDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Willetton Tigers 113 defeated Stirling Senators 99
Perry Lakes Hawks 107 defeated Mandurah Magic 88
Joondalup Wolves 113 defeated Rockingham Flames 106

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
East Perth Eagles 101 lost to Goldfields Giants 107
Geraldton Buccaneers 98 defeated Perth Redbacks 92
South West Slammers 96 defeated Lakeside Lightning 93
Cockburn Cougars 153 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 109

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 117 lost to Goldfields Giants 121

MONDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Rockingham Flames 93 defeated East Perth Eagles 84

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin