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THE South West Slammers have continued their recovery from a slow start to the 2018 Men’s SBL season with a seven-point victory over the Perry Lakes Hawks at Eaton Recreation Centre on Sunday.

The game was a conclusion to Women’s Round in the SBL on Sunday afternoon with the Men’s fixture played first at Eaton Recreation Centre. That saw the South West Slammers defeat the Perry Lakes Hawks 95-88.

Round 9 of the Men’s SBL began on Friday night with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns beating the Rockingham Flames 99-87, the Willetton Tigers defeating the East Perth Eagles 89-71 and the Perth Redbacks prevailing 95-94 over the Lakeside Lightning.

Then on Saturday night, the Goldfields Giants beat the Mandurah Magic 105-104 at Kambalda Recreation Centre and the Geraldton Buccaneers defeating the Cockburn Cougars 107-89 at Active West Stadium.

Also on Saturday night, the Joondalup Wolves beat the Lakeside Lightning 96-78, the Stirling Senators defeated the East Perth Eagles 94-91 and the Perth Redbacks downed the South West Slammers 120-95.

SATURDAY NIGHT MEN’S SBL RECAP – WEEK 9 
FRIDAY NIGHT MEN’S SBL RECAP – WEEK 9 
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MEN’S SBL PREVIEW – WEEK 9 

The Slammers entered Sunday’s clash with the Hawks on their home floor having lost to the defending champion Redbacks the previous night, but they had won their first two games of the season prior to that after an 0-7 start.

Perry Lakes was also making its only appearance of Round 9 so it set the stage for a terrific contest to close out the round and it didn’t fail to disappoint.

Despite being the team that played the night before, the Slammers made a hot start on Sunday racing to a 30-19 lead by quarter-time. They still led 52-37 by half-time but the Hawks were always going to make a run and did so during the second half going on a 9-0 streak at one point.

But the Slammers held firm to claim the seven-point victory and improve their record to 3-8 on the season while the Hawks slipped to 6-5.

Michael Lay continues to thrive with some stronger and more experienced players around him in recent weeks and on Sunday the veteran point guard delivered 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Brian Voelkel delivered another 20 points, 21 rebounds, five assists and two steals too with new Slammers import Brandon Thompson adding 20 points.

Clive Weeden also finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots and two assists with Travis Durnin contributing nine points.

Reigning SBL MVP Jacob Holmen put in a big performance for Perry Lakes with 28 points and 23 rebounds.

Ryan Smith added 22 points, four rebounds and four steals on shooting 9/12 from the field and 4/6 from three-point territory.

Ben Purser also finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists, and Dan Thomas 10 points and four assists.

WEEK 9 MEN’S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Rockingham Flames 87 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 99
Willetton Tigers 89 defeated East Perth Eagles 71
Lakeside Lightning 94 lost to Perth Redbacks 95

SATURDAY
Geraldton Buccaneers 107 defeated Cockburn Cougars 89
Goldfields Giants 105 defeated Mandurah Magic 104
Joondalup Wolves 96 defeated Lakeside Lightning 78
East Perth Eagles 91 lost to Stirling Senators 94
Perth Redbacks 120 defeated South West Slammers 95

SUNDAY
South West Slammers 95 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 88