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The regular season is over and we now get to the important part of the season. Here’s a preview of the matchups:

EBBL
EBBL

The top seeded team in the EBBL this season is Optic Fibres who finished with a 19-3 record and will have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. They will face off against Bournemouth Drunkers who finished with a record of 15-7. The season series was tied 1-1 with the home team winning each time, but Optic have made some roster moves since those games.

The other Big 8 playoff matchup sees last seasons champions, Arsenal 98, as the 2nd seed face off against newly promoted MexicanTaxiDriver. The season series was tied 1-1 between the teams, but MTD are only 4-5 since the all star break.

Over in the Great 8, Team Nook clinched top spot with a 16-6 record. They will face off against St Purple & Green on Tuesday. Nook won both regular season matchups, but NT forward Clint Franks has caused a lot of problems for Nook in those games. St Purple & Green will be glad to see Nook starting C Budzius get injured on the final day, but they are currently trying to cope with the loss of their own player Valdinoci. The rivalry between these teams goes back many seasons to when both teams were battling out in division 3 for promotion, and now they face off in the run to the EBBL title.

The final playoff matchup sees 3 time finalists Hope Springs host cup finalists Allll Stars. The league series between them went 1-1 to the home team, but Allll Stars did beat Hope Springs in the cup on a neutral court. This should be an interesting game.

Tide of Fire face a usual post season as they compete in the relegation series rather than the playoffs. Their aging team was still able to achieve a 14-8 record and a cup semi final but the competition in the big 8 puts them as the 6th seed. They will face off against the 3-19 Borac Basket. Tide will clearly be favourites in the series given their experience and difference in record.

The 6v6 matchup will see Leeds City Ballers host Gauson. Leeds beat Alll Stars on the final day to earn home court advantage for this series. This projects to be a very close series with both teams looking strong. Leeds will be led by the leagues top scorer Banuelos and 3rd top scorer Higuachi.

The last relegation series will see Bromley-By-Bow battle CWA Fury for EBBL survival. Bromley won the only game between the two by 7 points, so this may be a tight affair again.

Division II.1
BC Bloosa battled through a tough Big 8 conference to earn the top seed in division II.1. They will have a tough first round tie as they face former EBBL regular Los Mikitos, after a shock defeat against the 8 seeded Reapers in the final game. Bloosa won both games in the season pretty comfortably (16 and 20 points), and will be hoping. To replicate those performances.

The other Big 8 playoff matchup has 2nd seed kotwa face off against last seasons EBBL team Galaxy Walkers. This will be a matchup of offence vs defence as Walkers had the lowest points allowed while kotwa were 2nd in points scored.

The top seed in the Great 8 were Detroit Pistons I who topped the conference with a 17-5 record, the lowest for a top seed in division II. They will face the 8-14 Hurstead Hustlers, a team who the Pistons beat twice already this season. They will be looking to make it 3 out of 3.

The final II.1 playoff tie will be between the 14-8 Toral Castro and 9-13 Team Fusio. Both games between the teams have ended with 20+ point wins for either team so this could go either way.

II.2
T20 Cricketers battled hard in double overtime against BC Zalgiris to earn the top seed in II.2. They will start their playoff campaign against Cambois Donkeys who are led by NT big Bart Leavy- McCarthy. Leavy-McCarthy is going to have to perform well if the Donekys are going to cause an upset.

A 20-2 record was only good enough for 2nd seed for BC Zalgiris who will face off against Paxsons in the first round. Zalgiris swept the season series 2-0 and should feel confident in progressing to the conference finals.

In the Great 8, Lancaster City went 19-3 to take the top seed. They will face off against Porzigod, a team that beat them by 24 early in the season. Lancaster did get revenge in the reverse fixture, winning by 16 points.

2nd seed Bethnal Green Erks are coming in to the playoffs on a 3 game losing streak, but will hope they can beat Gophers for the 3rd time this season to turn their fortunes around.

II.3
PONTIOPOYLA finishes the season with the 2nd best record in division 2 with a 21-1 record. They start their promotion push against Royal LCY. PONTIOPOYLA beat LCY by 30 points recently and will be hoping for another easy victory.

The one team to defeat PONTIOPOYLA were last seasons EBBL team Camden Kings. They’ll be hoping for a quick return to the EBBL and will have to get passed ZBW Diavoli UK for the second time in a week.

Another team looking for a EBBL return is Roaring Lions. They topped the Great 8 with a 20-2 record, which has earned them a first round tie against MILF Hunters. They’ll be looking for their NT player Ad Cassell to perform well in their run for a title.

Kauno Zalgiris have had a strong season going 18-4 and will hope home court advantage will be enough to push them passed Osmaston. Osmaston do have a win over Roaring Lions so do have the talent to cause an upset.

II.4
Mortal Wombats were the team to win the automatic promotion spot in division II thanks to a 104 point win against their playoff opponents BC Newmarketas who rested their better players in that game. The Wombats have been elite defensively this season and they will want to win the title despite already guaranteeing promotion.

The other Big 8 matchup will see the 17-5 BC Black Dragons face off against the 14-8 Whetstone Wizards. The Dragons took a 13 point win in the final game of the season against the Wizards so will hope to repeat that on Tuesday.

Former EBBL champions Durham Wasps topped the Great 8 with a 18-4 record and they will face the 12-10 EmigrantaiTM. The Wasps won both games in the regular season and will look to get another win in the playoffs.

OLYMPIACOS will be looking to league leading scorer Hacheryan to lead them in a playoff run which starts against Expatriots. OLYMPIACOS breezed passed Expatriots in both their games this season and w

Last minute job, but here’s a roundup of the playoff first rounds and EBBL relegation series’s:

EBBL
The Bournemouth Drunkers were battling hard with top seed Optic Fibres which saw them going in to the final period only down 2 points. But a 15-3 run to start the 4th quarter pushed the lead to 14 in which the Drunkers had no comeback. Optic Fibres reach the conference finals.

They will face last season’s champion Arsenal 98 after they comfortably beat MexicanTaxiDriver 91-76. Lukavsky led the way with 19 points and 6 assists.

Team Nook made 14 3s on there way to a dominant 24 point victory over St Purple & Green. Rousseau had a big 24 point, 18 rebound game to lead Team Nook to the conference finals.

Hope Springs overcame a strong Alll Stars team 99-85 behind 31 points from Honormand. Eng Hock had 37 points for Alll Stars but his teammates struggled to break down a strong Springs defence.

Team Nook will face Hope Springs to determine the winner of the Great 8. Team Nook have lost their last 7 games against Hope Springs but will hope their home crowd can push them to the finals.

Tide of Fire’s veteran Le scored a big 38 points on 16-22 shooting to give them a 1-0 series lead against Borac Basket.

A strong 2nd half from Leeds City Ballers saved their home court advantage in the 6v6 series. Gauson will need to have a better shooting night in game 2 if they want to survive after shooting a miserable 22% FG in game 1

Bromley-By-Bow beat CWA Fury 100-85 in game 1 of their series. Morozas returned from injury to post a monster 26 point, 17 rebound double double.

Division II.1
BC Bloosa looked strong in their first round tie against Los Mikitos, winning 85-65. 3 Bloosa players had double doubles in the game.

They will face kotwa who beat Galaxy Walkers after Roslyakov hit 2 free throws on the final buzzer after a foul by De Bianchi for the Walkers giving kotwa the game.

Bloosa are looking to reach the EBBL for the first time since their rebrand in season 45, but they need to beat another former EBBL team in kotwa to reach the finals.

Detroit Pistons I 28th attempt to exit division II.1 got off the a good start as they beat Hurstead Hustlers 94-76 behind 25 points from Fubing.

They will face off against 2nd seed Toral Castro after they won by 53 points against Team Fusio. Toral C MacDade had a 29/14 double double to lead the way.

II.2
Bart Leavy-McCarthy was held to only 8 shots as the 21-1 T20 Crickets advance led to the conference finals, beat Cambois Donkeys 96-81. Lavrukhin top scored for T20 with 25 points.

BC Zalgiris are also through the the conference finals after a strong defensive display was enough for them to beat Paxsons 87-63.

The Big 8 will now see a repeat of the final day clash between T20 Cricketers and Zalgiris for a spot in the finals.

A monster defensive performance from Kaczmarek with 28 rebounds and 8 blocks set the tone for the game as Lancaster City beat Porzigod 84-67.

Bethnal Green Erks narrowly avoided an upset as they beat Gophers 108-106. 4 out of 6 Bethnal players scored 20+ points in the win.

Lancaster City and Bethnal Green Erks will do battle to reach the finals. Lancaster have had the advantage over the past couple of season over Bethnal winning the last 3 matchups between the teams.

II.3
PONTIOPOYLA shot 50% FG and 40% 3FG in a 111-90 win over Royal LCY. Nasi had a game high 32 points and 17 rebounds for PONTIOPOYLA in the win.

They will face the only team to beat them this season, Camden Kings in the next round as they beat ZBW Diavoli UK 99-70 in a convincing win. Williamson had 22 points in 24 minutes off the bench for Camden.

Roaring Lions had the top 3 MVP voted players this season, and it was the winner Ad Cassell who led the way in their win over MIlF Hunters. He had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks in an all round dominat performance for the NT big guy.

Kauno Zalgiris ran Osmaston off the floor, scoring an incredible 147 points as all 10 players scored in double figures. Kauno will be hoping to continue the hot shooting in the conference finals against Roaring Lions.

II.4
Mortal Wombats held off BC Newmarketas despite 31 points and 16 rebounds from Vernon. Wombats star Gillespie top scored for them with 23 points.

England U21 star Robbie Duguid had a big game off the bench with 26 points in 26 minutes on 13-16 shooting to lead BC Black Dragons to victory over Whetstone Wizards.

Another England u21 player Jesse Forrest had a big game as he almost had a triple double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists as Durham Wasps beat EmigrantaiTM 109-83.

League MVP Hacheryan showed why he in the MVP with 44 points to lead OLYMPIACOS to a 85-78 win over Expatriots to reach the conference finals.

Division II.1
BC Bloosa looked strong in their first round tie against Los Mikitos, winning 85-65. 3 Bloosa players had double doubles in the game.

They will face kotwa who beat Galaxy Walkers after Roslyakov hit 2 free throws on the final buzzer after a foul by De Bianchi for the Walkers giving kotwa the game.

Bloosa are looking to reach the EBBL for the first time since their rebrand in season 45, but they need to beat another former EBBL team in kotwa to reach the finals.

Detroit Pistons I 28th attempt to exit division II.1 got off the a good start as they beat Hurstead Hustlers 94-76 behind 25 points from Fubing.

They will face off against 2nd seed Toral Castro after they won by 53 points against Team Fusio. Toral C MacDade had a 29/14 double double to lead the way.

II.2
Bart Leavy-McCarthy was held to only 8 shots as the 21-1 T20 Crickets advance led to the conference finals, beat Cambois Donkeys 96-81. Lavrukhin top scored for T20 with 25 points.

BC Zalgiris are also through the the conference finals after a strong defensive display was enough for them to beat Paxsons 87-63.

The Big 8 will now see a repeat of the final day clash between T20 Cricketers and Zalgiris for a spot in the finals.

A monster defensive performance from Kaczmarek with 28 rebounds and 8 blocks set the tone for the game as Lancaster City beat Porzigod 84-67.

Bethnal Green Erks narrowly avoided an upset as they beat Gophers 108-106. 4 out of 6 Bethnal players scored 20+ points in the win.

Lancaster City and Bethnal Green Erks will do battle to reach the finals. Lancaster have had the advantage over the past couple of season over Bethnal winning the last 3 matchups between the teams.

II.3
PONTIOPOYLA shot 50% FG and 40% 3FG in a 111-90 win over Royal LCY. Nasi had a game high 32 points and 17 rebounds for PONTIOPOYLA in the win.

They will face the only team to beat them this season, Camden Kings in the next round as they beat ZBW Diavoli UK 99-70 in a convincing win. Williamson had 22 points in 24 minutes off the bench for Camden.

Roaring Lions had the top 3 MVP voted players this season, and it was the winner Ad Cassell who led the way in their win over MIlF Hunters. He had 22 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks in an all round dominat performance for the NT big guy.

Kauno Zalgiris ran Osmaston off the floor, scoring an incredible 147 points as all 10 players scored in double figures. Kauno will be hoping to continue the hot shooting in the conference finals against Roaring Lions.

II.4
Mortal Wombats held off BC Newmarketas despite 31 points and 16 rebounds from Vernon. Wombats star Gillespie top scored for them with 23 points.

England U21 star Robbie Duguid had a big game off the bench with 26 points in 26 minutes on 13-16 shooting to lead BC Black Dragons to victory over Whetstone Wizards.

Another England u21 player Jesse Forrest had a big game as he almost had a triple double with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists as Durham Wasps beat EmigrantaiTM 109-83.

League MVP Hacheryan showed why he in the MVP with 44 points to lead OLYMPIACOS to a 85-78 win over Expatriots to reach the conference finals.

Sorry for not finishing these... time got the best of me this week.

Quick round up of the winner:

EBBL
Optic Fibres won their 2nd EBBL title with a comfortable two game sweep over Hope Springs. Hope Springs fall to their 4th finals defeat in 5 seasons.

Division II.1
BC Bloosa reach the EBBL for the first times since their re-brand in season 45 after beating Detroit Pistons I in 2 games.

Division II.2
T20 Cricketers beat Lancaster City in 3 games after a low scoring game 3, which saw T20 outlast Lancaster with a 22-9 final period to pick up the win and the league title.

Division II.3
Roaring Lions made a first time return to the EBBL after a 2 game sweep of PONTIOPOYLA.

Division II.4
Mortal Wombats went on to win the DII.4 title despite already having promotion guaranteed. They beat Durham Wasps in 3 games after resting most of their starters in game 2.

PONTIOPOYLA also earn promotion to the EBBL as they had the best league record not to win their division title.

Congratulations to all league winners!