Week 8 Saturday night Men's SBL results
IT was a night of upsets in the Men's SBL on Saturday with the Mandurah Magic, South West Slammers, Lakeside Lightning and Goldfields Giants winning against the odds while the Willetton Tigers beat the Cockburn Cougars in a double overtime classic.
Week 8 of the Men's SBL began on Friday night with the Joondalup Wolves beating the Stirling Senators 103-87 at Warwick Stadium and the Perth Redbacks defeating the Rockingham Flames 90-73 at Belmont Oasis.
Then on Saturday night, the Lakeside Lightning defeated the Geraldton Buccaneers 91-84, the Mandurah Magic beat the East Perth Eagles 107-96, the South West Slammers downed the Perry Lakes Hawks 82-69 and the Goldfields Giants prevailed over the Rockingham Flames 84-77.
Finally it was a double overtime cracker at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Willetton Tigers ending up winning over the Cockburn Cougars 120-118.
Week 8 Friday night Men's SBL results
Wolfpack not afraid to change up to stay ahead of curve
Senators need to maintain same high energy when full strength
The upsets on Saturday night began at Active West Stadium with the Lightning heading to Geraldton and handing the Buccs a seven-point defeat.
The Buccaneers have now lost two games this season and both on their home floor.
It was a big win for the Lightning who improve to 5-5 as a result and they set it up with a massive opening three quarters.
Lakeside led by five points after the first quarter, 18 by half-time and 24 by three quarter-time before surviving a comeback by the home side to win by seven.
Big man James Padgett was the star for the Lightning with 32 points and 15 rebounds.
But he had plenty of help with Corey Shervill finishing with 16 points and five rebounds, Michael Garbellini 15 points, Darrell Morgan 10 points and seven boards, and Devon Atkinson eight points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Dwayne Benjamin still had 29 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks despite the loss for the Buccs with Mo Barrow finishing with 18 points and seven boards, Jackson Hussey 14 points and Mat Wundenberg eight to go with 11 rebounds.
It was another upset at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre with Mandurah recording its first win of 2017 under new coach Aaron Trahair, beating East Perth by 11 points.
After starting the season with seven straight losses, it was an impressive showing by the Magic led by 23 points and three steals from veteran big man Taylor Mullenax. He shot 8-of-11 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.
Ricky Kreklow delivered an improved performance too for Mandurah with 19 points and five boards while Will McNeill showed encouraging signs with 16 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
It was the amount of contributors the Magic had that was most impressive with Damon Ballantyne adding 12 points and four rebounds, Tom Remmerswaal 12 points, Daniel Munday 11 points and five assists, and Ryan Curtis eight points.
It was a tough loss for Eagles despite the best efforts of Kevin Davis who had 33 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Drew Williamson added 21 points for the Eagles while Mason Bragg had 10 points, Kevin Anthony nine and Corey Easley eight.
It was then a fascinating night at Eaton Recreation Centre with new Slammers coach Charles Nix going up against his former Perry Lakes team for the first time.
It was the Slammers who took out their third victory of the season as well with the home team managing to beat the Hawks by 13 points.
Tre Nichols again did his job for the Slammers with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists, but he received plenty of help on the night.
Michael Lay delivered 13 points, four rebounds and four assists with Clive Weeden adding 12 points and three boards, Brian Voelkel 12 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and six steals, and Chris Douglas nine points and five boards.
Brian Carlwell finished with 16 points and five rebounds for Perry Lakes with Matthew Adekponya contributing 16 points and 10 boards, Rob Waters 13 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Ben Purser 12 points and six boards.
The Giants then recorded their second victory of 2017 beating the Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Complex by seven points.
Goldfields blew the game open with 29 points to 15 in the third quarter to improve to a 2-7 record while Rockingham slips to 2-8 having now lost six straight.
JB Pillard led the way for the Giants finishing with 24 points and 10 rebounds shooting 10-of-14 from the floor.
Jacob Holmen added 17 points and seven rebounds with Miles Tierney contributing 16 points, Jerome Reid 10 points and Luke Pike eight.
Donovan Jack worked hard inside for Rockingham and delivered 25 point and 12 rebounds with Vinny Zollo adding 19 points and eight boards, and Beau Samuelson 14 points.
While there were some upsets elsewhere, the undoubted game of the night and match of the season so far took place at Wally Hagan Stadium between the Cougars and Tigers.
The two teams also played out a great contest earlier in the season at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Cougars prevailing on that night on the back of 37 points and 15 rebounds from Jalen Billups.
But the Tigers were without Ray Turner in that game and he proved the difference ultimately on Saturday night. His tip-in with four seconds remaining of the second overtime period put Willetton up by that two points and they ended up winning 120-118.
Turner did much more than just make the winning basket though. The 2015 league MVP delivered 43 points, 24 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots on the back of shooting 18-of-30 from the field and 7-of-11 at the charity stripe.
Damien Scott added 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Tigers with Jay Bowie contributing 18 points, Kyle Armour 13 to go with eight assists, Andrew Black 10 points and five assists, and Nic Cody nine points and four boards.
Billups had another monster performance in a remarkable battle with Turner finishing with 40 points, 16 rebounds and three assists. He shot 17-of-30 from the field, 2-of-5 from three and 4-of-8 at the line.
Gavin Field also delivered 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for the Cougars while Rhett Della added 11 points and seven boards, Lochlan Cummings 11 points, Seva Chan 10 points and five assists, and Steven Van Lit nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
Now on Sunday, the Cockburn Cougars face off with the Goldfields Giants and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns take on the South West Slammers.
FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND 8 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Stirling Senators 87 lost to Joondalup Wolves 103
Perth Redbacks 90 defeated Rockingham Flames 73
SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 8 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Geraldton Buccaneers 84 lost to Lakeside Lightning 91
South West Slammers 82 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 69
East Perth Eagles 96 lost to Mandurah Magic 107
Cockburn Cougars 118 lost to Willetton Tigers 120
Rockingham Flames 77 lost to Goldfields Giants 84
SUNDAY ROUND 8 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
Cockburn Cougars v Goldfields Giants – Wally Hagan Stadium 12pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v South West Slammers – Ray Owen Sports Centre 2pm
Photo by Vikki Hile
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