THE Easter Round of men's SBL action starts Thursday and ends on Monday with some tantalising match ups but it also features a significant milestone with Joondalup Wolves captain Seb Salinas playing his 300th match.

Salinas began his SBL career with the Stirling Senators in 2003 before moving to the Wolves in 2010 where he was named the league's Most Improved Player in 2011 as part of the championship-winning team.

He was then a key member of the Wolfpack team that made the 2013 grand final and he has again started the 2015 season in terrific form averaging 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals a game.

The weekend's action begins with his milestone match on Thursday night with the Joondalup Wolves taking on the Stirling Senators at Joondalup Stadium with the Mandurah Magic also playing the South West Slammers at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre and the Willetton Tigers hosting the Lakeside Lightning at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

There are then four men's matches on Saturday night with the Geraldton Buccaneers taking on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Active West Stadium and the South West Slammers hosting the Goldfields Giants at Eaton Recreation Centre. Both those matches begin at 7.30pm.

Then at 8pm, the Cockburn Cougars take on the Rockingham Flames at Wally Hagan Stadium and at 8.30pm, the Perth Redbacks host the East Perth Eagles at Curtin Stadium.

The round then concludes on Monday afternoon at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Rockingham Flames playing the Perry Lakes Hawks with tip-off at 2pm.

The Wolves and Senators clash on Thursday night pits a Joondalup team that has won all three of its matches so far in 2015 up against a Stirling team that has won just one from four, but the Senators are dangerous led by Cody Ellis.

The Magic also host the Slammers in Mandurah with the home team so far having won three of five matches this season, and the Slammers have been dominant in their five wins over the Buccaneers, Lightning, Eagles, Senators and Suns to be unbeaten.

With playing-coach Ty Harrelson along with Clive Weeden, Tre Nichols and Brian Voelkel all in tremendous form, the Slammers have a sent a message that they are one of the teams to beat this season.

The final match on Thursday night then sees the Tigers host the Lightning at Willetton. The Tigers have won three of four matches this season with their form building nicely while the Lightning have won just one of four with their new players still trying all click with one another.

There are then four matches on Saturday night starting with the Buccaneers hosting the Eastern Suns in Geraldton.

The Buccs sit on a 4-1 record this season and they have put in some commanding performances in wins over the Magic, Hawks, Redbacks and Lightning since their season-opening loss to the Slammers.

The Suns, meanwhile, have won just one of their four games but they have been competitive in those losses to the Slammers, Wolves and Magic in between their win over the Giants.

The Giants remain the only winless team in the competition after four games as they prepare to take on the unbeaten Slammers.

South West will be coming off playing Mandurah on Thursday night while the Giants will be playing their only match of the weekend looking to cause the upset on their home floor.

The Cougars sit on a 3-2 record after five games this season but they have been tremendously competitive after losing some key players over summer.

They now prepare to take on the unbeaten Flames on Saturday night with Rockingham having started 2015 with wins over East Perth, Goldfields and Perth.

The final match on Saturday night then features two of last year's semi finals teams in the Redbacks and Eagles who yet to fire in 2015.

Perth only narrowly missed making last year's grand final in a strong season but now the Redbacks have started the season with one from five matches.

East Perth is coming off the championship and hasn’t had a smooth start to the season with personnel, and the Eagles have won just one of four games also heading into the crucial clash with the Redbacks.

The round then concludes on Easter Monday with the Flames hosting the Hawks with Rockingham having played the Cougars on Saturday, and the Hawks making their only appearance of the weekend coming off their first win of the season last week over the Mandurah Magic.

WEEK 4 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
THURSDAY
Joondalup Wolves v Stirling Senators, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8.30pm
Mandurah Magic v South West Slammers, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 8.30pm
Willetton Tigers v Lakeside Lightning, Willetton Basketball Stadium 8.30pm

SATURDAY
Geraldton Buccaneers v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Active West Stadium 7.30pm
South West Slammers v Goldfields Giants, Eaton Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Cockburn Cougars v Rockingham Flames, Wally Hagan Stadium 8pm
Perth Redbacks v East Perth Eagles, Curtin Stadium 8.30pm

MONDAY
Rockingham Flames v Perry Lakes Hawks, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 2pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Masiey