THE Mandurah Magic and Stirling Senators had a good week in the Men's SBL winning twice while the top three teams the Joondalup Wolves, Cockburn Cougars and Geraldton Buccaneers continued their impressive winning form.

The Week 8 action began with three matches on Friday night with the Bethanie Stirling Senators defeating the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 109-98, the Mandurah Magic downing the Lakeside Lightning 91-83 and the Textile WA Perth Redbacks beating the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 108-92.

Then on Saturday, it began with the regional battles that saw the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves travel to Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium and defeat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 115-95 while the S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers downed the Print Sync South West Slammers 118-102 at Active West Stadium.

The Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beat the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 110-94, the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 92-91, the Bethanie Stirling Senators prevailed over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 102-96 and the Mandurah Magic downed the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 86-83.

Following eight rounds of the 2016 season, the defending champion Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves remain atop the standings with a 7-1 record.

But the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars (9-2) and S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers (8-3) aren’t far behind.

The Bethanie Stirling Senators (8-4), Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (7-4), Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames (6-5), Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (6-5) and Perry Lakes Hawks (5-6) make up the rest of the top eight.

The Lakeside Lightning (4-6) are just outside followed by the Print Sync South West Slammers (4-6), Mandurah Magic (4-7), Textile WA Perth Redbacks (3-6), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (2-8) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (0-10).

The Team of the Week is made up of Trian Iliadis and Kevin Davis both from the Joondalup Wolves along with Najee Lane from the Cockburn Cougars, Trevor Setty of the Mandurah Magic and Matthew Adekponya from the Geraldton Buccaneers.

Iliadis led the Wolves to their win on Saturday in Kalgoorlie over the Giants with 39 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals on shooting 11-of-22 from the field, 7-of-15 from three-point range and 10-of-12 from the foul line. That saw him named Player of the Week.

Davis came back into the Wolfpack team with Greg Hire not making the trip and he made the most of his chance with 26 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots on 11-of-15 shooting.

Lane was named to the Team of the Week for a third time this season following 31 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists on 14-of-20 shooting in Saturday's win for Cockburn over East Perth.

Adekponya was named to the Team of the Week for a third straight time after leading the Buccs to a win on Saturday over the Slammers with 31 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and four steals on shooting 9-of-19 from the field, 4-of-10 from three and 10-of-13 at the stripe.

Setty put in a tremendous performance on Friday for the Magic in the win over the Lightning finishing with 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals to be named to the Team of the Week for the first time.

Then on Saturday, Setty contributed 30 points, 11 rebounds and two assists in Mandurah's win over Rockingham while shooting 12-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-9 from three-point land.

There were plenty more impressive performances starting on Friday night with the Senators beating the Tigers on the back of 27 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals from Cody Ellis.

Jayden Coburn added 21 points, four rebounds and three assists for Stirling, AJ Majstrovich 18 points, 11 boards and five assists, Kyle Lindbergh 17 points, 17 rebounds and three assists, and Tom Witts 11 points and five boards.

And on Saturday, the Senators beat the Eastern Suns with Ellis again leading the way with 30 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two assists while hitting five threes.

Majstrovich contributed 21 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists for Stirling, Lindbergh 12 points, 12 boards, four blocked shots and three assists, and Corban Wroe 10 points, six assists and five rebounds.

In Friday's loss to the Senators, Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 26 points while Jay Bowie scored 25 points and Kyle Armour contributed 21 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Then on Saturday in a one-point win over the Hawks, Bowie top-scored for the Tigers with 34 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots while hitting 14-of-24 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point territory.

Scott added 19 points and five rebounds for Willetton, Armour 14 points and Josh Johnson 12 points.

Not only did Setty help lead the Magic to a Friday win over the Lightning, but Taylor Mullenax contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds, Tom Remmerswaal 14 points and seven assists, Jarrad Jackson 12 points and 11 assists, and Chad Simpson 10 points and six boards.

The Magic also beat the Flames on Saturday with Mullenax adding 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, Jackson 10 points, five boards and three assists, and Smith 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

The Lightning went down to the Magic on Friday despite another big game from Daniel Alexander who had 23 points, 18 rebounds, three blocked and two assists.

TJ Hallice contributed 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for Lakeside and Tom Parkinson 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

The Redbacks returned to the winner's list beating the Flames on Friday with Jourdan DeMuynck top-scoring for Perth with 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals on 8-of-16 shooting.

He received plenty of support with Joel Wagner finishing with 20 points and four assists, Ben Smith 16 points, Reed McConnell 16 points, Michael Vigor 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Lewis Thomas 12 points and 16 boards.

The Flames lost to the Redbacks on Friday with Cooper Land top-scoring with 25 points and nine rebounds. Taylor Land added 21 points and six boards for Rockingham and Nebojsha Franich 13 points and seven rebounds.

Then on Saturday night, the Flames also lost to the Magic with Cooper Land finishing with 25 points and 11 rebounds, Matthew Honey 20 points, six boards and four steals, Ryan Godfrey 17 points and Chudier Pal 11 points and 10 rebounds.

On top of the performances of Iliadis and Davis for the Wolves on Saturday, Rob Huntington finished with 16 points and Ben Ironmonger 11.

Jacob Holmen finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds for the Giants while Kenny Manigault contributed 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Ezra Nikora also had 14 points and five assists, and Edin Zunic 10 points and eight rebounds.

On top of Adekponya's performance for the Buccs in the win over the Slammers, Maurice Barrow finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals, Aaron Ralph 23 points, six boards and three steals, and Carter Cook 21 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 34 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Royal Crouch 30 points, six boards, five assists and two steals, Trent Worthington 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Wade Hitchcock 13 points and four boards.

The Cougars beat the Eagles on the road on Saturday with not only Lane having a good night, but Marcus Goode contributing 29 points and 15 rebounds, and Gavin Field 27 points and six boards.

Thomas Korf had a good night for the Eagles with 32 points on nailing 8-of-11 from three-point territory. Rhys Vague also had 22 points and 14 rebounds for East Perth, and Amen Osayande 12 points, nine boards, two blocked shots and two steals.

The Hawks lost a thriller to the Tigers on Saturday with Ben Purser leading the way with 31 points and five assists while nailing all four of his three-point attempts.

Brian Carlwell added 15 points, 16 rebounds and three assists for Perry Lakes, Ben Dixon 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Matthew Sellers 12 points, 12 boards, three assists and three blocks.

The Suns lost a 25th straight match on Saturday night to the Senators despite 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists from Jacopo Marsili who shot 10-of-20 from the floor and 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Brandon McGill added 20 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six steals for the Eastern Suns, Kerrod Horn 10 points and Geordie Murray nine.

WEEK 8 MEN'S TEAM OF THE WEEK
Najee Lane (Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars)
Trian Iliadis (Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves)
Matthew Adekponya (S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers)
Trevor Setty (Mandurah Magic)
Kevin Davis (Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves)

WEEK 8 MEN'S PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Trian Iliadis (Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves)

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Bethanie Stirling Senators 109 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 98
Lakeside Lightning 83 lost to Mandurah Magic 91
Textile WA Perth Redbacks 108 defeated Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 92

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 95 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 115
S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 118 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 102
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 94 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 110
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 92 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 91
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 96 lost to Bethanie Stirling Senators 102
Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 83 lost to Mandurah Magic 86

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography