THE Willetton Tigers and Rockingham Flames both improved to four-game winning streaks while the top two teams the Joondalup Wolves and Cockburn Cougars kept winning, the Geraldton Buccaneers lost twice on the road and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns won for the second time in nine days.

That was just some of the highlights of Week 11 of the Men's SBL competition with the Tigers and Flames consolidating positions in the top four chasing down the Wolves and Cougars.

Two losses saw the Buccs slip from third to sixth while the Lakeside Lightning and South West Slammers have now lost six straight matches, and the Goldfields Giants five on the trot.

There were three matches on Friday night with the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves winning a thriller 94-93 over the Lakeside Lightning with the Texture WA Perth Redbacks beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 114-95 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeating the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 105-100.

Then on Saturday night, the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 113-91 and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves defeated the S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 121-88.

The Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles downed the Mandurah Magic 106-70, the Bethanie Stirling Senators defeated the Print Sync South West Slammers 130-88 and the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 101-81.

Lastly on Sunday, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns won for a second time in nine days following a 26-game losing slide beating the S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 145-123 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Following 11 rounds of the 2016 season, the defending champion Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves (11-2) sit on top of the standings ahead of the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars (11-3).

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (10-4) have improved to third position ahead of the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames (10-6) just ahead of the also 10-6 Bethanie Stirling Senators and S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers.

The Texture WA Perth Redbacks (7-7) and Perry Lakes Hawks (7-8) round out the top eight just ahead of the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (6-9), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (5-9), Lakeside Lightning (4-9), Print Sync South West Slammers (4-9), Mandurah Magic (4-11) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-12).

The Team of the Week for Round 11 is made up of Jourdan DeMuynck (Perth Redbacks), Cody Ellis (Stirling Senators), Daniel Alexander (Lakeside Lightning), Cooper Land (Rockingham Flames) and Brian Carlwell (Perry Lakes Hawks).

DeMuynck was named to the Team of the Week for a third time this season after leading the Redbacks to a 19-point win over the Eastern Suns. He had 19 points, 21 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in the victory.

Ellis was named to the Team of the Week for a second time this season after he led the Senators to a win over the Slammers on Saturday with 28 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots while hitting 10-of-14 from the field, and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Lightning might have lost a sixth straight match going down to the Wolves by a point on Friday, but Alexander did all he could do stop the losing side.

He earned Team of the Week honours for a sixth time following 41 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while shooting 16-of-30 from the field, 3-of-6 from three-point range and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Cooper Land continued his tremendous form for the Flames earning Team of the Week honours for a fourth time this season as he led his team to a win over the Hawks on Saturday night. He delivered 23 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Carlwell did all he could to attempt to lift the Hawks past the Flames on Saturday night. His 26 points, 23 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists saw him named to the Team of the Week for a second time in the past three rounds.

There were plenty more outstanding performances starting on Friday night with the Wolves beating the Lightning by a point. Seb Salinas top-scored for the Wolfpack with 27 points with Trian Iliadis adding 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Reece Maxwell added 11 points for the Wolves, Rob Huntington 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Kevin Davis 10 points, 14 boards, four steals, two blocks and two assists, and Greg Hire nine points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.

The Wolfpack then beat the Buccs by 33 points on Saturday with Hire leading the way with 28 points and four rebounds.

Huntington added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Davis 15 points, 11 boards, three assists and three blocked shots, Rhys Smith 14 points, Sean Easther 14 points and Maxwell 10.

As well as Alexander's performance for the Lightning on Friday, TJ Hallice contributed 22 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots while Seva Chan finished with 17 points, seven boards and six assists.

The Redbacks beat the Suns on Friday and DeMuynck wasn’t the only player to perform well with Ben Smith top-scoring with 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals while hitting 5-of-8 from long range.

Michael Vigor contributed 15 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots, three steals and two assists for Perth, Joel Wagner 14 points, three assists, three boards and two steals, Jack Wagner 12 points, Reed McConnell 10 points and four rebounds, and Kyle Bowen 10 points and four boards.

Kerrod Horn top-scored for the Eastern Suns on Friday with 17 points while Tim Squire contributed 15 points and five rebounds, Courtney Belger 12 points, and Ryan Blanchett 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Suns then hosted the Buccs on Sunday and delivered a 22-point victory in a high-scoring affair.

Brandon McGill finished with 31 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds and two steals for Kalamunda on the back of shooting 12-of-16 from the field including 7-of-8 from three-point territory.

Squire also had 31 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists for the Eastern Suns, Horn 20 points, five boards, three assists and two steals, Belger 16 points, five boards, five assists and two steals, Blanchett 14 points and Billy Grey 10.

The Tigers beat the Eagles by five points on Friday with Kyle Armour top-scoring with 25 points and four assists shooting 9-of-17 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Jay Bowie contributed 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Willetton, Nic Cody 19 points, eight boards and three assists, Damien Scott 14 points and five rebounds, and Charles Funches 13 points, four blocked shots, three rebounds and two assists.

The Eagles lost on Friday for the first time since welcoming Tom Jervis into the line-up. Against the Tigers, Jervis top-scored with 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Drew Williamson contributed 16 points, five assists, three steals and three rebounds for East Perth, Joe-Alan Tupaea 15 points and 10 boards, Rhys Vague 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Amen Osayande 12 points and four boards, and Sunday Dech 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Eagles then backed up with a 36-point win over the Magic on Saturday with Dech leading the way with 22 points, nine rebounds and two steals shooting 8-of-11 from the field, 3-of-4 from three and 3-of-3 at the line.

Vague finished with 30 points and eight rebounds for East Perth, Thomas Korf 18 points and five boards, and Jervis just four points but 14 rebounds and four assists.

The Cougars beat the Giants on the road by 22 points on Saturday night with Gavin Field top-scoring with 24 points and seven rebounds shooting 8-of-17 from the field, 4-of-8 from three-point land and 4-of-5 at the foul line.

Najee Lane contributed 17 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists for Cockburn, Daniel Thomas 12 points and five assists, Marcus Goode 11 points and 14 rebounds, Travis Hayto 10 points and Sheldon McIntyre 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.

The Giants lost at home and for the fifth straight time despite 25 points and 14 rebounds from Jacob Holmen. Kenny Manigault added 23 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and four steals for Geraldton, and Russell Hurst 12 points and nine boards.

The Buccaneers began their road double against the Wolves and lost by 33 points on Saturday night with Maurice Barrow top-scoring with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Aaron Ralph added 16 points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks for Geraldton, Charles Thurkle 14 points, Carter Cook 14 points and Ike Smith 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

The Buccs also lost on Sunday to the Eastern Suns with Barrow against the leading scorer with 29 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals.

Ralph contributed 27 points and five boards for the Buccaneers, Beau Samuelson 20 points, Mat Wundenberg 18 points, 21 boards, six assists and three blocks, Thurkle 11 points and Alex Ducas 10 points.

The Magic went down to the Eagles on Saturday night with Ben Smith top-scoring with 21 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Trevor Setty added 14 points and five boards.

The Senators beat the Slammers by 42 points on Saturday night and along with the efforts of Ellis, Jayden Coburn top-scored with 31 points, five rebounds and three steals shooting 12-of-17 from the field, and 5-of-8 from downtown.

AJ Majstrovich contributed 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Stirling, Ryan Woodbury 12 points and seven boards, Austin Bruton 10 points and three assists, and Ashley Litterick nine points, nine boards, two assists and two steals.

Royal Crouch top-scored for the Slammers with 31 points and eight rebounds shooting 14-of-18 from the field, and a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point range.

Tre Nichols finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals for South West, Clive Weeden 12 points, six boards and three assists, and Travis Durnin 10 points and five rebounds.

The Flames won a fourth straight match on Saturday night beating the Hawks by 20 points with Chudier Pal delivering 20 points and 12 rebounds. Taylor Land added 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, Ryan Godfrey 15 points, five boards and four assists, and Matthew Honey 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Matthew Sellers contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds for Perry Lakes, Ben Purser 19 points and five assists, and Ben Dixon seven points, seven assists and four rebounds.

WEEK 11 MEN'S TEAM OF THE WEEK
Jourdan DeMuynck (Texture WA Perth Redbacks)
Cody Ellis (Bethanie Stirling Senators)
Daniel Alexander (Lakeside Lightning)
Cooper Land (Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames)
Brian Carlwell (Perry Lakes Hawks)

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 93 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 94
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 114 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 95
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 105 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 100

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 91 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 113
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 121 defeated S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 88
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 106 defeated Mandurah Magic 70
Bethanie Stirling Senators 130 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 88
Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 101 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 81

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 145 defeated S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 123

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by June Halliday