Slammers men fall short in double test as women hand Suns first win

The South West Slammers men’s side had a loaded weekend, but couldn’t find a way to get back on the winners’ list, while the women handed rivals their first win. The men’s side were fixtured to play two undefeated teams in the Eastern Suns and Geraldton Buccaneers over the weekend and unsurprisingly fell short in both clashes. However, the Slammers did take it up to reigning premiers the Buccaneers on Saturday night at home, going down by four points 87-83. It was back and forth all game with the Slammers holding the lead from the seven minute mark to just under 30 seconds left in the final quarter until a three from Verle Williams gave the Buccaneers the lead with 27 seconds on the clock by two points. The Slammers couldn’t crawl their way back in front and fell agonisingly short of the reigning champs. Dante Matakatea was excellent with 22 points for the Slammers, while big man Jhaylon Martinez grabbed 10 rebounds along with 12 points. On Friday night, the Slammers headed up the hill to clash with the Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre. After hitting the front late in the first quarter, the Suns put the foot down and led for the rest of the game to win 91-76 over the Slammers. Martinez top-scored with 15 points and eight boards, while Eythan House dropped three from long range on his way to 13. In the women’s clash, the Suns entered the game without a win, but a first-quarter blitz had the home side up by 16 points at the first break. The Slammers got as close as four points behind in the second until the Suns turned on the jets and blew the side out of the water with a 102-81 win. Briana Bailey was on point from deep with 27 points on 7/11 from three, while Marshaun Bostic provided 25 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals.