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THERE are no remaining undefeated teams in the Men’s SBL with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Joondalup Wolves on Saturday night with the Willetton Tigers, Stirling Senators, East Perth Eagles and Lakeside Lightning also victorious.

Round 2 of the Men’s SBL began on Friday night with the Cockburn Cougars defeating the Mandurah Magic 81-75 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 109-101 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Then on Saturday night, the Geraldton Buccaneers earned a measure of revenge for last year’s semi-final loss and handed the Joondalup Wolves their first defeat of 2018, winning 100-96 at Active West Stadium.

The other Saturday night matches saw the Willetton Tigers defeat the Goldfields Giants 96-77, the Stirling Senators beat the Mandurah Magic 109-95, East Perth Eagles down the Perth Redbacks 94-87 and the Lakeside Lightning prevail 94-89 over the South West Slammers.

FRIDAY NIGHT MEN’S SBL RECAP – WEEK 5 
MEN’S SBL PREVIEW – WEEK 5 

There was plenty of intrigue heading into the clash in Geraldton between a Buccaneers team who hadn’t lost since their opening game of the season and the Wolves hadn’t tasted defeat yet in 2018.

Add in the fact the two teams battled in the semi finals last year and it’s always a terrific contest.

It certainly didn’t disappoint again on Saturday night with the Buccs holding on for the four-point win to make it five straight wins for the home team and they handed the Wolfpack their first defeat.

Geraldton point guard Gokul Natesan finished with 36 points and six assists on shooting 7/15 from the field, 3/8 from deep and a remarkable 19/20 from the foul line as he continued to take the ball to the rim.

Reigning Player of the Week Colter Lasher also had 33 points and 10 rebounds for the Buccs while hitting 14/22 from the floor and 2/3 from beyond the arc.

Aaron Ralph contributed 10 points and five rebounds for the Buccaneers, Marcus Alipate 10 points, three boards and three assists.

Jalen Billups top-scored for the Wolfpack with 27 points and five rebounds with Brian Sullivan contributing 17 points and three assists.

Damian Matacz added 12 points and five rebounds for the Wolves and Jordan Wellsteed scored 10 points.

The Giants hosted the Tigers at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium still searching for their first win of 2018, but it wasn’t to be with Willetton starting to build some momentum this season with the 19-point victory on the back of a 58-36 second half performance.

Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 23 points and seven rebounds with Jay Bowie adding 20 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Andrew Black also had 16 points, six assists and four rebounds for Willetton, Badou Diagne 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Kyle Armour 12 points, seven boards and six assists.

Kyle Sovine had a big performance for the Giants with 37 points and four rebounds on a supremely efficient 15/20 shooting performance.

Jeylyn Sharpe added 15 points and nine rebounds for Goldfields and Jerome Reid 13 points and six assists.

The Slammers were back home at Eaton Recreation Centre hosting the Lightning and trying to bounce back for their first win of the season and after a horror showing at Joondalup last Sunday.

For three quarters the Slammers looked on track to do just that too before being overrun by the Lightning who put up 31 fourth quarter points to snatch the five-point road victory.

John Isenbarger was the star of the comeback win for Lakeside with 33 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 12/19 shooting from the field an 6/13 from three-point territory.

Hayden Bell added 14 points and four rebounds for the Lightning, Rowan Mackenzie 14 points and seven rebounds, Michael Garbellini 13 points, three boards, three assists and three steals, and Matt Vinci eight points and three assists despite shooting 2/18 from the field and 1/11 from deep.

Michael Lay top-scored for the Slammers with the veteran point guard delivering 23 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Demetrius Robinson put together his best performance of the season as he fills in for Brian Voelkel with 20 points and 17 rebounds shooting 9/21 from the field but only 2/9 at the foul line.

Travis Durnin contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and five steals for the Slammers with Matthew Leary adding 12 points and three rebounds and Tom Harper nine points. Clive Weeden had six points and eight rebounds.

The Senators made a terrific start to the season before losing a top-of-the-table clash at home to the Wolves last Saturday night. But they bounced back well this Saturday night beating the Magic by 14 points at Warwick Stadium on the back of a 61-point to 46 second half.

Stirling got monster performances from their star trio of Justin King, Robert Anshila and Cody Ellis. King finished with 31 points and five rebounds, Anshila 29 points, six boards and three steals, and Ellis 22 points and six rebounds.

Shaun Stewart top-scored for Mandurah with 26 points and three rebounds including nailing 4/8 from three-point territory.

Jamal Shabazz contributed 17 points and three rebounds for the Magic while Duk Makuei had 11 points and Chudier Pal 10 to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

The defending champion Redbacks played host to the Eagles at Belmont Oasis in what turned out another tight affair. East Perth pulled away in the second quarter outscoring Perth 28-11 before then holding on for the seven-point triumph.

Eagles import Jonathan Morse put in another impressive performance with 28 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Corey Easley added 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists for East Perth, Andrej Donlagic 12 points, Joe-Alan Tupaea 10 points and six assists, and Drew Williamson 10 points, seven assists and three steals.

Shawn Redhage produced 28 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Redbacks on 10/17 shooting from the field and 7/8 from the foul line.

Mo Barrow also put up 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Redbacks, Jackson Hussey 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Joel Wagner 10 points, three boards and three assists, and Ben Smith nine points.

WEEK 5 MEN’S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Mandurah Magic 75 lost to Cockburn Cougars 81
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 109 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 101

SATURDAY
Goldfields Giants 77 lost to Willetton Tigers 96
Geraldton Buccaneers 100 defeated Joondalup Wolves 96
Stirling Senators 109 defeated Mandurah Magic 95
Perth Redbacks 87 lost to East Perth Eagles 94
South West Slammers 89 lost to Lakeside Lightning 94

SUNDAY
East Perth Eagles v South West Slammers – Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 2.00pm
Lakeside Lightning v Rockingham Flames – Lakeside Recreation Centre 4.00pm