THE Perry Lakes Hawks have a double-header weekend against two teams below them in the standings giving them a chance to remain right in the playoff hunt and put pressure on the Mandurah Magic and Goldfields Giants in the third last round of the 2015 men's SBL season.

The Hawks play the Stirling Senators on Friday night and then the East Perth Eagles on Sunday, and while both those teams are in good form, if Perry Lakes can score both victories they very much remain in the playoff hunt and could even finish Week 18 inside the top eight.

The Magic currently sit seventh and the Giants in eighth but both teams need to keep winning to hold off the challenge from not only the Hawks, but the Lakeside Lightning, Perth Redbacks and Senators.

There are two matches on Friday night with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns facing the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames at Ray Owen Sports Centre, and the Perry Lakes Hawks hosting the Bethanie Stirling Senators at Bendat Basketball Centre. Both games tip-off at 8.30pm.

Then on Saturday night it's a massive evening with six matches scheduled starting at 6.30pm with the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames playing the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Then at 7.30pm, the Lakeside Lightning play the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The last three games of the night tip-off at 8pm with the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves playing the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, the Mandurah Magic battling the Perth Redbacks at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Bethanie Stirling Senators taking on the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at Warwick Leisure Centre.

It is then a big afternoon on Sunday as well starting at midday with the Perth Redbacks facing the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Curtin Stadium, and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers taking on the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The final game of the weekend is then at 2pm on Sunday with the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles playing the Perry Lakes Hawks at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

Starting on Friday night, the Flames will be looking to continue their good recent form on the road to the struggling Suns.

Rockingham has now won its last three matches to have improved to a 13-9 record to have locked in a playoff position while Kalamunda is just looking to be competitive having now lost 12 straight matches to be sitting at 2-21 and five games clear on the bottom of the standings.

It was back in Week 6 when the two teams first met this season and in that clash it was the Flames who scored a comfortable 18-point victory at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with them bouncing back 24 hours after losing to the Slammers in Eaton by 17 points.

The other Friday night fixture pits the Hawks up against the Senators in a crucial contest for both teams.

The Hawks have now found their best form of the season having won five of their last six matches since Bryton Hobbs returned from injury but they do still remain on the outside of the top eight at 9-13.

The only way they will unseat the Goldfields Giants or possibly the Mandurah Magic by keeping on winning and hoping one of those loses, so it's a must-win clash for the Hawks against the Senators.

Meanwhile, mathematically Stirling isn’t out of the race eight at 8-14 if the Senators win its remaining four matches and other results go their way.

That's where last Saturday's controversial two-point loss to the Flames hurts before they bounced back to beat the Suns by a point on Sunday. Two wins there and the Senators would come in to this Friday's clash with the Hawks equal at 9-13, but instead they are 8-14.

Back in Week 5 was a tight affair between the two clubs at Warwick Leisure Centre with the Senators ending up prevailing 98-88 on a Friday night.

Then on Saturday night, the Flames and Giants meet in what should be a fascinating contest between two form teams who currently hold positions inside the top eight.

The Flames have now won their last three matches to have steadied the ship to improve to a 13-9 record and lock in their position in the playoffs. A win over the Giants would also keep them in the hunt to sneak into the top four over the last three rounds.

However, the Giants have turned into one of the form teams of the competition in recent times having won five straight matches before a thrilling two-point loss at home to the Hawks last Saturday night.

That sees Goldfields occupy eighth position at 10-12 and still a chance to finish higher than that, but they are also vulnerable of dropping out of the eight altogether if they don’t keep winning with the Hawks, Lightning, Redbacks and Senators all still not too far away.

It was way back in Week 2 on a Saturday night in Kalgoorlie when the two teams clashed earlier this season and on that occasion it was the Flames who prevailed 106-92 as part of their four-game winning run to open 2015.

The Lightning and Buccaneers clash at Lakeside is another tantalising Saturday night contest with the home team needing to win to stay in the playoff race, and the visitors needing to get back to some winning form to remain in second position.

Lakeside's form has dropped right away in recent weeks with four losses to the Hawks, Flames, Eagles and Slammers by an average of over 30 points a game.

However, the Lightning do remain in touch for a playoff spot at 9-14 but having played one more game than all teams around the mark fighting for the last spots in the top eight, they likely do need to win their last three matches starting against the Buccs if they hope to make the post-season.

The Buccaneers, meanwhile, have lost their last two matches to the Giants and Wolves to have just about given up hope of claiming the minor premiership for a second straight season.

However, Geraldton remains two games clear in second and will likely will remain there with a win over the Lightning.

The two teams played out a terrific contest back in Week 3 at Active West Stadium with the Buccaneers coming away 117-105 winners.

The Slammers have steadied a little in recent times winning two of their last three matches to consolidate themselves in third position, but if they don’t keep winning the Cougars and Flames are certainly close enough to leapfrog them.

That sets up a big test against the defending champion Eagles at home on Saturday and despite East Perth being out of the playoff race at 7-15, they are now playing good basketball and will not be easy for the Slammers to conquer.

It was way back in Week 2 when the two teams met earlier this season and it was the Slammers in the middle of their winning run while the Eagles were beginning their losing streak. South West came away with the 111-85 victory at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Wolves have already just about locked away the minor premiership having won four straight matches to sit on a 20-3 record and be three games clear of the second placed Buccaneers, but the Cougars will be a good test for them at Joondalup on Saturday night.

Cockburn is now looking solid still in fourth position at 15-8 despite losing two of its last three games, but the Cougars will be vulnerable to the chasing Flames potentially with a loss to the Wolfpack on Saturday so there's plenty riding on the contest for them against the league-leaders.

It was a thrilling contest the last time the teams met back in Week 6 at Wally Hagan Stadium and it was the Cougars that came away with the upset 104-99 victory over the Wolves.

The Magic and Redbacks do battle at Mandurah also on Saturday night with both teams fighting over the remaining positions inside the top eight.

The Magic do still sit in seventh position but having lost their last four games they have dropped back to 11 and playing the Redbacks in Mandurah might not be the advantage they hoped given their 5-5 record at home so far this season.

The Redbacks sit on 8-14 and with four games remaining will need to win them all to be a chance of sneaking into the top eight so that obviously needs to start with a win over the Magic.

However, with Ray Turner, Raphiael Putney, Joel Wagner and company, they do still have the talent to make a run.

The two teams played out a terrific contest in Week 3 at Curtin Stadium and it was Mandurah who ended up prevailing over Perth 110-103 on that occasion.

The Senators could still be an outside playoff chance depending on how they perform against Perry Lakes on Friday with Stirling to back up at home against the Tigers on Saturday night.

Willetton has steadied winning two of its last three matches to have improved to a 12-10 record to be in sixth position, but the Tigers do need to keep winning to avoid any chance of missing the playoffs altogether under new coach Alan Black.

It was only in Week 10 when the Tigers and Senators played the first time this season with Willetton ending up winning at home 96-91 over Stirling.

And on Sunday, the Redbacks back up their clash with the Magic on Saturday with the Giants coming off taking on the Flames.

Depending on the Saturday night result, the Redbacks might or might not remain in the playoff hunt but the Giants could lock away a playoff berth with two victories in less than 24 hours.

The Redbacks recorded a tremendous 122-108 victory over the Giants at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium in Week 5 but Goldfields were yet to find its best form and Perth is still trying to find theirs coming into Week 18.

The Tigers then back up their clash with the Senators on Saturday by hosting the Buccaneers on Sunday who will have also played the Lightning at Lakeside on Saturday.

It was back on a Saturday night in Geraldton when the clubs played earlier this season in Week 6 and the Buccs proved far too good in that contest beating the Tigers 105-81.

The final match of the weekend then sees the Hawks back up their game on Friday night against the Senators with another must-win contest against the defending champion Eagles who also face the Slammers on the road on Saturday night.

The Hawks played the defending champion Eagles to open the season back on a Friday night in Week 1 and it was East Perth who scored its only win in the opening nine rounds beating Perry Lakes 103-85 at Bendat Basketball Centre on the same floor the Eagles claimed the 2014 championship.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames, Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Bethanie Stirling Senators, Bendat Basketball Centre 8.30pm

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames v Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 6.30pm
Lakeside Lightning v S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers, Lakeside Recreation Centre 7.30pm
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles, Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves v Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8pm
Mandurah Magic v Perth Redbacks, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 8pm
Bethanie Stirling Senators v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Warwick Leisure Centre 8pm

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks v Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, Curtin Stadium 12pm
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers v S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers, Willetton Basketball Stadium 12pm
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles v Perry Lakes Hawks, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 2pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin