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Division II.1
Division II.1 saw both conference finals go to overtime. The big 8 tie saw the 2nd seed kotwa face off against 4th seed Doncaster Hawks in what was a battle between outside and inside offensive teams, in which the outside focused team came out on top in double overtime. The final score a big 156-144 in favour of kotwa. Hawks coach Jakubb will feel let down as their team had 2 opportunities to win the game, firstly in regulation as former NT PF Jody Hobbs missed 2 free throws with the score tied and no time remaining which sent the game to overtime. Following that, in the first overtime period C Chung Yun xian missed from close range to win. The Hawks tired and we’re unable to stop the offensive onslaught from kotwa who scored 27 points in the final 5mins to win. Guard duo PG Andrey Roslyakov and SG Nordin Harris combined to score 82 points to lead the way in the game.

Over in the great 8, the Detroit Pistons I quest for the EBBL again comes to an end as they fell 123-120 to Hurstead Hustlers in overtime. 4 Hustler’s players scored 20+ points in a team effort to get the away win.

The finals matchup sees both 2 seeds face off, with kotwa having home court advantage. Last season they lost to eventual winners Panathinaikos Bristol in the conference finals, they will be hoping this season is their title to claim. Kotwa did beat Hurstead Hustlers away in the only game between the teams this season. Kotwa are looking to win promotion to the EBBL for the first time in their 45 season history. The Hustlers are also looking to reach the top flight for the first time.

Division II.2
After a walkover to get to the conference finals, MexicanTaxiDriver faced T20 Cricketers. Despite losing the first quarter, MexicanTaxiDriver were able to pick up a 107-93 victory. 6 of 7 MexicanTaxiDriver players scored double figures, led by a 25 point, 18 rebound double double by C Cyril Poli. The team effort was too much for T20 Cricketers to keep up with.

NT wing Simon Redding was able to recover in time to suit up for Roaring Lions and scored 17 points on only 9 shots as the Lions head back to the playoff finals after last season’s disappointment. SG Jerome Wiseman scored a game high 26 points but Heat Culture were outclassed in the 2nd and 3rd quarters and fell to a 93-78 defeat.

In arguably the most competitive division II league, MexicanTaxiDriver hold home court advantage, which they were able to take advantage of in the matchup earlier in the season, but Roaring Lions on paper have more fire power and may be considered favourites by some even without home court advantage. MexicanTaxiDriver can have some comfort in that if they do lose, their 21-1 record may be enough to earn them the final promotion spot.

Division II.3
The Nutwood Nets provided a shock as they beat top seed PONTIOPOYLA 127-118 away from home to reach the playoff finals. The Nets outside trio of PG Oliver Pion, SG Waldek Beska and SF Andrzej Pietowski combined to score 80 points with C Leslie Lynn adding 19 points. PONTIOPOYLA shot 53.1% in the game but the Nets shot even better at 56.8%FG and 57.9%3FG to win the game.

In the great 8, Team Nook maintained their unbeaten league run as they locked in on the defensive end to limit MILF Hunters to only 60 points. Team Nook won every quarter on their way to a 24 point victory

Team Nook should be fairly confident heading in to the finals having now reached a 24 game unbeaten league run, and Nutwood Nets coach doesn’t look to be as active. Team Nook won the league matchup this season 97-71. Neither team has ever reached the EBBL. Team Nook have a guaranteed promotion spot due to their division best 22-0 record.

Division II.4
30 points from PF Clint Franks was enough to send the St Purple & Greens to the playoff finals as they beat Camden Kings 104-88. Camden Kings had too many turnovers (17) which allowed the Purple & Greens to shoot 13 more shots which proved to be the difference.

4th seed Gauson have set up an underdog run as they have again defied home court advantage to reach the finals after beating Pleven North End 106-92. 7 Gauson players scored double digits in the win in a compete team effort as 11 players were played in the game. Pleven North End were led by PG Dorde Milosavljevic who scored 33 points but he had little back up to compete in the game.

Gauson we’re relegated from the EBBL last season and are looking for a first time return to the top flight, while the St Purple & Greens have never played in the EBBL. Gauson did win the only matchup 116-109 at the Purple & Greens but both teams have made significant additions since that game.

Game 1s of the finals and EBBL relegation game 3s in the books… spoiler home court advantage appears to be pretty strong.

EBBL
In what might be considered one of the best EBBL finals games ever, Tide of Fire just managed to maintain home court advantage after a double overtime win over Hope Springs in game 1.

SF Yury Loginov scored 41 points on 15-26 shooting led the way in game. SG Victor Cullen had a game to forget as he shot only 6-30FG and went 0-15 from 3. C Zdzislaw Omyszkiewicz came up big down the stretch with big baskets in the overtime periods to keep the game alive for the 13 time champions. He finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds on 9-12 shooting.

Hope Springs had more balanced scoring output with 5 players in double figures, led by PG Ctibor Greso with 27 points. Hope Springs will need to win game 2 at home to keep their title dreams alive but will likely be without starting C Andreas Storksen as he picked up an injury late in the game which is a big blow for them.

Hopefully game 2 will be just as exciting!

The home court trend continued in the relegation battles as once again all 3 home teams won their decisive game 3s.

Firstly, Cambois Donkeys retained their EBBL status with a 101-83 victory over Bournemouth Drunkers. SG Philip Thomas shot 13-18 on his way to 33 points in the win.

A combined 72 points for dynamic duo PG Magdaleno Banuelos and SG Dallis Brona gave Stinkilemons a 106-96 win over Bromley-By-Bow.

Durham Wasps used their strong defensive pedigree limiting Bethnal Green Erks to only 70 points as they picked up a 21 point win. The Wasps were led by England NT PF Hank Easton who had 20 points and 18 rebounds.

Cambois Donkeys, Stinkilemons and Durham Wasps win their relegation series’s and retain the top division status.

Division II.1
In a close fought contest, kotwa picked up a 114-103 win over Hurstead Hustlers in game 1 of the finals to maintain home court advantage. Each quarter was pretty close other than the 2nd quarter which kotwa won by 9 points to give them a lead which they were able to maintain throughout the game.

Kotwa were led by the trio of PG Andrey Roslyakov, PF Vajnislau Labuta and SG Nordin Harris who combined to score 73 points. Labuta also added 11 rebounds for an impressive double double. C Grigorakis Yiantsios dominated the glass with 18 rebounds, including 6 offensive.

SG Gleb Kirshin top scored for the Hustlers with 21 points on only 12 shots. PF Zheng Ruibin recorded a 20 point 11 rebound double double in the loss.

Kotwa take the first step towards the EBBL but the Hustlers are still right in the series as they head back to home court for game 2.

Division II.2
The MexicanTaxiDriver used a huge 36-18 4th quarter to comeback and win game 1 of the finals 101-94. Roaring Lions star SF Simon Redding fouled out after playing only 26 minutes which may have cost the Lions the win, but full credit to MexicanTaxiDriver pulling off the comeback.

Three players scored 20 points each for MexicanTaxiDriver, as well as two more players adding 19 and 17 points in what was a full 6 man team effort.

The Lions were held to only 37.5% shooting for the game and a poor 17.6% shooting from 3. Despite fouling out early, Redding top scored for the Lions with 18 points and was +24 before his exit. But that is clearly when the game changed as they went on to lose by 7 points, a 31 point swing. The Lions offence dried up in the 2nd half as they were limited to only 35 points, compared to 59 points in the first half.

Game 2 shapes up to be another epic battle as the Lions will be desperate to tie the series and battle their way to the EBBL.

Division II.3
Team Nook established their dominance in the finals with a monster 116-58 win over Nutwood Nets. Team Nook were too strong on both ends of the court and the Nets didn’t have much chance to compete in game 1.

Team Nook were led by an incredible 37 point (on 16-26 shooting), 28 rebound performance from PF Tomas Budzius. Budzius was also well supported by SG Yip Ka yiu who scored 33 points and backup C Steve Anderson who also had a big double double with 20 points and 19 rebounds. The only down note for Team Nook was starting C Marcus McClendon went down injured early on, but it does appear that he will be fit for game 2.

The one bright spark for Nutwood was 27 points from PG Oliver Pion, although his 11-31 shooting shows the woes his team faced.

It would be a miracle for Nutwood to turn round such a big defeat to win the series, but anything can happen in sports. Team Nook look on course to compete their unbeaten season.

Division II.4
The St Purple & Greens slowed Gauson’s underdog run as they won comfortably 95-78 in game 1. The Purple & Greens won the rebound battle 53-39 as three players collected double figure rebounds.

U21 England star C Francis Padilla led the way with team highs 25 points and 14 rebounds. He was supported with 18 points from SG Baldassarre Valdinoci and PF Clint Franks.

A game high 28 points from SG Miguel Hayos wasn’t enough to put Gauson in a situation to win the game. Despite the disappointing game 1 loss, experienced coach hono will be looking to win game 2 and keep the 4th seed underdog story alive.

St Purple & Greens are aiming for their first trip to the big time but Gauson will hope to throw a spanner in the works as they also look to bounce back at the first time of asking.

I feel sorry for Hope, he lost one of his best players to injury in OT... I managed to save some enth too although that win was a bit too close for comfort. My team of geriatrics is on it's last legs...

Seems another tittle kept In Vecx house!
anyways good luck In the rest of final games !

Seems another tittle kept In Vecx house!
anyways good luck In the rest of final games !

Good luck everyone for game 2 of the finals tonight.

Home court advantage has dominated in the playoffs so far so it’ll be interesting to see if anyone who lost game 1 can force a game 3!

Good job on your win tonight! Good luck in game 3 tomorrow night.

An exciting Saturday of finals game 2’s as every EBBL and division II game was close heading to the final period. Here’s how they went down.

EBBL
Shorthanded Hope Springs come up short once again in the EBBL finals as they lost game 2 97-89 to Tide of Fire.

Hope Springs were without starting C Andreas Storksen who picked up an injury in the game 1 classic, and experienced coach Vecx was able to exploit this as PF Muoi Le and C Zdzislaw Omyszkiewicz combined for 70 of Tide of Fire’s 97 points. The inside duo were too powerful for Hope Springs frontcourt who both fouled out of the game. Despite the front court issues, Hope Springs were only behind by 2 points heading in to the final period but the dominance of Le and Omyszkiewicz were too much in the end.

Tide of Fire win their 14th EBBL title, extending their lead as the most successful English franchise. Congratulations to coach Vecx on yet another trophy to add to the collection.

Division II.1
A buzzer beater game winning 3 pointer from SF Muhammed Hanifi Ezgi gave kotwa a dramatic game 2 win to earn promotion to the EBBL for the first time in there 49 season history!

Hurstead Hustlers thought they had done enough to send the game to overtime after SG Gleb Kirshin hit a game tying 3 before Ezgi broke their hearts 2 seconds later. Ezgi led all players with game high 36 points. He was well supported by 28 points from SG Nordin Harris, 25 points from PG Andrey Roslyakov and 20 points from PF Vajnislau Labuta. The Hustlers also had 3 players score 20+ points and 11+ rebounds, including a 20 point 22 rebound double double from C Ramon Malo and a 20 point, 11 rebound and 8 assist stat line from SF Jordi Torres Fontes.

Congratulations to radas on winning promotion to the EBBL.

Division II.2
MexicanTaxiDriver coach letsandrew made the perfect GDP guess but they fell just short of clinching promotion as they lost 116-112 in overtime to Roaring Lions.

The game was back and forth the entire way through. MexicanTaxiDriver went out to an early lead before the Lions battled back to lead by 7 at half time. After halftime momentum changed again as MexicanTaxiDriver regained the lead midway through the 4th quarter and held a 5 point lead with 21 seconds to go. A 3 pointer from backup SF Joe Hadley followed by a free throw miss from PG Roxer Pallares gave the Lions a chance. SG Govardhan Sengupta then hit a game tying 3 with 11 seconds to go. PF Cristino Caulers missed a potential game winner for MexicanTaxiDriver as they head to overtime. The Roaring Lions jumped out to a quick 5 point lead in overtime, however 11 back to back points for MexicanTaxiDriver’s SF Tivadar Pap tied the game at 109. A Sengupta baseline bucket put the Lions up 2 but Caulers looked to make up for his previous miss as he hit a 3 to put MexicanTaxiDriver up by 1. It would be NT player Simon Redding coming up clutch to hit a game winning 3 as the Lions were able to save their season.

Tivadar Pap had a game high 40 points, including the crazy overtime run, but the team effort from Roaring Lions was too much in the end as 6 players scored double digits.

Game 3 Sunday evening is massive for Roaring Lions. MexicanTaxiDriver now hold the ‘extra promotion spot for the best record after Team Nook clinched the Div II.3 title tonight so even a game 3 loss will see them in the EBBL next season. Despite this, I’m sure coach letsandrew will want to earn promotion the traditional way and having home court advantage in game 3 could prove to be the difference.

Good luck to both managers.