IF GERALDTON wants to finish on top of the men's competition at the end of the 2014 SBL regular season, the Redbacks, Eagles or Senators fourth and the Magic, Wolves or Slammers in the playoffs at all, then they simply need to record victories this weekend.

Heading into the penultimate round of the regular season, every spot inside the top eight remains up for grabs with the Buccaneers trying to fend off the Flames and Lightning for the minor premiership.

The Redbacks, Eagles, Senators, Magic, Wolves and Slammers are then locked in a fight for positions from fourth to eighth with one of them to miss out on post-season action altogether.

There are three matches taking place on Friday night in the men's SBL with the Lakeside Lightning playing the Stirling Senators at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames taking on the Perry Lakes Hawks at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars battling the Perth Redbacks at Wally Hagan Stadium.

All three of the Friday night fixtures tip-off at 8.30pm.

The defending champion Lightning host the Senators on Friday in a match with plenty on the line for both.

Lakeside currently sits in third position with a 15-9 record while Stirling sits in sixth but only one game behind on 14-10 and having won three games on the trot.

The Lightning can keep their hopes of a top two finish alive with a victory while the Senators can remain in the hunt for a top four finish themselves if victorious.

The two teams met earlier this season in Week 11 with the Lightning scoring a thumping 118-80 win over the Senators at Warwick Leisure Centre.

The current second-placed Flames take on the all but out of contention Hawks with Rockingham currently sitting on a 16-8 record in second position in the standings despite having lost three of its last four matches.

Perry Lakes might have won two of its last three games, but the Hawks will need to win their remaining three matches and need some luck to go their way this weekend and next to remain a chance of playing finals in 2014.

Rockingham and Perry Lakes met back in Week 12 with the Flames winning 121-102 over the Hawks at WA Basketball Centre.

The Cougars can't make the playoffs but they would still like to finish the regular season on a positive note starting this Friday against the fourth-placed Redbacks.

Cockburn now sits in 11th position on the standings with a 9-15 record having lost its last five matches while Perth holds fourth spot with a 14-9 record and a three-match winning streak.

However, to remain in that fourth position the Redbacks need to keep winning with the Eagles, Senators, Magic, Wolves and even Slammers breathing down their necks.

The Cougars and Redbacks last met back in Week 10 this season with Perth winning that encounter 95-84 at Belmont Oasis.

Then on Saturday night there are four big clashes with the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers facing the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants taking on the Mandurah Magic and Kambalda Recreation Centre.

Both those matches tip-off at 7.30pm.

Then at 8pm, the Perth Redbacks host the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Belmont Oasis and the Joondalup Wolves take on the Willetton Tigers at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The Slammers might currently sit outside the top eight but with a win over the league-leading Buccaneers on Saturday night suddenly they will shoot back into contention not only to make the playoffs, but to make the top four.

South West has won three of its last four matches to currently sit on a 13-11 record while Geraldton does also need to win to remain on top of the standings.

The Buccaneers have now lost two straight matches and three of their last four to slip to a 17-6 record to only be one game ahead of the second-placed Flames and only two in front of the third-placed Lightning.

The Slammers and Buccaneers last met in Week 4 way back on April 5 with Geraldton winning on that occasion 120-100 at Active West Stadium.

The Magic can't afford to slip up against the Giants in Kambalda on Saturday night but Goldfields will be determined to end an eight-match losing streak at the same time.

Mandurah currently sits in seventh position with a 13-10 record but the Magic could find themselves outside of the top eight by the end of the weekend without a win over the bottom-placed Giants.

The Giants and Magic played only back in Week 15 with Mandurah winning that clash 117-102 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Redbacks and Eagles are two teams battling over a top four finish headings towards the playoffs when they meet on Saturday night.

Perth currently holds that fourth position now heading into the weekend before the Redbacks play the Cougars on Friday night while the Eagles come into the clash fresh and on a four-match winning streak with a 14-10 record in fifth position.

The two clubs played earlier in 2014 back in Week 5 with the Redbacks winning on that occasion 106-88 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Tigers can no longer make the playoffs with a 8-14 record to now be five games out of eighth position with just four matches of its regular season remaining.

The Wolves can't afford to drop the game against a dangerous Tigers team on Saturday night, though, with Joondalup clinging to eighth position with a 13-11 record.

Willetton and Joondalup played back in the opening round of the 2014 season with the Wolves winning on that occasion 107-88 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The round then concludes with two more matches on Sunday afternoon starting at midday with the Willetton Tigers facing the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers at Willetton Basketball Stadium before at 2pm, the Perry Lakes Hawks play the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at the WA Basketball Centre.

The Tigers can no longer make the playoffs and the Buccaneers need to win to hold on to top spot, but Geraldton wouldn’t have forgotten how dangerous Willetton is based on their last encounter.

Willetton and Geraldton last met in Week 15 and on that occasion the Tigers upset the league-leaders 115-106 at Active West Stadium.

The Hawks will know if they remain a playoff chance or not by the time they take on the Eastern Suns on Saturday night following their match with the Flames on Friday.

Perry Lakes comes into the weekend on 10-13 and needing to win its last three matches and hoping for the best with other results. They need to win themselves, though, for that to matter.

Kalamunda currently sits in second last position with a 6-18 record but has enough talent to give the Hawks a real run for their money though.

The Hawks and Suns met back in Week 13 with Perry Lakes winning a thriller 97-96 over Kalamunda that night at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

WEEK 19 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Stirling Senators, Lakeside Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames v Perry Lakes Hawks, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 8.30pm
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars v Perth Redbacks, Wally Hagan Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers, Eaton Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants v Mandurah Magic, Kambalda Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Perth Redbacks v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Belmont Oasis 8pm
Joondalup Wolves v Willetton Tigers, Joondalup Basketball Centre 8pm

SUNDAY
Willetton Tigers v Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers, Willetton Basketball Stadium 12pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, WA Basketball Centre 2pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography