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THERE were big wins in the Men’s SBL on Saturday night for the Perth Redbacks, Geraldton Buccaneers and Rockingham Flames by a combined 80 points against the Goldfields Giants, Lakeside Lightning and South West Slammers.

It wasn’t a night for the Giants and Slammers to record their first victories of the 2018 Men’s SBL season as they remained winless while the Buccs continued their winning streak in Geraldton too.

Round 6 began with three matches on Friday night that saw the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Stirling Senators 90-77, the Joondalup Wolves defeat the Cockburn Cougars 95-65 and the Rockingham Flames down the East Perth Eagles 95-83.

There were then another three matches on Saturday night with the Perth Redbacks beating the Goldfields Giants 83-69, the Geraldton Buccaneers defeating the Lakeside Lightning 101-75 and the Rockingham Flames prevailing 122-82 over the South West Slammers.

FRIDAY NIGHT MEN’S SBL RECAP – WEEK 6
MEN’S SBL PREVIEW – WEEK 6

The Saturday night action got underway at Belmont Oasis with the defending champion Redbacks hosting the winless Giants.

The Redbacks might still be awaiting the arrival of Michael Vigor and Lee Roberts, but were able to improve to a 5-2 record to start the season on the back of the solid 14-point win against the now 0-6 Giants.

Shawn Redhage stood tall for the Redbacks with 29 points and eight rebounds on the back of shooting 8/21 from the field and 13/16 from the free-throw line.

Jackson Hussey added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists too with Ben Smith contributing 12 points, Mo Barrow 10 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, Zac Gattorna eight points and five boards, and Joel Wagner six points and six assists.

Jeylyn Sharpe top-scored for the Giants with 21 points and six rebounds with Kyle Sovine adding 17 points and eight boards. Jake Martin also had 10 points and 19 rebounds.

The Buccaneers remained home at Active West Stadium fresh off handing the Wolves their first loss of 2018 last Saturday night.

They stretched their winning streak to six with a solid 26-point victory against the Lightning on Saturday night.

Colter Lasher finished top-scoring for the Buccs with 25 points to go with nine rebounds and three assists on the back of shooting 10/14 from the field and 2/5 from three-point range.

Gokul Natesan also had 18 points and four steals for Geraldton, Aaron Ralph 14 points and three assists, Alex Ducas 14 points and four rebounds, Marcus Alipate 11 points and three assists, and Liam Hunt 10 points and five rebounds.

John Isenbarger finished with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Lightning with Jarrad Prue returning to provide his usual with 12 points and 20 boards.

Matt Vinci added 12 points and four rebounds, Rowan Mackenzie 11 points and three boards, and Michael Garbellini nine points and four rebounds.

The Slammers then hosted the Flames at Eaton Recreation Centre attempting to get their first win of the season.

Rockingham was coming off a win at home against East Perth on Friday night too while the Slammers welcomed Brian Voelkel into the line-up for the first time in 2018 with the departure of Justin Reynolds while they are still missing Chris Douglas.

But the Flames have now added Curtis Washington to Greg Hire and Josh Ritchart, and they proved too strong coming away with the 40-point victory to improve to a 6-2 record on the season and sending the Slammers to 0-7.

Ritchart top-scored for Rockingham with 31 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots including nailing 8/11 from downtown.

Ryan Godfrey also had a stunning shooting night drilling 7/9 from beyond the arc as the Flames hit 18/35 as a team for the night. Godfrey finished with 28 points and five assists.

Washington added 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for the Flames, Hire 13 points, four boards and four assists, and Justin Beard 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Michael Lay top-scored for the Slammers with 21 points and five rebounds with Travis Durnin adding 17 points and six boards, and Brian Voelkel 15 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

WEEK 6 MEN’S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Perry Lakes Hawks 90 defeated Stirling Senators 77
Joondalup Wolves 95 defeated Cockburn Cougars 65
Rockingham Flames 95 defeated East Perth Eagles 83

SATURDAY
Perth Redbacks 83 defeated Goldfields Giants 69
Geraldton Buccaneers 101 defeated Lakeside Lightning 75
South West Slammers 82 lost to Rockingham Flames 122

SUNDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Goldfields Giants – Ray Owen Sports Centre 12.00pm

WEDNESDAY (ANZAC DAY)
Willetton Tigers v Kalamunda Eastern Suns – Willetton Basketball Stadium 3.00pm
Cockburn Cougars v Stirling Senators – Wally Hagan Stadium 3.00pm
Mandurah Magic v Perth Redbacks – Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 3.00pm