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Thanks for the write-up, I'm in my first season so it's good to learn about some of the long-standing teams.

Best of luck to everyone.

Welcome!

Welcome to the game!

The first round of playoff matchups are in the books and we look forward to the conference finals tomorrow.

EBBL
The first upset of the EBBL playoffs happened early on as last year’s champions Optic Fibres lost to Arsenal 98 87-78. Optic Fibres’ NT pairing of Needham and Bujalska combined for 57 points but the lack of a supporting cast. Outside their top 3 scorers, the Fibres shot a miserable 2-31 FG. Arsenal 98 enjoyed a more balanced attack, but it was clearly their defensive effort to hold the Fibres to only 78 points that won them the game.

In the other Big 8 tie, Tide of Fire comfortably beat LIDLTallfellas 91-78 behind 37 points from Muoi Le. C Alvaras Korenis had a big 27 point, 15 rebound performance but it wasn’t enough for the Tallfellas. Tide of Fire face Arsenal 98 in the conference final in a cup semi-final rematch. Tide of Fire have won all 3 matchups between the two teams this season.

Over in the Great 8, home court proved king as both home teams advance to the conference finals. First off, last year’s finalist Durham Wasps lost 71-59 against London Whales in a low scoring affair. The Whales had 4 players in double figures, led by SG Mirko Jovicic with 17. Nikolaos Sotiropoulos had an impressive 18 points and 13 rebounds, but he was let down by his supporting cast as no other player scored more than 10 points.

From a very low scoring game to an offensive show! Hope Springs beat Stinkilemons 124-115 behind a huge 41-point 19 rebound performance from C Asimakis Dellaportas. SF Dallas Drona had 39 points alongside NT duo Phil Marichal and Magdaleno Banuelos who had 26 and 21 points respectively, but it wasn’t enough to get past Hope Springs impressive 53% shooting.

In the relegation series’s, all 3 home teams picked up the game 1 win, with the pick of the games being between the 6 seeds Cambois Donkeys and Gauson. The Donkeys scraped through with a 83-82 win after SG Odilo Abuin missed a last second free throw to tie the game after Gauson almost overturned a 16 deficit heading in to the final period. In the other relegation ties, Los Miktos beat new jersey2 119-103 behind 46 points from PF LI Han Wei. Bromley-By-Bow held JA Miami to only 69 points in a big 28-point win which saw Bromley C YI Cunen shoot 13-15 on his way to a game high 31 points.

Division II.1
Division II.1 MVP Deniz Ordu scored 33 points on 10-19 shooting to lead Panathinaikos Bristol to a 100-88 victory over Doncaster Hawks. Former NT player Jody Hobbs, who finished 3rd in MVP voting, struggled as he only finished with only 8 points.

High scorers, and number 1 seed, kotwa defeated last years EBBL Galaxy Walkers in a 128-113 win. kotwa’s 3 point shooting proved to be too much for the Walkers to handle as they shot an impressive 54%, going 20-37 from deep. kotwa face Panathinaikos Bristol in the conference finals on Saturday night. With the season series tied a 1-1 anything can happen.

Falcons Heywood were led by 6th man SF Jaroslav Sperl who came off the bench to score 24 points to go with 7 assists and 6 rebounds in a 110-98 victory over Toral Castro. Toral Castro were carried by a game-high 37 points from PG Mariusz Pietraszek but it wasn’t enough to overturn them losing the rebounding and turnover battle which inevitably cost them.

In the final Division II.1 playoff matchup, Detroit Pistons I used a 34-20 4th quarter to push themselves to a 94-84 win over Hurstead Hustlers. SF Titas Kiskarevicius and C Gabriel Biegun combined for 50 of the Pistons’ 94 points, shooting an efficient 20-34 to carry them into the next round where they’ll face Falcons Heywood.

Division II.2
In the tight Big 8 conference, MexicanTaxiDriver beat Borac Basket 89-76 thanks to a dominant 34 points, 16 rebound, 62%FG performance from their star PF Cristino Caulers. Borac Basket were led by former U21 NT star Jonathan Kemp with 24 points but 17 turnovers for Borac Basket costed them their chance at promotion.

In the second Big 8 tie, Leeds City Ballers beat former EBBL champions A Dogs 102-82 with MVP SG Daryl Tracy scoring 16 points on 6-10FG (4-6 3FG) with 8 assists. Fellow Ballers star PG Abdullah Hamdan Abu Shaqra had a game high 22 points as the A Dogs just weren’t able to match the scoring output of the Ballers, despite a 27-17 final quarter. Leeds City Ballers face MexicanTaxiDriver in a battle to reach the finals.

Over in the Great 8, top seed BC Bloosa comfortably beat last year’s finalists Porzigod 100-84 with 6 players scoring in double figures, led by SG Javier Ubidea with 28. PF Uno Muur had a game high 31 points for Porzigod but it wasn’t enough to trouble BC Bloosa.

SG Govardhan Sengupta shot 10-13FG for 27 points as the Roaring Lions roared their way to a 40 point victory over Heat Culture. The Lions dominated the first half 47-21 which put the game to bed before it even got started. The Roaring Lions face BC Bloosa which should provide a much closer game than their first round ties.

Division II.3
Multiple time EBBL champion, BC Zalgiris beat OLYMPIACOS 1925 108-85 behind a lights out performance from SF Colin Compton who shot a ridiculous 16-19 FG (6-7 3FG), scoring 39 points as well as claiming 13 boards. Unanimous MVP Tang Kaiyao had himself a quiet and comfortable 14 point 11 rebound performance as Zalgiris ease on through to the next round.

Team Nook also looked impressive in their first round tie against Kauno Zalgiris 7 BC as they won 118-73 behind a combined 69 points from C Tomas Budzius, PG Sivasekaran kanjilal and PF Nil Silkov. Team Nook dominated the boards, winning that battle by 40 to restrict the high scoring Kauno Zalgiris to their lowest scoring output of the season, and only the second time they scored below 100 points. Team Nook travel to BC Zalgiris, looking to pick up their first ever win against one of the successful English teams of all-time.

PONTIOPOYLA shot 30-33 from the line as they beat Varnalesos 117-90. Inside duo PF Todd Dunn and C Paolo Nasi combined for 52 points, 23 rebounds on 19-30 shooting to lead the way for PONTIOPOYLA. Bjorn Bjorshol had a solid all-round performance for Vanalesos as he finished with 20 points, 11 boards and 7 assists but it wasn’t enough.

Coventry Phoenix were led by a game high 33 points from PG Mick Baxendale who hit 7 of Coventry’s 10 3-pointers. Nutwood Nets fought back hard in the final period but it wasn’t enough to overturn the Phoenix 13 point 2nd quarter win. the Nets were also led by their PG Olivier Pion who finished with 25 points and 10 assists. The Big 8 final sees the 2nd and 3rd placed MVP voted players, who were only separated by 1 voting point) face off as Todd Dunn and Ling To Wai battle out to reach the finals.

Division II.4
Division II.4 sees the only away victory in the division II playoffs as Whetstone Wizards beat Camden Kings 108-103 as they won the final quarter 40-29 in the comeback victory. The Wizards were led by PF Martin Rodriguez who finished with 25 points, 17 rebounds. He was also backed up well as 4 other Wizard players scored over 15 points. The Kings were headed by forward due SF Alfredo Martone and PF Alpay Tunceri who combined for 52 points but the rest of the Camden Kings team struggled.

Bethanl Green Erks dominated the boards 59-37 as they disposed of Club Deportivo San Andres 112-81. Bethanl Green Erks were led by wing duo SG Ernest Brown and SF Agrim Vijayan who combined for 66 points and 26 of the Erks 46 field goals. Club Deportivo SF Wilhelm Iwaniak had 31 points but he was the only bright point for them. Bethnal Green Erks face the Whetstone Wizards in the fight to get back to the EBBL.

Bournemouth Drunkers outplayed CWA Fury for the first 3 quarters as they led by 31 going into the final period which, despite a strong fight from the Fury, was too much to overturn. CWA Fury C Nicola Cresti had a notable 21 point, 20 rebound performance but the 5 man line-up couldn’t match up to the 10 men of the Drunkers who shared out the shots to out shoot, out rebound and out assist CWA Fury to progress.

SG Anil Guldibi scored an efficient 30 points on 18 shots to lead Zalia – Balta to a 104-90 victory over Pleven North End. MVP PG Orhan Arsu struggled as he shot 6-20 for Zalia – Balta. SF Fang Congjie top scored with 24 points for Pleven North End but their efforts weren’t enough to over come Zalia’s powerful guard duo. Zalia – Balta face Bournemouth Drunkers in the conference finals. The Drunkers won both games between the two this season, they’ll be hoping to make it 3 wins out of 3 on Saturday.

Conference finals in the book, the finals await.

EBBL
Tide of Fire continued their impressive season with another dominant performance as they beat Arsenal 98 87-71 to progress through to the finals. Tide of Fire led by 25 at the end of 3 quarters which proved to be too much for Arsenal 98 to comeback from. SF Yury Loginov had a game high 27 points for Tide of Fire. PG Plácido Rubio López had 25 points for Arsenal 98 with C Kuba Kalsiszak adding 18 point with 19 rebounds but it wasn’t enough to overcome Tide of Fire’s all-round team effort.

Hope Springs beat London Whales 115-104 in a overtime playoff classic to progress through to their first ever EBBL finals appearance. 2 missed free throws by Ctibor Grešo could have sealed the game in regulation for Hope Springs but almost cost them the game if Mirko Jovicic could have connected on his baseline jumper but it didn’t fall to send the game to OT. The Whales took the early lead in OT but Hope Springs battled went on a 19-4 run in the last 3 and a half minutes to claim victory. Kenny MacLaverty led the game with 33 points but it wasn’t enough as the Hope Springs starters scored a combined for 98 points as they showed a truly team-oriented display to win.

Hope Springs face the 12-time EBBL champs, and most successful English franchise ever, Tide of Fire in the season 54 EBBL finals. In their only league matchup this season, Tide of Fire were able to win 76-63 in a tightly fought contest. Can Hope Springs overcome the odds to win their first title, or do Tide of Fire prove dominant once more.

In the EBBL relegation matchups, Los Mikitos were the only team to claim their safety as they beat new jersey2 95-89 behind a 22 points, 17 rebound performance from C Blaž Eltrin. JA Miami and Bromely-By-Bow will face off in a win or go down battle after JA Miami were able to pick up a close 100-92 victory as PG Jan Niksa top scored with 23 points. In the last relegation match up, Gauson picked up a comfortable 116-97 victory at home against Cambois Donkeys.PG Matthew Dupre scored 42 points for the Donkey’s but it wasn’t enough as front court trio of SF Fernando Hortezuelo, PF Gerasimos Vlachakis and C Halit Deniz combined for 79 points to lead Gauson to victory. The Donkey’s go back home for game 3 in their fight for survival.

Div II.1
Panathinaikos Bristol pulled off an upset as they beat kotwa 104-98 to knock off the top seed in the Big 8. Panathinaikos Bristol won the final period 36-29 to win the game by 6. SF Jean Bau scored a game high 31 points to lead the way for Panathinaikos Bristol. PG Deniz Ordu scored 21 to go alongside 7 assists while C Brendan Boucher added 19 points and 20 rebounds. kotwa were led by SG Nordin Harris who had 29 points but shot poorly as he ended the game shooting 8-24 FG.

Over in the Great 8, the Detroit Pistons I did all they could to overcome home court advantage but it wasn’t enough as Falcons Heywood picked up the 114-102 victory. Falcons Heywood started the game strong as they won the first quarter 31-19. Falcons Heywood has 6 players score double figures in the victory.

Falcons Heywood will face Panathinaikos Bristol in the finals in their quest to get back to the EBBL. Pananthinaikos Bristol will be looking to make the EBBL for the first time in franchise history. In their only matchup this season Panathinaikos Bristol beat Falcons Heywood away from home, which will give them even more hope for a finals victory.

Div II.2
Division II.2 saw both 2nd seeded teams pick up away wins to make it to the finals. Leeds City Ballers beat MexicanTaxiDriver 97-89 behind a combined 83 points from their perimeter trio of SF Gerry Katich (30), SG MVP Daryl Tracy (28) and PG Abdullah Hamdan Abu Shaqra (25). MexicanTaxiDriver had 6 players score in double figures but it wasn’t enough to outscore the Leeds trio.

In the Great 8, Roaring Lions dominated the overtime period 14-2 to beat BC Bloosa 94-82 in a low scoring battle. Lions’ stars Simon Redding and Govardhan Sengupta had quiet games with only 12 and 8 points respectively but it was PF Sidney Oakes scoring 20 points to go with 11 rebounds to lead the Lions to victory. BC Bloosa were led, as normal, by Javier Ubidea who had a game high 22 but it wasn’t enough to come out on top.

Roaring Lions are looking to reclaim a spot in the EBBL after a 4 season absence, whereas the Leeds City Ballers are looking to make it back to the top flight for the first time in 14 seasons. The Lions won the in-season matchup but the star power in this finals matchup should give us 2 (at least) mouth watering games.

Div II.3
Top scorer Mick Baxendale sealed the game with a clutch free throw to send the Coventry Phoenix to the division II.3 finals as they beat the 1 seed PONTIOPOYLA 101-99. Baxendale scored 27 points including 6 3 pointers against PONTIOPOYLA’s 2-3 zone. PONTIOPOYLA’s star man Todd Dunn fell to injury early in the 3rd quarter with the game at 54-52 in their favour.

In the Great 8, 44 points from PG Yip Ka yiu wasn’t enough for Team Nook to pull off an upset over BC Zalgiris. U21 star Sivasekaran Kanjilal also added 31 of his own but Zalgiris’ unanimous MVP Tang Kaiyao lived up to his award going for 46 points, 20 rebounds and 6 assists on 18-27 FG shooting and 10-10 FT shooting. This was the third time this season Kaiyao scored more than 40 points against Team Nook, including a 60 point performance.

BC Zalgiris go on to face Coventry Phoenix in the finals as they look to make their way back to the EBBL at the first time of asking. This series will see the top 2 MVP voted players as Tang Kaiyao faces Ling To Wai to see who’s team will come out on top. BC Zalgiris dominated the season matchup 89=57, and will be hoping to do the same again in the finals.

Div II.4
Bethnal Green Erks continued their quest to get back to the EBBL with a 100-81 victory over Wetstone Wizards. 5 of the 7 Bethnal players scored double figures in the win, but C Rimas Kopytokas and PF Waldo De Benedetto had 28 points, 29 rebounds and 27 points, 16 rebounds respectively as they dominated inside. PG Bogdanas Seimutis had 20 points for the Wizards but it barely dents the Erks dominance on the game.

Bournemouth Drunkers also looked impressive in their run to get back to the top flight as they dispatched of Zalia - Balts in convincing fashion, 113-86. SG Anil Güldibi had a game high 37 points for Zalia - Balta but it wasn’t enough to keep the game close. The Drunkers were led by wing duo SG Jan Decken and SF Mihajlo Drakulović who combined for 50 points in the win.

Bethnal Green Erks beat the Drunkers 93-87 in their sole matchup this season but both teams look on top form heading in the their finals matchup. Both teams will be eager to get back to the EBBL.

Keep up the good work mate, really does offer a good insight into the games! Good luck to all teams in the finals of their playoffs too.

Enjoyed the write-ups once again. Here's a short one for my division:

III.2

In the Big 8, Osmaston maintained their 100% record with a 127-103 victory over klisarankiai.

For klisarankiai, homegrown forward Huhtaniemi put up 47 points on 64.6 TS%. Spanish guard Madero also contributed, playing the full 48 minutes and racking up 19 points with 11 assists and 0 turnovers. But despite trying harder they were no match for Osmaston, who had an impressive 30 assists for only 4 turnovers.

In the Great 8, Isca Centurions completed a blow-out victory 101-59 at home to Morden London.

Morden were unable to get anything going offensively and ended with a 25.9% FG percentage. Young forward Ben Humphries was particularly guilty, going 5/24 from the field. For Isca, 18 year old Víctor Serna played the full game and set a career high in points, going 38/6/6.

The final will likely be one-sided in favour of Osmaston, but Isca will try to keep the games as close as possible for the enjoyment of the fans.