IT was party time at Tip Top Stadium on Saturday night as the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers gave import Todd Brown the perfect birthday present with a 92-88 win over East Perth.

The birthday boy starred for the home side which chalked up its fourth win from the last 12 games this season.

He scored a team-high 20 points and amassed 19 rebounds in the victory.

Brown was one of four Buccaneers to score double digits and the American said the home side executed the game plan to perfection.

“It was fun tonight. It was fun to be out there with the guys and the crowd was amazing,” the now 23-year-old said.

“We were just talking about playing hard and the intensity was there, because the x’s and o’s can only take you so far.”

Aaron Ralph made his return to the Buccaneers line-up with 17 points while Ben Pepper and Michael Lay both scored 19 points.

Ralph was mistakenly ruled out for the rest of the season with a sternum injury, but what Buccs’ medical staff initially termed a fracture, was later determined as just bruising.

Geraldton opened the game with a 9-2 scoring run which saw them take a 27-23 quarter-time lead.

A three-pointer from former Buccaneer Daniel Thomas gave the Eagles their first lead with six minutes remaining in the second term.

The Eagles let the lead slip by half-time but led for much of the third quarter, before the Buccs responded with a 15 to four run to hold a 73-69 lead at the final change.

The Eagles, who were on a five-game winning streak heading into the game, whittled the lead to just one point in the dying minutes of the match.

The Buccs’ defence stood up in the final minute of the game to notch up their eighth win of the year.

Brown said Saturday night’s win gives the Buccs confidence to finish the final four games of the season with victories. “We are just going to play every game by itself now and try to get wins

Article by Taylor Courtland (Geraldton Guardian)