It’s a historic night for our Eagles as they play their final group stage game in the European North Basketball League (ENBL) against Zielona Gora this evening.
Despite already qualifying for the ENBL Playoffs, the Tuesday night tip-off at the Vertu Motors Arena is still an important tie for both teams.
For the visitors it’s win-and-in as they fight for a place in the post-season whereas for our men in black it’s all about what happens next.
Following the final buzzer our next opposition will be set, however as always in a competition this strong there are a number of permutations that could unfold.
The ENBL Playoffs sees Group A and Group B’s top four teams face-off against each other in a seeded home and away best-of-two-legs series that takes place between February 15th and March 20th.
Victory for the Polish visitors tonight not only punches their ticket for two more games of European competition, but also locks our Eagles into Group B’s fourth position while they take third.
A loss for Zielona Gora means their will finish fifth behind Belgium’s Liege Basket, who may have some new Eagles fans in their ranks tonight.
Having already been confirmed for a Playoffs place, our Eagles are playing to lock-in either a third or fourth placed finish to their inaugural ENBL group stage with another tip-off to keep an Eagle eye on today.
Denmark’s Bakken Bears host the Netherlands’ Landstede Hammers Zwolle in a 5:30pm tip-off (GMT) which will finalise the Group A standings.
Eagles fans will remember the name Bakken Bears who visited Newcastle for a pre-season tournament back in 2016.
Uniclub Casino Juventus Utena of Lithuania currently lead Group A, but that could change with a win for Bakken to seal them the top spot whereas a loss against the Zwolle means they will be certain of second.
We’ve broken down what the two results in this final day of the group stages could mean and who we could be playing next in Europe:
WHO WILL WE FACE IN PLAYOFFS?
- Eagles win and Bears win = we finish 3rd play Juventus Utena (A2)
- Eagles win and Bears lose = we finish 3rd play Bears (A2)
- Eagles lose and Bears win = we finish 4th play Bears (A1)
- Eagles lose and Bakken lose = we finish 4th play Juventus Utena (A1)
ENBL PLAYOFFS FORMAT
The 2024 ENBL Play-Offs take place between February 15th and March 20th with a home and away best-of-two-legs series.
Each of the two group’s top four teams qualify for the Play-Offs with their opposition from the other group set by seeding as follows:
- A1 vs B4
- A2 vs B3
- A3 vs B2
- A4 vs B1
Eight games of basketball will decide who takes their place in 2024 Final Four on April 9th and 10th at a venue to be announced in due course.
