The Maitland Mustangs will be looking to consolidate a top two finish and a home final in week one of the NBL1 East Men's finals with wins at home this weekend against the Sutherland Sharks and Illawarra Hawks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Two wins would ensure a top two finish, irrespective of the result in the Mustangs final game of the regular season the week after against arch rivals the Newcastle Falcons in Newcastle.
Maitland can still capture the minor premiership if they win all three games and top side the Canberra Gunners drop one of their two remaining games.
The Mustangs playing group has stuck together in their quest this season to claim the title after agonisingly close grand final losses to the Gunners in 2022 and Sharks in 2023.
"Our goals is to finish as high as possible. The first two teams get a home final in week one and if you that one you get a home semi-final which is a huge advantage," Mustangs coach Luke Boyle said.
"We're treating each of these games as like a mini grand final.
"The good thing about being in the top two is that you get a second chance, but again we don't want to use that second chance.
"We want to win the first, win the second and give ourselves the best possible chance of proving we are the best team in the league and win the third."
It's a top eight finals this season with first to play fourth and second to play third. The winner of those game has a week off and goes straight into a home semi-final.
The loser will play the winner of the fifth to eighth position finals. The winner advances to the semi-final.
The grand final will be played at a neutral venue most likely in Sydney.
The Mustangs bounced back from two losses on their Canberra road trip with an 111-93 win against against the Northern Bears in Sydney on Saturday night.
After struggling with accuracy the week before, the Mustangs shot at 54 per cent from the floor highlighted by Jay Cole's 14 points at 100 per cent coming off the bench.
Will Cranstown-Lown led scoring with 20 points at 50 per cent, James Hunter shot 12 points at 71.43 and Daniel Millburn 15 at 66.67.
Christian Little shot 16 points at 40 and Billy Parson shot 18 points at 50 per cent in a double-double performance which also included 10 rebounds.
Maitland pays for poor first half against Bears
A poor start blew any chance the Maitland Mustangs had against the high-flying Northern Bears on Saturday.
The Mustangs outscored the second placed Bears by one point in the second half after they trailed 43-15 at the main break.
The Bears have dropped just one game this season.
Sydney Hunter shot 18 points and had eight rebounds, Shakera Reilly had 13-8 and Natsumi Kohama shot 11 points.
Finals are now outside Maitland's reach, but the talent is there and can be built on and a strong finish to the season will be invaluable.
Michael Hartshorn
Since starting in 1985 at the then Melbourne Herald, journalism has taken me around Australia from Victoria, to the Northern Territory, Cairns in Queensland and now Port Stephens. After all those years there is still something special about informing and connecting with readers.
Since starting in 1985 at the then Melbourne Herald, journalism has taken me around Australia from Victoria, to the Northern Territory, Cairns in Queensland and now Port Stephens. After all those years there is still something special about informing and connecting with readers.
