THE Lakeside Lightning scored an important upset win over the East Perth Eagles in the Men's SBL on Saturday night while the Perth Redbacks bounced back from a Friday loss and the Joondalup Wolves, Geraldton Buccaneers and Stirling Senators kept winning.

Week 7 of the Men's SBL began on Friday night with two big matches that saw the Perry Lakes Hawks defeat the Perth Redbacks 90-85 at Belmont Oasis and the Willetton Tigers work hard to beat the Rockingham Flames 84-68 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

There were then five games on Saturday night with the Geraldton Buccaneers defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 91-81, the Stirling Senators downing the Goldfields Giants 82-79 and the Lakeside Lightning prevailing over the East Perth Eagles 92-78.

The Joondalup Wolves also kept the Mandurah Magic winless in 2017 with a 95-81 victory while the Perth Redbacks bounced back to beat the Cockburn Cougars 107-89.

Week 7 Friday night Men's SBL results 
Week 7 Men's SBL Preview 

The Senators made the trip to Kalgoorlie on a high after last weekend's wins over the Willetton Tigers and Perry Lakes Hawks, but the Giants weren’t in the mood of handing them another win.

Goldfields was desperate for its second win of the season back at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium and it was a tight contest all evening.

The Senators did manage to open a 44-39 half-time advantage but the Giants kept things close although in the end it was Stirling that did enough for the three-point victory.

Ash Litterick continued his outstanding form for the Senators with another 21 points, 14 rebounds and four steals on the back of shooting 9-of-16 from the field.

Cody Ellis also had 21 points and four rebounds for Stirling while Rhys Vague contributed 16 points, 10 boards and five assists, and Corban Wroe 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Giants captain Jacob Holmen top-scored for his team with 19 points and 10 rebounds with JB Pillard adding 17 points and 12 boards, Daniel Forlano 15 points and six assists, and Daniel Goodluck 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Redbacks suffered just their second loss of the season at the hands of the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday night, but they bounced back strongly on Saturday at Wally Hagan Stadium defeating the defending champion Cougars by 18 points.

Shawn Redhage had a night out for the Redbacks with the Perth Wildcats legend delivering 46 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals on the back of shooting 18-of-28 from the field and a perfect 9-of-9 at the foul line.

He had strong support from Ben Smith who had 26 points, four rebounds and four assists nailing 4-of-6 of his three-point attempts.

Joel Wagner also delivered 13 points, eight assists and five rebounds for Perth with Kyle Bowen adding 11 points and five rebounds, and Diing Mawein nine points and seven boards.

Jalen Billups top-scored for the Cougars with 16 points and seven rebounds with Seva Chan adding 15 points, Jaarod Holmes 14 points and seven rebounds, Rhett Della 12 points, Steven Van Lit 11 points and three assists, and Lochlan Cummings 11 points and three assists.

The Magic made the journey to Joondalup Basketball Stadium attempting to win their first game of the season. It was always going to be tough against the Wolfpack and virtually impossible when they scored just six first quarter points.

That saw the Wolves lead by 19 points by quarter-time. Mandurah fought hard from that point and actually won the second and fourth quarters by a combined 13 points, but Joondalup still cruised to the 14-point victory.

The Wolves had plenty of strong contributors with Trian Iliadis finishing with 17 points and five rebounds.

Richard Ross added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Wolfpack with Reece Maxwell contributing 13 points and three boards, Rob Huntington 10 points, three rebounds and three blocked shots, and Rhys Smyth nine points.

Taylor Mullenax did all he could to try and inspire Mandurah with the veteran big man finishing with 28 points and five rebounds.

Will McNeill added 17 points, six rebounds and three steals while Ricky Kreklow had eight points and four assists, Fletcher Klasztorny eight points and eight rebounds, and Damon Ballantyne eight points, 10 boards and four assists.

The Eagles would have been confident of continuing their winning form hosting the Lightning at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, but Lakeside did well to bounce back from four straight losses to win by 14 points despite a slow start.

Devon Atkinson played his best game of the season for the Lightning to help deliver the much-needed victory with 31 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals while shooting 11-of-21 from the field, 2-of-5 from deep and a perfect 7-of-7 at the free-throw line.

Darrell Morgan also returned for Lakeside and contributed 20 points and three rebounds with Corey Shervill contributing 14 points and seven boards, and James Padgett 11 points and nine rebounds.

Kevin Davis top-scored for East Perth off the bench with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Drew Williamson added 19 points, six boards, five assists and two steals while Ngor Manyang had eight points and 11 rebounds, and Corey Easley eight points and eight boards.

The Buccaneers then maintained their hold on top spot in the Men's SBL improving to a 7-1 record with a solid 10-point home victory over the Eastern Suns.

Kalamunda made Geraldton earn the victory at Active West Stadium but the Buccs outscored the Eastern Suns 46 to 34 in the second half to secure the win.

Jackson Hussey had another terrific night for the Buccs with 21 points and six rebounds with Mo Barrow adding 21 points and 13 boards.

Dwayne Benjamin added 17 points and eight rebounds for Geraldton while Matt Hancock contributed 12 points and Mat Wundenberg 10 to go with 11 rebounds.

Courtney Belger top-scored for the Suns with 25 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Brighton Pass finished with 15 points as well for Kalamunda, Kerrod Horn 13 points and four rebounds, and Nathan Drown eight points.

The Week 7 action will conclude on Sunday afternoon with the Willetton Tigers hosting the South West Slammers.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND 7 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Perth Redbacks 85 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 90
Rockingham Flames 68 lost to Willetton Tigers 84

SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 7 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
East Perth Eagles 78 lost to Lakeside Lightning 92
Joondalup Wolves 95 defeated Mandurah Magic 81
Cockburn Cougars 89 lost to Perth Redbacks 107
Geraldton Buccaneers 91 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 81
Goldfields Giants 79 lost to Stirling Senators 82

SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 7 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
Willetton Tigers v South West Slammers – Willetton Basketball Stadium 4pm

Photo by Vikki Hile