Tantalising finish to regular season awaits (Week 20 Men's SBL Preview)

A FASCINATING final round of the 2014 men's SBL season awaits on Friday and Saturday night with nine teams still in playoff contention meaning one club is going to wake up Sunday morning disappointed their campaign is over for another year.

The Geraldton Buccaneers are guaranteed of the minor premiership and the Rockingham Flames will finish second no matter what happens with Week 20 action but that's where the certainties end heading into the weekend.

The Perth Redbacks can guarantee third position with a win over the Willetton Tigers while the Lakeside Lightning can also secure fourth place with a win over the Joondalup Wolves, but if either of those don't eventuate the whole last six places in the top eight get thrown up in the air.

The Joondalup Wolves, South West Slammers and Mandurah Magic can all still miss out on the playoffs altogether with all the positions between fifth and eighth right up in the air heading into the weekend, and possibly even third and fourth as well depending on how the Redbacks and Lightning go.

There are three men's SBL matches on Friday night in the final round of the season with the Lakeside Lightning taking on the Joondalup Wolves at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Mandurah Magic playing the Willetton Tigers at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre and the Stirling Senators facing the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames at Warwick Leisure Centre.

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

The defending champion Lightning and last year's runner-up Wolves meet in the second grand final rematch of 2014 with plenty on the line.

Lakeside enters the contest with a 15-10 record in fourth position position but having lost three of its last four matches while Joondalup is in sixth spot with a 14-11 record and a three-match winning streak.

It is the last match of the regular season for both teams with a win for the Lightning meaning they will at least finish in fourth position, and possibly third if the Perth Redbacks lose to the Willetton Tigers.

A loss will mean that the Lightning aren’t able to finish in the top four and could end up anywhere from fifth, sixth or seventh heading into the playoffs.

Meanwhile for the Wolves, they will likely finish either fifth or sixth with a victory while a loss can still see them missing out on the playoffs altogether largely dependent on what the Mandurah Magic do over the course of the weekend.

Coming off playing one another in last year's grand final, the two teams first played earlier in 2014 only back in Week 16 with the Wolves scoring an emphatic 120-91 win on that occasion over the Lightning at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The Magic begin their massive two-game weekend against the out of contention Tigers at home on Friday night.

Mandurah is the only team in playoff contention with two matches this weekend and even though the Magic currently sits in ninth position with a 13-11 record having lost their last two matches, they can still finish as high as fourth.

However, regardless of the result against a Willetton team currently in 12th spot with an 8-16 record, Mandurah's playoff hopes rest solely on beating the Slammers on Saturday night.

The Magic and Tigers first met this season in Week 8 with Willetton winning a high-scoring shootout that night 139-123 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Flames enter Friday's clash away to the Senators in second position and guaranteed of finishing second no matter the result, while Stirling has plenty to play for.

Stirling currently sits in fifth position with a 15-10 record and is on a four-match winning streak, and the Senators can finish third, fourth or fifth with a win over Rockingham, or still fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh with a loss.

Stirling and Rockingham first played this season in Week 13 with the Flames winning on that occasion by seven points at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Saturday night's action begins with two matches in the regional centres tipping off at 7.30pm with the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers playing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Active West Stadium and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants taking on the Perry Lakes Hawks at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The final three matches of Saturday night, and the regular season, then all tip-off at 8pm with the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers playing the Mandurah Magic at Eaton Recreation Centre, the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars taking on the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Willetton Tigers hosting the Perth Redbacks at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Buccaneers are guaranteed of the men's minor premiership no matter the result at home to the Eastern Suns.

Geraldton sits on top of the standings heading into the final round with an 18-7 record while Kalamunda is second on 6-19 and can only finish in that 13th position regardless of the result as well.

Geraldton and Kalamunda played off earlier in 2014 in the opening round of the season with the Buccaneers winning that encounter 123-106 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Giants and Hawks meet in Kalgoorlie with both teams out of playoff contention.

Goldfields is guaranteed of the wooden spoon with a 4-21 record while Perry Lakes will finish 10th no matter what with the Hawks currently on an 11-14 record.

The two clubs first played in 2014 back in Week 12 with Goldfields winning one of its four matches for the season recording a 95-90 victory at the WA Basketball Centre as part of a double-header Sunday.

The Slammers and Magic do battle in a clash that the rest of the league will be watching at Eaton with plenty of interest.

South West is currently on a 14-11 record in eighth position on the weekend and Mandurah could also be on 14-11 by Saturday night if the Magic is able to beat the Tigers on Friday.

The only way Mandurah can make the playoffs is by beating the Slammers meaning that the winner of the clash on Saturday night will be certain to play in the post-season.

It's not season over necessarily for the Slammers if they lose, though, with them still able to qualify if the Lightning beat the Wolves, and either the Eagles or Magic win their other matches on the weekend.

Mandurah's season is over with a loss to South West regardless of what the Magic does on Friday night against the Tigers.

The Slammers and Magic played back in Week 6 with Mandurah winning that clash 116-95 over South West at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The 2012 champion Cougars are well out of playoff contention having lost six straight matches now to sit on a 9-16 record ahead of their final match of the regular season against the Eagles.

East Perth enters the weekend on a 14-11 record in seventh position and guaranteed of playing in the finals regardless of the result.

If the Eagles beat the Cougars, they could finish as high as fifth while a loss could see them finish as low as eighth.

The Cougars and Eagles met earlier this season in Week 7 with Cockburn recording a 101-85 victory on that occasion at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Tigers then have a second chance of the weekend to spoil someone's run into the playoffs when hosting the current third-placed Redbacks.

Perth has now won five straight matches to sit on a 16-9 record to be in a position to guarantee third spot with a win on Saturday night while with a loss, the Redbacks could finish as low as fifth.

Willetton and Perth played for the first time in 2014 back in Week 4 with the Redbacks winning that contest impressively 129-112 at Belmont Oasis.

WEEK 20 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Joondalup Wolves, Lakeside Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Mandurah Magic v Willetton Tigers, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Stirling Senators v Orange Autos Rockingham Flames, Warwick Leisure Centre 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Active West Stadium 7.30pm
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants v Perry Lakes Hawks, Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Mandurah Magic, Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Wally Hagan Stadium 8pm
Willetton Tigers v Perth Redbacks, Willetton Basketball Stadium 8pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Deprimo Photography




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