Geraldton Buccaneers survive road gauntlet and bring home two wins against Senators and Suns

The undefeated Geraldton Buccaneers are on a roll after they returned home with two wins from their Perth double-header on the weekend.

Down key players, the Buccs went on the road and picked up back-to-back wins against Warwick and Kalamunda.

In their Saturday clash at Warwick Stadium, Geraldton’s fourth-quarter heroics gave them the 96-87 win over the Senators.

The win saw US recruit Josh Braun heat up for his best game in a Buccaneer uniform, opening the floor with his three-point shooting.

Geraldton had the lead early, but the game was still a tight contest with Warwick fighting to avoid Geraldton running away with the win.

Warwick turned it around in the fourth stanza, taking a late lead over the reigning champions.

Down three points with under four minutes remaining, the Buccaneers turned it on and scored 12 straight points, not allowing the Senators to get another point.

Braun was on fire with 28 points with six threes, seven rebounds and eight assists, Josh Keyes had 17 points with five rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Nik DeSantis scored 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal.

The next day, the Buccaneers were at Ray Owen Sports Centre to take on Braun’s old side in the Eastern Suns.

Geraldton’s first nine points all came from deep, looking like it was going to be three-point shootout, which the team wanted to tone down during the week.

After hitting the first two shots of the game and looking like he would take over again, Braun pulled up visibly sore in the first quarter and didn’t reappear.

Down Braun on top of missing Johny Narkle and Bob Griechen, the side looked to Elliot Bennett, a standout in division one from the local league.

Bennett saw significant playing time coming off the bench, including being on the floor in the fourth when Geraldton ran away with the game outscoring the Suns 35-14 for a 93-70 victory.

The Buccaneers finished with 25 three-point attempts, a drastic change from their 43 attempts against the Giants last week.

Ralph followed up his big game last week with 26 points, nine rebounds and three assists; DeSantis had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists; and Ryan Blanchett had 17 points off the bench, six rebounds and three assists.

Bennett had five points and three rebounds coming off the bench during the win.

Now the side returns to Geraldton and host the East Perth Eagles at Activewest Stadium on Saturday, May 11 with tip off at 7pm.