TOM Jervis lifted the East Perth Eagles to a big win over the defending champion Joondalup Wolves minus Greg Hire in Saturday night's Men's SBL action that included the Buccs winning a thriller over the Cougars while the Willetton Tigers returned to the top with another win in the Women's competition.

All attention was on the anticipated clash at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre when Perth Wildcats NBL championship winning teammates were set to lock horns, but with Greg Hire, Trian Iliadis, Damian Matacz, Bobby Evans and Trian Iliadis not playing for the Wolves it was Jervis who took toll to lead the Eagles to a big win.

But there was plenty more to look out for on a massive night of SBL action.

The three Women's matches on Saturday night saw the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers beat the Print Sync South West Slammers 87-45, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves defeat the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 71-48 and the Mandurah Magic down the Textile WA Perth Redbacks 79-70.

In the Men's action, the Bethanie Stirling Senators beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 99-75, the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers downed the Print Sync South West Slammers 102-81 and the Textile WA Perth Redbacks defeated the Mandurah Magic 124-103.

Top three teams the S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers and Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars played out a thriller at Active West Stadium with the Buccs prevailing 93-90, while Jervis led the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles over the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 100-96 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The night began with the Women's competition with the Tigers returning to the top of the standings with a 42-point win over the Slammers at Willetton Basketball Stadium. Following Rockingham's loss to Joondalup on Friday, the Tigers now sit on top at 9-1.

The win was set up in the first half with Willetton scoring 30 first quarter points to five, and 24 second quarter points to nine.

The Tigers shot the ball at 43 per cent from the field compared to 26 from the Slammers while dominating the glass pulling in 59 rebounds to just 32.

Louella Tomlinson again led the way for Willetton with 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists with Kate Malpass not far behind with 13 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists narrowly missing a triple-double.

Desiree Kelley scored 16 points to go with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Tigers, Zoe Harper 14 points and seven boards, and Ebony Antonio 11 points.

Dena English top-scored for the Slammers off the bench with 11 points while Brittany Gliddon contributed eight points and six rebounds, and Georgia Denehey nine points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals.

The Lady Wolfpack backed up their win over the Flames on the road on Friday by remaining away to defeat the Eagles by 23 points on Saturday to improve to a 7-1 record.

The Wolves were in control from the outset and finished up shooting 30-of-64 from the field at 46 per cent while dominating the rebound count 48 to 19 and winning comfortably despite the 20 turnovers.

Klara Wischer top-scored for Joondalup with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five assists shotting 8-of-14 from the floor. Amy Kidner added 14 points and eight rebounds, Shani Amos 12 points, four assists, four steals and three boards, and Ellyce Ironmonger 11 points and eight rebounds.

Jodie Milligan finished with 11 points and four assists for East Perth and Jodee Sontay 10 points, four boards and two steals.

The Magic then snapped a six-game losing streak at Mike Barnett Sports Centre on Saturday defeating the Redbacks by nine points. Perth wasn’t quite able to back up its thrilling overtime win over Stirling on Friday.

Mandurah got on top in the possession game with 48 rebounds to 35 and in forcing Perth into 27 turnovers where they scored 23 points from. That led the Magic to attempting 74 shots to 59, and even though they only ended up making two more it was enough to secure the win.

Adijat Adams again was the standout for the Magic with 21 points, 13 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots but the return of Casey Mihovilovich was significant and she contributed 19 points, nine boards, six assists and five steals.

Annette Davis added 17 points and 15 rebounds for Mandurah and Rachel Halleen 16 points.

Ajay Jones backed up a terrific game on Friday in the win over the Senators with another 25 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals on the back of shooting 9-of-12 from the floor, 4-of-6 from three-point territory and a perfect 3-of-3 from the foul line.

Jess Jakens contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds for Perth and Rebecca Benson 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.

And in the Men's contests, the Senators responded to a 29-point loss on the road to the Redbacks on Friday by returning to Warwick Stadium on Saturday and handing the Giants a 24-point defeat.

The win improves the Senators to 9-5 while the Giants slip to 6-6 ahead of a clash with the Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Centre on Sunday.

It was a solid shooting night by Stirling going 40-of-86 from the floor at 46 per cent and 13-of-29 at 44 per cent from three while Goldfields shot just 30-of-87 at 34 per cent, and 6-of-24 at 25 per cent from downtown.

Cody Ellis top-scored for the Senators with 26 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on shooting 10-of-19 from the field and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc.

AJ Majstrovich contributed 23 points and nine rebounds for Stirling, Kyle Lindbergh 19 points, 10 boards and three assists and Austin Bruton 10 points and four assists.

Jacob Holmen finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for Goldfields, Kenny Manigault 13 points, 12 boards, five assists and three steals, Daniel Goodluck 13 points and six rebounds, and Edin Zunic 12 points and six boards.

The game of the weekend always promised to be at Active West Stadium between the Buccs and Cougars, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Geraldton started strongly with 27 first quarter points to 17 but Cockburn fought back hard to lead by one heading into the fourth quarter. But the raucous home crowd helped the Buccaneers get home by four points to improve to 9-3, the same record the Cougars now hold.

The Buccs shot efficiently at 35-of-71 from the floor at 49 per cent but the sheer volume of shots for the Cougars kept them in it, with them going 34-of-98 at 34 per cent. They won the rebound count 59 to 48 and forced the Buccs into 19 turnovers, but it was the home team's shooting that helped them prevail.

Carter Cook top-scored for the Buccaneers with 31 points and eight rebounds going 13-of-18 from the floor and 2-of-2 from deep.

Maurice Barrow added 19 points and five assists for Geraldton, Matthew Adekponya 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Aaron Ralph 14 points and five boards. Mat Wundenberg pulled in another nine rebounds.

Najee Lane finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Cougars with Rhett Della adding 14 points and 14 boards, Marcus Goode 13 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks, Gavin Field 12 points and Sheldon McIntyre 11 along with five rebounds and four steals.

The Tigers put together a strong performance at home on Saturday to beat the Slammers by 21 points to improve to an 8-4 record with South West slipping 4-7 after a fourth consecutive defeat.

All five of Willetton's starters had good night led by Nic Cody who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Kyle Armour added 21 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals, Charles Funches 18 points and 11 boards, Damien Scott 17 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals, and Jay Bowie 15 points.

Tre Nichols did all he could to try and lift the Slammers over the line with 41 points, six assists, four rebounds and three blocked shots on shooting 12-of-28 from the field, 5-of-13 from deep and a perfect 12-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Fellow import Royal Crouch added 19 points and 10 rebounds for South West, and Corey Easley eight points and eight boards.

All eyes were on Morley Sport and Recreation Centre as Perth Wildcats championship teammates Tom Jervis and Greg Hire were set to lock horns, but Hire didn’t back up to play after a big performance on Friday over the Flames and it was Jervis helping his Eagles to the upset win over the defending champion Wolfpack.

Jervis delivered 30 points, 14 rebounds, five blocked shots and two assists as East Perth beat Joondalup by four points to record its third win of the season, and hand the Wolves just their second defeat.

On top of the performance of Jervis who has signed with the Brisbane Bullets for the 2016/17 NBL season, Thomas Korf delivered 22 points and five rebounds for the Eagles, Rhys Vague 18 points and 11 boards, and Nikola Donlagic 11 points.

Seb Salinas top-scored for the Wolves with 21 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists with Sean Easther adding 16 points and six boards, Kevin Davis 15 points and seven rebounds, Reece Maxwell 13 points, four assists and three steals, and Rob Huntington 13 points, five assists, four blocked shots and four rebounds.

The Redbacks won a third straight match hitting the road to beat the Magic by 21 points having set up the win by three quarter-time. Perth led 105-73 heading into the final stanza on the way to improving to 5-6 while Mandurah slipped to 4-8.

It was a terrific shooting night for the Redbacks going 43-of-83 from the field at 51 per cent and 15-of-33 from three-point territory at 45 per cent. Mandurah weren’t bad at 44 per cent but the Redbacks blew them away.

Michael Vigor was again the star for Perth for the second straight night delivering 27 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

Jourdan DeMuynck added 25 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Redbacks and Ben Smith 20 points, Lewis Thomas 17 points and seven boards, and Joel Wagner 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Ben Smith top-scored for the Magic with 30 points, 10 rebounds and four assists with Taylor Mullenax adding 20 points and seven boards, and Trevor Setty 12 points and five rebounds.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 87 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 45
Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 48 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 71
Mandurah Magic 79 defeated Textile WA Perth Redbacks 70

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Bethanie Stirling Senators 99 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 75
S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 93 defeated Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 90
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 102 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 81
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 100 defeated Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 96
Mandurah Magic 103 lost to Textile WA Perth Redbacks 124

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin