Cougars, Buccs, Giants, Wolves, Tigers win ahead of playoffs (Week 20 Men's SBL Wrap)

The Cockburn Cougars, Geraldton Buccaneers, Goldfields Giants, Joondalup City Wolves and Willetton Tigers all won their final games of the regular season on the weekend to take winning form into the 2015 men's SBL playoffs while the Perth Redbacks and Mandurah Magic finished on a high.

There was just one men's match to open the final round of the regular season on Friday night and it saw the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 108-101 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

It was a big Saturday night of men's action to close out the regular season starting with the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Bethanie Stirling Senators 128-105 at Active West Stadium, and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants downing the Lakeside Lightning 99-92 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Perth Redbacks defeated the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 115-102 at Eaton Recreation Centre while the Mandurah Magic downed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 132-114 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves also beat the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 124-99 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeated the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 96-83 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

That means that the final placings in the top eight in the men's competition were the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (23-3), S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers (20-6), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (17-9), Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (17-9), Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames (15-11), Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (14-12), Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (14-12) and Perry Lakes Hawks (12-14).

That sets up the playoff battles between the Wolves and Hawks; Buccaneers and Giants; Slammers and Tigers; and Cougars and Flames.

Meanwhile, the season is over for the Mandurah Magic (12-14), Bethanie Stirling Senators (10-16), Perth Redbacks (10-16), Lakeside Lightning (9-17), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (7-19) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-24).

There were again some outstanding individual performances across the weekend starting on Friday night with Eric Milam top-scoring for the Cougars in the win finishing the night with 27 points and seven rebounds while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor, and 7-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Gavin Field also finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds, five blocked shots and three assists for Cockburn while Najee Lane contributed 18 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals, Julian Pesava 12 points and nine rebounds, and Grant Davey 10 points, six assists and five boards.

Bryton Hobbs did all he could to try and keep Perry Lakes' winning streak going heading into the playoffs with 37 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Ryan Smith added 20 points for the Hawks, Ben Purser 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Ben Dixon 10 points.

Then on Saturday night, Carter Cook had a standout night for the Buccaneers with 35 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 13-of-19 from the floor.

Bennie Lewis added 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Geraldton as well with Aaron Ralph finishing with 16 points and Mat Wundenberg 15 to go with 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Cody Ellis top-scored for the Senators to finish the season with 22 points, five assists and four rebounds while Caleb Davis had 20 points, nine boards and four assists.

Austin Bruton added 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for Stirling as well with Nikolas Iliadis contributing 19 points and Josh Throns 11.

Jacob Holmen was the star of the night for the Giants with 36 points and 11 rebounds on the back of shooting 15-of-26 from the field.

Mathiang Muo added 24 points as well for Goldfields nailing 4-of-6 from downtown with Jay Bowie contributing 12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Brad Jackson top-scored for the Lightning with 19 points while Jordan Swing finished with 17 points, Luke Thomas 14 points and eight rebounds, Jesse Dixon 12 points and Corey Martin 12 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals.

Ray Turner ensured he will be right in the MVP mix for 2015 with 38 points, 20 rebounds and five assists to close the season for the Redbacks while shooting 17-of-22 from the field.

Raphiael Putney also finished with 31 points and 11 boards for Perth with Ben Smith contributing 17 points, Marshall Nelson 12 (seven rebounds) and Joel Wagner nine to go with nine assists and seven boards.

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 45 points on the back of hitting 15-of-28 from the floor and 8-of-13 from three-point territory.

Jordan Hickert added 21 points and 12 rebounds for South West, Wade Hitchcock 14 points and five boards, and Brian Voelkel eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Paul Hafford finished the season in style for the Magic with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists while hitting 9-of-17 from the field, and 6-of-13 from beyond the arc.

Ben Smith contributed 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for Mandurah while Rhett Della added 18 points, five boards, five steals and here assists, Jarrad Jackson 14 points, Daniel Florance 14 points and 12 rebounds, Brendan Della 12 points and six assists, and Taylor Mullenax 12 points and six rebounds.

Jaarod Holmes did all he could for the Eastern Suns finishing with 27 points, 18 rebounds and five assists but Kevin Anthony was unstoppable ending the season with 40 points, six boards and three assists.

Geordie Murray also had 17 points for the Suns, Ryan Blanchett nine points, Andrew Dunnell eight and James Pado eight to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

Kevin Davis top-scored for the Wolfpack with 25 points and eight rebounds while hitting 9-of-11 from the field.

Trian Iliadis added 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals as well for the Wolves hitting 8-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three-point territory.

Rob Huntington also finished with 19 points for Joondalup, Jordan Wellsteed 16 and Seb Salinas 12.

Captain Drew Williamson finished on a high for the Eagles with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists with Andrej Donlagic adding 17 points, Rhys Vague 15, Brighton Pass 13 and Jared Zornada eight to go with 12 rebounds.

Damien Scott led the way for the Tigers with 28 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals with Kyle Armour adding 16 points, five boards and three assists, and Corey Easley 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Ephrem Davis also contributed 12 points and 21 rebounds for Willetton, Nic Cody 11 points and Mitch Clarke 11 points along with five rebounds and four assists.

Cooper Land led the way for the Flames with 24 points and 15 rebounds with Taylor Land adding 21 points and eight boards, Andrew Bowman 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Ryan Godfrey 12 points.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 101 lost to Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 108

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 128 defeated Bethanie Stirling Senators 105
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 99 defeated Lakeside Lightning 92
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 102 lost to Perth Redbacks 115
Mandurah Magic 132 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 114
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 99 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 124
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 96 defeated Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 83

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin




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