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A MONSTER display from Gavin Field delivered a win for the Cockburn Cougars while the Perry Lakes Hawks produced a remarkable comeback to beat Willetton in Saturday night Men’s SBL with wins also for the Geraldton Buccaneers, Perth Redbacks, Joondalup Wolves and Lakeside Lightning.

Field scored a monstrous 60 points in the 104-98 win for the Cockburn Cougars over the Mandurah Magic in Round 19 of the Men’s SBL on Saturday night.

The Willetton Tigers then looked on target for a fourth straight win leading 66-42 at half-time at Willetton Basketball Stadium. But the Perry Lakes Hawks produced a remarkable second half to end up winning 93-90 for an 11th straight victory.

The other Saturday night fixtures saw the Geraldton Buccaneers beat the South West Slammers 110-78, the Perth Redbacks defeat the Goldfields Giants 99-59, the Joondalup Wolves down the Rockingham Flames 102-89 and the Lakeside Lightning hammer the East Perth Eagles 119-84.

That came after the second last round of the 2018 season began on Friday night with the Rockingham Flames beating the Lakeside Lightning 89-78 and the Willetton Tigers defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 104-96.

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Saturday’s action in the Men’s SBL got underway at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Cougars and Magic looking to showcase what they are capable of even if neither could still reach the playoffs in 2018.

It sure turned out to be quite the spectacle and that was all thanks to Cougars captain Gavin Field who put his team on his back and led them to the eventual six-point win, their 10th of the 2018 season.

Field delivered a performance for the ages with the inspirational skipper delivering 60 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals on the back of shooting 21/31 from the field, 8/13 from three-point territory and a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.

He got good support from import big Brandon Sebirumbi who had 17 points and nine rebounds with Seva Chan adding nine points, six assists and six boards, and Julian Pesava six points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Magic imports were up for the challenge of putting on a show too with Shaun Stewart finishing with 39 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals with shooting of 18/36 from the field and 2/8 from beyond the arc.

Jamal Shabazz added 26 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals for Mandurah with Akau Deng contributing 12 points and five boards, and Chudier Pal 11 points and 15 rebounds.

The bottom placed Giants then returned home to Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium hosting the defending champion Redbacks looking to replicate their performance of upsetting the Wolves two weeks ago on their home floor.

But Perth is gearing up for its championship defence and was in control from the outset and put their foot down holding Goldfields to nine second quarter points to head into half-time leading 57-26.

The Redbacks didn’t let up from there going on to record a fifth straight victory to secure third position at 18-7 while the Giants remain last at 5-20.

Shawn Redhage top-scored for the Redbacks with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists with Jackson Hussey adding 17 points, seven boards, three steals and two assists.

Zac Gattorna also contributed 16 points and four rebounds for Perth while Mo Barrow finished with 14 points and seven boards, Michael Vigor 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Ben Smith seven points and seven assists.

Kyle Sovine top-scored for the Giants with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots with Jeylyn Sharpe adding 10 points and seven boards, and Jerome Reid seven points, four boards, two assists and two steals.

The Slammers then hosted the Buccaneers at Eaton Recreation Centre with South West trying to make it a long night for a Geraldton team who had spent the day on the bus heading south.

The Slammers, too, were coming off a win last Saturday night away to Cockburn but the Buccs did start well to lead 29-21 at quarter-time.

The league leaders kept it going in the second term too with 30 more points to 19 to head into half-time leading 59-40 before going on for the 32-point victory.

The win keeps the Buccs in top spot at 21-3 with six straight wins while the Slammers are 6-18 having lost eight of the last 10.

Gokul Natesan top-scored for the Buccs with 22 points and five assists but they six players scoring in double-figures on the night in a strong all-round display.

Liam Hunt added 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots with Aaron Ralph contributing 17 points and four boards, and Colter Lasher 16 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Marcus Alipate also had 12 points and six assists with Earnest Ross adding 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Travis Durnin continued his career-best run of form for the Slammers with 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots while Brian Voelkel had 10 points, six boards, three assists and three steals while being limited to 20 minutes due to foul trouble.

Sam Sopolinski also had nine points and three rebounds, Brandon Thompson seven points, Tom Harper seven points, three boards and two steals, and Phoenix O’Neill seven points and seven rebounds.

The Lightning hadn’t won since losing Jack Isenbarger to a devastating leg injury suffering defeats to the Buccs, Wolves and Flames but they had still been playing well coming into Saturday’s clash with the Eagles at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

East Perth might have been out of the finals race but were still a dangerous team and were coming off a good win last Sunday over the Giants where captain Drew Williamson delivered a masterclass.

So the Lightning were going to have to play well to return to the winner’s list and they started strongly on their home floor leading by eight at quarter-time and then being up 58-44 by the long break.

The Lightning then really caught fire in the third quarter putting up 38 points before going on to win by 35 points to steady themselves in fifth position with a 14-11 record. The Eagles have now lost five of their past six to slip from the playoff hunt at 9-16.

While Daniel Alexander had another solid performance for Lakeside with 24 points, eight assists and five rebounds, it was the others who stepped up that was most pleasing for the Lightning.

Rowan Mackenzie top-scored with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists with Bryan Michaels contributing 18 points, Matt Vinci 13 points, four boards and four assists, and Ben Lee eight points and two assists.

Captain Jarrad Prue was again pivotal in the result with another 10 points and 24 rebounds, including 12 at the offensive end.

Drew Williamson again top-scored for the Eagles with 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals including knocking down 5/10 from three-point territory.

Corey Easley added 16 points and three rebounds for East Perth, Anthony Golden 16 points, eight assists and five boards, Jonathan Morse 13 points and seven rebounds, and Aiden Murphy seven points.

The Wolves were then back to HBF Arena to host the Flames marking the first appearance for former Wolfpack championship winner and MVP Greg Hire back to Joondalup since joining Rockingham in 2018.

That created an intriguing back drop to the game with the Flames also having won on Friday with the presence of Sunday Dech against Lakeside to lock away a finals appearance.

They then came out and started strongly against the second placed Wolves to lead 31-26 by quarter-time. The Wolfpack turned it around to lead by a point at the half and then take control in the second half to claim the 13-point victory.

The win improves Joondalup to a 20-5 record in second position while Rockingham is 12-13 after going 1-1 this weekend to at least guarantee a playoff appearance.

Jalen Billups top-scored for the Wolfpack with 32 points, six rebounds and two assists while shooting a supremely efficient 13/16 from the floor, 3/4 from three-point territory and 3/5 from the free-throw line.

Brian Sullivan added 30 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Wolves while Rob Huntington contributed 15 points and eight boards, Trian Iliadis 11 points, six assists and five rebounds, and Seb Salinas nine points, four boards and three steals.

Sunday Dech produced another 22 points and six rebounds for Rockingham with Greg Hire contributing 20 points, 15 boards and seven assists.

Kevin White also put up 13 points, three assists and three steals for the Flames, and Ryan Godfrey 13 points and three assists.

The game of the night then took place at Willetton Basketball Stadium in a rematch of last year’s cracking quarter-final contest between the Tigers and Hawks.

Willetton was coming off a good win against Kalamunda on Friday to secure a playoff berth but Perry Lakes came into the game on the back of a 10-game losing streak to be the hottest team in the league.

But the Tigers came out an inspired outfit in the second quarter. Damien Scott couldn’t miss and put up 25 points in the first half and with Willetton piling on 40 points in the second period, they looked to have a match-winning advantage up 66-42 at half-time.

Perry Lakes has built up some massive self-belief, though, and never gave up the ghost and whittled down the deficit. By three quarter-time, they had got back within seven and went ahead on a Ryan Smith triple with six minutes remaining.

Willetton kept fighting, but ultimately a Ben Purser three-point play and another two points to Jacob Holmen down the stretch sealed the deal for the Hawks with Badou Diagne missing his three-point attempt on the buzzer which would have forced overtime.

The is the 11th in-a-row for Perry Lakes who remain fourth at 17-8 with Willetton remaining in the top eight at 13-12 ahead of a trip to Geraldton to face the Buccaneers.

Jacob Holmen top-scored for the Hawks with 25 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks with Lochlan Cummings contributing 20 points and five boards.

Ryan Smith added 14 points and six rebounds for Perry Lakes while Mitch Clarke finished with 10 points, four boards and four assists, and Ben Purser 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Damien Scott ended the night with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Tigers with Badou Diagne adding 22 points and 10 boards, Hayden Noordhoek 13 points, Kyle Armour 10 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Andrew Black eight points and four boards.

WEEK 19 MEN’S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Rockingham Flames 89 defeated Lakeside Lightning 78
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 96 lost to Willetton Tigers 104

SATURDAY
Cockburn Cougars 104 defeated Mandurah Magic 98
South West Slammers 78 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 110
Goldfields Giants 59 lost to Perth Redbacks 99
Joondalup Wolves 102 defeated Rockingham Flames 89
Lakeside Lightning 119 defeated East Perth Eagles 84
Willetton Tigers 90 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 93

SUNDAY
Mandurah Magic v Geraldton Buccaneers – Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 12.00pm
South West Slammers v Stirling Senators – Eaton Recreation Centre 2.00pm