THE Joondalup Wolves and Cockburn Cougars kept winning in Week 19 of the Men's SBL to set up a final round battle over top spot while several teams stayed in the race for a top four finish, and the Perry Lakes Hawks and East Perth Eagles remain fighting over eighth.

The Wolves beat the Perth Redbacks and the Cougars defeated the Mandurah Magic to see both enter this Friday's clash at Wally Hagan Stadium on 21-4 records with top spot to be decided.

The Willetton Tigers, Geraldton Buccaneers, Rockingham Flames and Stirling Senators all won over the weekend as they fight over third and fourth position with one round remaining while the Hawks and Eagles both lost with neither securing eighth position as yet.

There were three matches on Friday night with the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 108-75, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves downing the Texture WA Perth Redbacks 103-75 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeating the Lakeside Lightning 104-101.

Then on Saturday, the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 113-88, the Print Sync South West Slammers defeated the Mandurah Magic 125-96 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers downed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 125-104.

The Texture WA Perth Redbacks also beat the Lakeside Lightning 97-82, the Bethanie Stirling Senators defeated the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 112-100 and the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames downed the Perry Lakes Hawks 93-90.

With one round of the season remaining, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (21-4) and Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars (21-4) are locked in a battle over the minor premiership with the two to meet this Friday night at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (17-8) remain in third position after their two Week 19 victories with the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers (17-8) staying fourth.

The Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames (16-9) are fifth, the Bethanie Stirling Senators (16-9) sixth and Texture WA Perth Redbacks (15-10) seventh.

The Perry Lakes Hawks (10-15) and Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (10-15) remained locked in a battle over eighth position with the Hawks finishing this Friday at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and East Perth taking on the Rockingham Flames.

The Lakeside Lightning (7-18) are in 10th spot followed by the Print Sync South West Slammers (7-18), Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (7-18), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (6-19) and Mandurah Magic (5-20).

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Week 19 Friday night SBL wrap 

There were a host of star individual performances across the weekend as well starting on Friday night with Daniel Alexander delivering a huge effort the Lightning despite his team ending up losing to the Tigers in a thriller.

Alexander finished with 43 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for Lakeside with Daniel Grida adding 11 points and four boards, and Matt Vinci 10 points.

The Tigers won the game, though, with Jay Bowie ending the night with 30 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals with Charles Funches contributing 17 points, five boards and two blocks, and Kyle Armour 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Damien Scott also had 16 points and four rebounds for Willetton, Nic Cody 11 points and seven boards, and Josh Johnson 10 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.

The Cougars beat the Magic on the road by 33 points with Marcus Goode again leading the way with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Rhett Della added 20 points, eight boards and three assists, Najee Lane 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals and the returning Gavin Field 14 points and four boards.

Trevor Setty top-scored for the Magic with 22 points, four rebounds and four assists while Ben Smith contributed 19 points and 10 boards, and James Paringatai 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves beat the Redbacks by 28 points with Trian Iliadis top-scoring with 21 points. Greg Hire added 19 points and eight rebounds, Kevin Davis 17 points and 12 boards, Rob Huntington 15 points and eight rebounds, and Seb Salinas 12 points, five boards and three assists.

Ben Smith finished with 20 points for the Redbacks with Jourdan DeMuynck contributing 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals, Joel Wagner 10 points and three assists, and Lewis Thomas 10 points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Then on Saturday night, the Flames won a three-point thriller over the Hawks with Cooper Land again leading the way with 20 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two assists. Taylor Land added 19 points, eight assists and four boards.

Ryan Godfrey also had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists for Rockingham, Chudier Pal 12 points and 16 boards, and Justin Beard 10 points, three boards and two blocked shots.

Bryton Hobbs had a big night for the Hawks with 35 points, 11 rebounds and three assists with Brian Carlwell finishing with 21 points, 10 boards, five assists, two steals and two blocks.

The Senators beat the Eagles at home by 12 points with Cody Ellis outstanding with 35 points, three blocks, three steals and three assists while nailing 9-of-14 from three-point range.

AJ Majstrovich contributed 26 points and seven rebounds for Stirling, Kyle Lindbergh 18 points, 14 boards, six assists and three steals, and Ashley Litterick 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Rhys Vague top-scored for East Perth with 23 points, 19 rebounds and five assists while Nikola Donlagic finished with 20 points and six boards.

Joe-Alan Tupaea added 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Eagles, Tom Jervis 12 points and seven rebounds, Amen Osayande 11 points and four boards, and Thomas Korf 10 points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists.

The Redbacks bounced back from losing on Friday to beat the Lightning on Saturday with Jourdan DeMuynck leading the scoring with 19 points to go with 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Ben Smith added 16 points and five rebounds for Perth, Joel Wagner 14 points, six boards, four steals and two assists, Lewis Thomas 14 points and nine rebounds, and Simon Lokan 12 points, five boards and three assists.

TJ Hallice ended up top-scoring for the Lightning with 26 points, 10 rebounds and three steals with Daniel Alexander adding 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Daniel Grida 14 points, seven boards, three steals and two assists.

The Tigers beat the Eastern Suns by 21 points on the road with Lachlan Evans having the standout night so far of his young career with 27 points on 7-of-16 shooting from downtown.

Jay Bowie added 25 points and seven rebounds for Willetton, Charles Funches 14 points, six boards and four blocks, Andrew Black 13 points, eight assists, four steals, three blocked shots and two rebounds, Daniel Casey 11 points and nine boards, and Nic Cody 11 points.

Courtney Belger top-scored for the Suns with 30 points, eight rebounds, six steals and four assists while Tim Squire contributed 18 points, four boards and two steals.

The Slammers ended their losing run with a 29-point win over the Magic on the back of a massive performance from Tre Nichols who finished with 51 points, seven assists, six steals and four rebounds on shooting 16-of-29 from the field, 7-of-12 from deep and 12-of-13 from the stripe.

Corey Easley added 27 points and six rebounds for South West and Clive Weeden 21 points and 12 boards.

Trevor Setty top-scored for the Magic with 30 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists while Ben Smith finished with 20 points and 23 boards, James Paringatai 10 points and seven rebounds, and Tom Remmerswaal 10 points, five assists and four boards.

The Buccs travelled to Kalgoorlie and came away with the 28-point victory with Maurice Barrow leading the way with 29 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists.

Matthew Adekponya added 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Buccaneers, Jackson Hussey 22 points, seven boards and six assists, Carter Cook 13 points and five rebounds, and Mat Wundenberg eight points and 13 boards.

Jacob Holmen top-scored for the Giants with 26 points and six rebounds with Kenny Manigault contributing 25 points, eight assists and seven boards, and Russell Hurst 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 75 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 108
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 75 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 103
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 104 defeated Lakeside Lightning 101

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 85 lost to S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 113
Perry Lakes Hawks 90 lost to Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 93
Bethanie Stirling Senators 112 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 100
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 97 defeated Lakeside Lightning 82
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 104 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 125
Mandurah Magic 96 lost to Print Sync South West Slammers 125

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography